EK News Article by Eric Kent: A party of Duncanrig Rambling Club walkers along with members from other East Kilbride walking clubs including Our Lady of Lourdes, St Leonards and the Midweek Walking Club recently set out for a week`s walking in the Cinque Terre area in the North of Italy. We arrived at Pisa Airport to be treated to blue skies and unseasonably hot weather and these weather conditions continued for each of the eight days of our visit to Italy. Leaving the airport we travelled into the centre of Pisa where we spent a number of hours enjoying lunch in the Italian restaurants and visiting the old buildings of the city including the famous leaning tower which was looking extremely smart after a recent overhaul to stabilise the tower structure which was in danger of falling over due to the increasing angle of the tower. The Italians are very proud of the structure and they spent many millions of Euro`s supporting and stabilising the old foundations and cleaning the tower stonework. The Italian engineer`s now estimate that the leaning tower is again safe for a few more centuries.   We then travelled north to our hotels in the town of Levanto which is situated on the shore of the Ligurian Sea and just outside the Cinque Terre National Park area.  The group were accommodated in two hotels the majority in the Hotel Nazionale in the centre of town and a small group in the hotel Carla slightly further away from the centre. It was generally agreed that both hotels were great places to stay and both hotels had their own unique attributes. The Cinque Terre area was since the times of the Roman Empire difficult to get to due to the Roman road (Via Aurelia) by passing the coastal area and the villages were mainly cut off from the time for centuries except for rutted and winding pathways through the hills (today`s walking pathways) or by small boats navigating on the sea. The area was discovered by the early Victorian tourists and has gradually become more popular since the modern railway line between Genoa and the naval town Of La Spezia was completed. Five walking days were planned with the Sunday as a rest day. Tuesday being the final walking day was a group walking day. All other walking days had three walks graded as easy medium or harder. Thursday had two walks from Levanto to Bonnasola which was the next village going northward up the coast the walks visited the tiny chapel of Punta della Madonna and passed through olive terraces and along hill paths to Montaretto village with time to explore the charming town of Bonassola before returning by train to Levanto. The harder walk climbed up by mule track into the Cinque Terre forest  up to the Colla del Bagari then on to the summit of Monte Focone then on through the wild boar forest to Punta Mesco where there are breathtaking viewpoints overlooking Monterosso and Vernazza. Close by is the ruined monastery of Saint Antonio from where were followed the forest back high above the coast line and then dropped down into Levanto. On Friday we all travelled by Train to Riomaggiore were the full group explored the wonderful historic village and then walked together along the romantic coastal cliff walk called Via Dell Amore to the next village of Manorola which was every bit as interesting with the views of the old houses clinging to the hillsides. The walks split up here with two of the walks continuing on to Cornigula where you have to climb up 377 steps called the Lardarina to the quaint village of Corniglia which is sited high above the sea on the highest part of a ridge running down from the hills to preserve the best parts of the surrounding land for cultivation. Some of the walkers finished here and returned by train but the remainder continued on over on an undulating coastal path with fabulous views back to Corniglia and then quite stunning views as they descended into charming coastal village of Vernazza where the walk ended. The harder walk left Manorola and climbed up through the village on to very steep hill and mule paths in baking heat up to the village of Volastra. From this picturesque village with its narrow ancient alley ways we continued on contouring along through vine terraces and pine woods with breathtaking views in the shimmering sunshine and blue skies before descending on old mule tracks to visit quaint little Corniglia. From there we followed the coastal path that the other walker took to meet with them at of Vernazza. On the Saturday on the train again we travelled to Vernazza. The easier walk took a short route with some challenging ascents and descents offering fantastic views of the steep cliffs above before arriving in Monterosso. This allowed them time to explore Vernazza before leaving for Monterosso which is the largest of the Cinque Terre villages. The remaining two walks both left Vernazza to follow the Stations of the Cross to the shaded grotto of Santuario Della Madonna di Reggio. From there one walk followed a panoramic balcony path contouring above Vernazza to the forest setting of Santuario Nostra Signora Di Saviore before descent back to Vernazza. From the grotto the higher walkers ascended   by hill paths in and out of forest high up on the slopes of Monte Castello and Monte Gaginara where we were charmed by the wonderful  unspoiled deciduous tree landscape which from most views appeared to stretch into infinity. Reluctantly we left the forest to the charming little hill village of San Bernardino. After a pleasant “social stop” on the terrace of the village cafe we walked through the village and were amazed at the tremendous views down from the edge of the village down to Corniglia. The path down to Vernazza was described as vertiginous and it was a very tough descent with top drawer views. Sunday was a free day with most people travelling by sea or train to visit the surrounding villages in the area or spending time at the beach area of Levanto. On Monday travelling on the train again the high walkers got off at Riomaggiore with the other two walk groups travelling on to La Spezia. The high walkers had a tough ascent up above as Riomaggiore to the prominently located Santuario di Madonna di Montenegro. Open hillside and woodland walking took us to the hill village of Campiglia. From here a stunning and scenic coastal cliff path with some exposure in places got us down to Porto Venere. This was a wonderful walk with magnificent views at numerous points along the way. We made good time along this route and were able to enjoy the old Genoese Castle and the medieval streets of this wonderful village. The intermediate walkers got to their walk starting point at Campiglia via a short taxi ride from La Spezia their route started with Forest walking opening onto excellent views over La Spezia, Lerici and the Golfo di Poeti. Then forest track and road walking ending by descending down to arrive in the ancient and beautiful port of Porto Venere by way of a trail passing by the old Genoese Castle. The remain walkers spent time being tourists and shoppers in the old town streets of La Spezia before travelling by bus to Porto Venere where we all gathered together and travelled back to Levanto by the sea route. This trip by ferry boat was quite special as we were able to view all the Cinque Terre villages from their sea approaches which were close to magical and this was one of the highlights of our Italian trip. Tuesday - Final walking day!  Back to the station for another journey on the excellent Italian trains this time north of the Cinque Terre villages. We are travelling north two stations to Framura where we slowly ascended the seemingly endless steps through the Framura villages. Framura is a group of villages; Anzo, Setta, Ravecca and Costa. Great stop for refreshments on the large terrace of Bar della Rotunda overlooking the bay, before continuing to the highest village, Costa and the small St Martin’s church – this has a tower which was used as a lookout point for pirate ships. The route continued on though lovely forest tracks to a viewpoint overlooking Deiva Marina before winding back downhill with coastal views to return to Bar Rotunda and on down to Framura station for return. Nice relaxing walk for the final day. On the last evening we all met at local restaurant were many of us had a number of evening meals. This was a nice social event and Charlie McGrillan offered an excellent voter of thanks on behalf of all the appreciative walkers for the effort that Linda Mullen had made on our behalf to organise the holiday. The second every bit as important person to be thanked was Andy Bennett who organised and masterminded all the walks for this trip and again from us all “thanks guys for all the pleasure that you gave us on a magical week in Italy”.