Adventures In Italy - Day 6

Stop 14 - Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre: The next morning we got up early and drove to the town of Riomaggiore. We knew ahead of time that they don't allow cars in the city center but had no idea that the parking lot would be full and that there would be cars lined up on the hill waiting to find a spot to park. Luckily, we told the parking lot attendant that we have 3 young kids and he took pity on us and allowed us to park in the garage. After lugging our suitcases and kids down a steep hill and up hundreds of stairs, we settled in to our not-so-clean apartment for the next two days. 

   
Stop 15 - Guvano Beach, Corniglia: After getting settled, we ventured out to the town to begin our exploration of Cinque Terre. The weather was overcast but since our time was short in the area, we decided that we would still try to hit up the hidden beach we had read about online. After a quick train ride to the town of Corniglia, we asked a few locals for directions to the "secret" Guvano beach. After receiving vague instructions and having no luck finding it, we finally asked a local bartender who gave us more specific directions in the little bit of English that he knew. Getting to the beach involved taking a short walking path to the side yard of a home, going down a flight of stairs, along a row of homes, cutting back behind the homes, and then walking a 1/2 a mile through a pitch black abandoned train tunnel. After exiting the tunnel, we still had to walk another 1/2 a mile along a cliff, through another small tunnel, and then hike down the cliff side to the beach. Before entering the long train tunnel, we ran into a local who told us to make sure we had flashlights. After entering the tunnel and realizing that we couldn't do it without flashlights, I ran back to the local mans house (who spoke no English) and asked him if we could borrow a light. He understood what I was asking and gave us a couple flashlights for the trek. He told us to just use one at a time so that if one of them ran out we would still have a backup to light the way.

When we finally arrived at the beach the conditions were less than ideal. We hiked most of the way down the cliff to the water but decided to turn back after realizing the danger of the combination of rain, a high tide, and huge waves. We sat on the cliff for a bit watching the waves crash into the shore before turning back and starting our trek home. Once we returned through the tunnel, we stopped at the local mans house to return his flashlights. He was super friendly and offered the kids some gelato for our walk back. We accepted his request and the kids skipped home happily with their ice cream in hand. Once again, our experience with a local Italian left a huge impression on us and became one of the highlights of our trip.