A Will and a Way

I have spent an incredible last two nights in Cinque Terre, a cluster of five coastal villages in Italy carefully built on cliffs that overlook the sea. All of the villages can be reached by train. In fact, from the first village to the very last one, it’s only a fifteen minute ride. But, where is the fun in that?

Instead, I decided to do the coastal hike between all five towns. It’s an easy eight miles doable in five hours, including the time it takes to stroll through each town eating gelato.

Once I decide to do something, it needs to be done. So you can imagine my disappointment when I was told that the hiking trails between three of the five villages were closed due to damage. But, if there’s a will, there’s a way.

You see, when the Italians tell you that you cannot hike all five villages because the trails are closed, you say, “I ain’t no bitch,” and you lace up your hiking boots.

I knew that aside from the scenic coastal trails, the easy winding roads that hug the sea, there were also secondary routes between the villages. These routes went up and down through the hills of Cinque Terre. So, I turned my back to the ocean and began my steep ascent up, not knowing just how exhausting and exhilarating this hike would be.

You climb and climb, and you pant and you sweat. Then you stop and laugh because it’s impossible to be unhappy in such a beautiful place. Just when you think you need Jesus, a church appears on the trail, and when you’re dehydrated and dying, a stream is there to quench your thirst. You chase lizards the entire way, because you miss being ten years old with your brother and you miss the feeling of having a lizard slink across your hand.

Along the way, when I started doubting that I could do it, I met a quirky and wonderful girl named Fiona and the two of us pushed each other to make it to the end. After a grueling seven hours of climbing up and down fifteen miles of steep hills, I was sweaty and exhausted, but most of all, proud.

I came to hike the Cinque Terre trails, and that’s exactly what I did. Granted, I had to do it in fifteen hilly miles instead of the original eight, but hey, it was worth it.