Tuesday- "The Bikini Hike"

We read an article online talking about this secret/private beach near the village of Corniglia (Cinque Terre is actually five little villages along the coast) called Guvano Beach. So of course, tip-top priority the first day was to find said beach. Here is what the article said:

"Take the quick regional train to Corniglia. Forgo the 365-step climb to its tourist-filled center. Instead take the road much less traveled, to the clothing-optional private beach, Guvano, that only locals seem to know about. It's not easy to find: above and to the right of the train platform head down a narrow flight of stairs, follow a brick coastal wall and turn right, until you come to an industrial tunnel with a metal gate. Ring the bell to the left. Someone on the other end will buzz you in. Walk through the 10-minute-long path to a private vineyard overlooking two phenomenal beaches. Pay the gatekeeper 5 euros for your little slice of sunbathing heaven."

Sounds dreamy right? We thought so too.

Here's Katie with our train tickets and Jill... shushing her water babies.

Could these be the narrow stairs??

Could this be the stone wall path? The secret tunnel??

Alas, it was not. We followed a handful of people down some stairs to a lovely and quiet, albeit rocky, beach which apparently disappears at high tide.

It was really nice and I told the girls it reminded me of the beach at Lyme from Jane Austen's Persuasion. However there was no Captain Wentworth, and Louisa Musgrove did NOT fall and hit her head... (we will leave the falling up to our very own Bridget on Wednesday).

After our swimming and sunning we climbed the bajillion stairs to Corniglia.

It was HOT, thus the reason we refer to it as "the bikini hike"... because we hiked in our swimsuits! Actually its 380-something stairs but you HAVE to climb them to get to/from the train station. (Which we ended up doing... more times than is necessary for any sane person.)

Then we needed a little snack. When I woke up Tuesday morning, my throat was a little sore and I thought, "oh it's probably just dehydration from traveling, etc" but by this point in the day, the sore throat had settled in as well as some body aches. I said "Guys, I'm really not feeling so great..." and Katie said "You DO look a little pale... tan, but pale..."

We drank our Coke Light and had a snack and then thought we would attempt the 90-minute hike from Corniglia to Vernazza. So we searched and searched for the beginning of the trail and after about seventeen people's wrong directions, we found it. And then, in Jill's hilarious words:
"some lady at the beginning of the trail (who, ahem, was not exactly in shape) told us, "Oh no, girls. You better have good shoes on. I mean, it's really treacherous." So being the angels we are, we didn't mock that word AT ALL in the next few days."

Just trying to FIND the trail in the heat had us pretty wiped so we decided to shower and rest and attempt the hike another day.

So once we were rested and clean, we headed out on the town for dinner.

and, of course, gelado.

Several of the nights, Jill read us a "bedtime story" which consisted of reading dumb things people post on the internet and providing her very own witty commentary on their lives and grammar.