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Day 3: Monterosso 9 Soviore 1 Foce di Drignana 8 Vernazza (560m)
This day started with a bit of an anticlimax: I was going to use route 9 to get back to the abbey at Santuario Madonna di Soviore, then walk along route 1 to Foce di Drignana and then use route 8 to climb down to Vernazza. Only the 3.7K from the abbey to Drignana would be new. And quite a bit of this was on a road.
I could see that I would be back at the hotel by 1.30pm and so en-route I decided to fill in a bit of route 1 I had failed to do earlier: this is the bit from Levanto to Punta Mesco. This was probably a bit silly as it made a long day and I had not worked out how to get from Levanto Railway Station to the start of route 1. So having finished 9-1-8, I caught the train from Vernazza to Levanto.
Day 3: Levanto 1 Punta Mesco 10 Monterosso (325m)
Levanto's railway station is a bit inland and, although there is a sign outside the raliway station indicating that you should walk towards the sea to get to route 1, I did not see any signs thereafter. I aimed for the Information Centre that is on the sea front but although this was closed it had some useful maps of Levanto outside (including one showing where the start of route 1 is). I walked along the promenade in the appropriate direction.
I met two people coming the other way who stood out from the rest of the people around: they were walkers. I asked them whether they spoke English, whether they had walked from Monterosso and where the start of route 1 is. Two yes's and then they said it was difficult: look out for the red and white signs. By being diligent, I easily found the start.
After the walk in the morning I found the route from Levanto to Punta Mesco a bit long and tedious. It climbs up to 325m to reach route 1's junction with route 10. This is where I'd been two day's ago. And then it's a gentle descent down to Monterosso.
Later that evening, after 50cl of wine with my dinner, I found myself fully clothed asleep on the bed. I fell asleep again and woke up a second time. I was very exhausted, and, even though it was only 11.30pm, I felt as if I'd been asleep for hours.