RIOMAGGIORE, CINQUE TERRE
This is one of the hardest names to pronounce for Southern boys. We have listened to Italians roll it off their tongues like poetry.  Americans?...not so much.  We've heard variations of RIOMAGGIORE that make Italians cringe!  I've also heard variations when, after trying to the point of frustration, they blurt out "rig-a-ma-roll", "rio-morie" and "rigamortice".  We've gotten to the point of just saying "Rio".....just plain "Rio".
   Anyway, I digress.  Ron and Nancy Pinkerton went with me on my hike today.  We headed towards the ridge following the road.   We actually found vehicular civilization higher up.  The parking lot up there is full of cars!  Cars are parked along the road coming off the hill from the giant turning circle where the large tour buses turn around and park.  The doors open and a herd of gray haired codgers get off and swarm....uh...slowly swarm the village
   We continued up past the old church where the first group of French codgers were listening to their tour leader.   We slipped past them without incident.  How did I know they were codgers?  Well, there was enough "snow on the mountains", we could have skied!
      The upper level of Manarola, from the old church and higher,  begins views of the stream that runs off the mountains and flows down through the middle of town.  It's  visible because it has not been covered over.  But beginning a half a block away, they rocked in a street above the ravine to level it off.  I suspect a person could walk the stream from the seashore to the old church area and always be beneath the street more than 10 or 12 feet. I'm certain it's accessible for maintenance.  Other small streams also flow into the ravine farther down.  It's an engineering marvel.  It's large enough beneath the street to carry off water during heavy rains.  There are times of exception, however.  A few years ago this area received more than 22" of rain in a single day.  These huge mountains, sloping towards the ravines, filled them so fast and so deep that the water backed up and flooded many homes and businesses these hillside cities, causing much, much damage.  Who would have thought homes could be destroyed by flooding on such steep hillsides?
   Anyway...where was I?   At the top of the bus turn around,  we decided to follow the trail to RIOMAGGIORE today....perhaps another town,  another day.
   The sidewalk was off and on, but we managed to stay off the busy, narrow road.  Higher up opened up views of the NE end of Manarola, looking down the valley towards the sea.
    In a short time we crossed over the first mountain and saw views of another valley that funneled down into the village of RIOMAGGIORE  (town #1).  We crossed over this deep valley on the highway bridge.  It was a good quarter mile long, I bet.  But it was fun.  Little did we know we were about to the end of our fun.
   Instead of continuing to follow the road, we saw an obscure little sign pointing the way to RIOMAGGIORE by way 8f a dirt trail.  We thought, "why not?  How bad can this trail be? "
   Soon, the stair steps began.  I decided to count them.  I counted almost 600 stair steps before we saw the roof of the first house below the many, many terraced vineyards.  There were another 200 to the lower part of town.  
   Our first line of business before checking out too many shops and such, was to indulge in some sustenance.   The sign said it all: "Hamburger" and "Best Food".  It was actually very tasty.
   So a $4 ticket in a crowded car and a short train ride later,  we were back "home".  Today was a good adventure....especially with my new stylish hat and shirt!