14th June 2000 Cinque Terre
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2000
1
49
81
Trip End
Aug 09, 2000
Cinque Terre,
Italy
Thursday, June 26, 2003
An early start today as we decided to spend the day at the Cinque Terre. Away at 7.30, we made it to La Spezia by 9.30. That was the easy part. In La Spezia, we became jammed in the middle of a maze of one way streets, with a cliff face sealing off one section of the city. The section we needed. Where the railway station is. It explains why the map shows the city as having a rather defined right angled shape. We were stuck on one side in a mass of very narrow one way streets, jam packed with parked cars. Eventually made it out, and declinng Ches's suggestion to ask three carloads of police for instructions, drove up a road reserved for buses and taxis, and eventually into the road that represented the other right angle of the cities boundary. We ducked into the back streets, and easily found a parking spot. There had to be a catch. It turned out to be a section with the highest meter charges. Ches asked for advice in a shop, and eventually half the neighbourhood helped us locate a parking spot in another side street, and a ticket machine that could issue the ticket and actually worked. Ches had to get out of the car before I could drive into the spot (angle parked-and everyone uses a different angle). I could get out, but I don't know how anyone else was going to get back into their cars they were so close together. We were only a couple of blocks from the railway station, and as we climbed the staircase, discovered there is plenty of parking right there at the station.
We bought tickets to Monterosso al Mare, the most northerly of the Cinque Terre towns. We had decided to catch the boat from here to Vernazza, have lunch, catch the boat again to Manarola, passing Corniglia on the way, and then walk to Riomaggiore. Now I know most people try to walk at least two or three towns, and we ran into a number of people who walked the entire coast that day, and the views are stunning, etc, etc. etc. What with Ches's knee acting up, the fact that we had a two hour drive to get home and just wanting to spend some time enjoying the atmosphere of a town, we decided on the above option.
On the platform at La Spezia, we were standing near three young Australian backpackers. We boarded the same carriage, and one of the guys and I exchanged a typical Australian "How yer goin". My Sydney University Rugby cap was the giveaway. An elderly Italian woman sat in the corner seat, hitched up her skirt, and spread her legs. Not a good look!
Half an hour saw us at Monterosso. The station is actually at a resort "beach" just around the headland from the village. Primarily a long bebbly/coarse sand beach, it is packed with deck chairs lined up in rows, inside roped off areas. A few people occupy the general beach, but the majority hire deck chairs and one of the bathing boxes in rows at the back of the beach. This was pretty standard on the beaches south of Amalfi as well. They have a deck built out over the beach, often at just below the level of the road that runs along the beach. It is on pylons, and on the deck are rows of litttle changing rooms. They hire the room, to change in, and store their gear while on the beach. There are showers on the steps leading up to the change rooms. If we did it at Bondi Beach, there would be changing boxes all the way back to Bondi Junction.
We walked around the headland to the main village, and were immediatly struck by the fact that the railway line actually runs accross the front of the village, 7 metres or so above ground level, on pylons. In fact, it is so similar to The Quay in Sydney, we figured there must be sister movements to have them torn down. Many fishing boats are drawn up on the small beach in front of the village, and what with the railway line and the tall buildings across the first street, it isn't much to look at, and must be difficult to look out of. On this particular day, half the narrow streets were being, or already were dug up, to replace water and sewage pipes. We couldn't get into most streets, and the noise was deafening in others. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. We bought our ticket for the boat, having determined that you can break your journey once, in traveling the whole way to La,Spezia. We made the trip to Vernazza in about 10 minutes. There were several sensational cruisers moored off shore, and a round castle tower sits on the end of the short spit that has been extended in a curve to form a breakwater. Sunbathers: mainly backpackers from all corners of the globe, were on the rocks of the breakwater. Ches thinks it would be a great experience to lie on her stomach on a rock in the sun!!!!!
At then end of the day, we figure we lucked out. To our way of thinking, this is the best of the villages. Now we never set foot in either Corniglia or Manarola, but I will explain. Inside the breakwater, the fishing boats, which are primarily around 5 metre dinghies, are moored in lines, and enough beach is left free for the few bathers and waders. The dinghies are largely fairly new, but the double prow design is still used. Using outboards might have presented stability problems, because I noted that quite a number have had a flat "plaining" board attached at water level around the stern section. The idea is that as the power of the outboard forces the stern down into the water (and the bow up into the air), these "plaining" boards resist the downward pressure and allow the boat to remain flat in the water. The regular design of a boat has the stern squared off, so it doesn't sit down in the water as dramatically.
From the launching ramp, the foreshore flattens out into a semicircle of restaurants and cafes, and on the far left hand side is the main church. It is extremely large for such a small town, and not for the first or last time, we were struck by the thought that some very poor people struggled for an existance along this coast for many centuries, but still managed to fund such a huge church. Then again, I also get the feeling that despite all my perceptions/preconceptions about the church, it probably was the equivalent of the "welfare" system in its time. Whatever...... some very small villages have some huge structures. Most are looking their age, and the fact that renovations are few and far between, would seem to suggest that todays congregations are not as forthcoming in funding, as their predecessors in building them. Whatever .....this church has competition from another, perhaps 30 metres above it, on the side of the cliff. The theory is that either another "order" decided to compete for the hearts and souls of the village, or those higher up the cliff face didn't want to have to climb the cliff steps every day, and build another church higher up. The end result is that these two churches compete in ringing in the hour and half hour throughout the day. My watch had been in conflict with church bells for many weeks, so I set it to Cinque Terre time. You don't realy need a watch in Italy. Churches everywhere ring the hour and half hour, and you are never out of earshot of a church bell, even in the most rugged of mountain country.
Back of the plazza on the foreshore, are tiers of houses and cottages rising up the slopes in a horseshoe around it. Initially, we just found a bench seat on the pathway that runs from the landing stage at the end of the spit to the foreshore, sat down, and drank in the atmosphere. The occasional fisherman came and went, but primarily, this town now makes its living from tourism. The cliffs for the length of the Cinque Terre are terraced, and produce grapes. I assume this is still important to the landowners, however the villagers must make more from renting out rooms to backpackers, and in catering to the tourist trade. On this one day, many hundreds of people were processed through each of the villages, and in Mineral Water and Gelato alone, had to have left behind at least L5,000 per head. We left considerably more, because we discovered a restaurant at the very top of the cliff with views of the town and coast, that were too good to deny. The food was pretty good as well, but more of that shortly.
Monday 26th June 2000
It has been such a hectic fortnight that I am falling further and further behind.
Ches and I sat for about half an hour taking in the passing parade. I then decided that as we were to be here for about three hours, I would walk up onto the cliff face on the path leading to Corniglia. Leaving Ches on a bench seat, on the pathway from the boatramp to the breakwater, I set out up the path to the right of the village. Immediatly I found myself in a wide street that runs around behind all the buildings on the foreshore. It is lined with shops, both touristico, and useful. By that I mean there are at least two gelataria, as well as alementari, fruit and vegetable stores etc.. It also leads up to the railway station, where, as I approached, I discovered a sign pointing off to the right and up, indicating the path to Corniglia. I had barely climbed above the roof level of the houses at the bottom of the village, before the houses built into the cliff face had what small plots of land that were available terraced to level them off, and planted with tomatoes and other vegies for the kitchen. I continued to climb. I began to pause and look at the view of the town below. I continued to climb. I continued to pause. I stopped giving commentary on the video, but you can hear me panting. As it transpires, (as I perspired, in 30 degree plus temperatures), this could be the steepest climb on the entire length of the Cinque Terre. Once you reach the path that leads around the cliff to Corniglia, it remains at that height almost the rest of the way to Riomagigiore. This is because Corniglia is way above the sea, and Manarola, once you descend into the town is at the same height as Riomaggiore. I met a couple of Northern Eurpoeans in their early fifties, at the top of the staircase, as I was returning at about 12.45 pm. They had already walked from Monterosso to Vernazza. When we arrived at Riomagiore at 3.30 pm, they were just coming down the path. By my estimates, they walked the length of the Cinque Terre in about four and a half hours. I can't imagine they had much time to stop and smell the flowers (or more importantly, taste the gelato). Cheryl says I wear my stomach on my sleeve.
Anyway, I hadn't yet met them. I had just reached the top of the steps. I was amazed, between gasps for breath, when I noticed a movement behind some green shade cloth, that was wrapped around posts on the side of the cliff, and discovered that it was a chicken pen. I assume that the sun and wind must be so extreme, that they have to be permanently enclosed in these pens. Either that, or they suffer from a degree of vertigo as severe as my own. Like, I wouldn't even go in to collect the eggs. As Ches just said, "where else are they supposed to keep them, they would fall off the cliff". I could learn to live without eggs. There are alternatives to Spaghetti Carbonara. But I digress! Again!!!
Faboulous views up and down the coast from this path. As you are just leaving Vernazza, there are views down into the village itself, and up the coast to Monterosso and beyond. Facing soutb, the views are primarily of the Mediterranean and the terraced cliff faces, until you have completed a gradual climb along the path for about five hundred metres (or a thousand). From here you can see to Cornigla, which is perched high above the sea. I walked this far, but had to turn back as I was due to meet Ches at 1.00 pm for lunch. I stripped off my shirt which was pretty wet, and exposed a gross body to the young hikers as I retraced my steps to the top of the staircase down to Vernazza. Right at the top of the staircase, I discovered a restaurant which had views down into the town and up the coast to Monterosso. I decided this was where we had to have lunch. Half way down the steps, I discovered that there was a shortcut into the village. A very steep staircase lead down through cottages, many of which appear to have been converted into small apartments for tourists. It comes out in the village, midway around the street that runs in back of the foreshore.
Ches was still sitting where I had left her. She said she had spent half an hour looking at the path on the cliff face for me when I left, and had become worried when I never appeared. She had been looking at the path back to Monterosso, not on to Corniglia. I made up for it, by hauling her to the top of the staircase to the restaurant I had discovered. The dining area is a terrace, shaded by about a dozen large beach umbrellas held together by wires stretched over them. Very rustic. The four regular tables with the best views were already occupied, so we elected to sit at a log table and tressle seat just inside the entrance. We had to sit side by side, and balance our glasses on the rough surface, but we had a view that wll be hard to beat anywhere. We looked down into the village, and along its seaward side to the garden terraces of the "smarter" residences, and the round stone castle tower on the end of the spit. The garden terraces had lawns with deck chairs, and below them was a grotto that cuts through the cliff into the back street of the village. Further up the coast were the two huge luxury cruisers moored offshore, and Monterosso.
We shared an extremely large plate of Bruschetta. It was without doubt, and by a country mile, the best Bruschetta we have ever eaten. The bread had been fried crisp in olive oil and garlic, and we piled tomatoes and basil on top. We then shared an enormous terracotta bowl of mussles (cooked in white wine, tomatoes and parsley) and another of Penne and Shrimp. Again washed down with the house red, and aqua minerale frizzante. We have reached the conclusion that if you have more money than sense, or are a greater wine snob than I, you could select a bottle from the wine list at any restaurant in Italy and be no better off than the "vino de casa". At $A5.00 ($US3.00) a litre jug, they prove that no country on earth produces better value daily drinking wine.
We dragged ourselves away, and made it to the "jetty" for the 3.00 pm boat to Riomaggiore. Having already climbed the cliff and had a good walk, we decided that as time was getting away from us, we would take the boat right through, rather than walk the last leg from Manarola. As it turned out, as we passed from Manarola to Riomaggiore, it looked to be the least exciting of the paths. We will probably take a train direct from Siena, later in our holiday, to spend more time in Corniglia and Manarola. For now, faced with a long drive home, we caught the train from Riomaggiore to La Speza, where we retreived our car. As we walked from the station to the car, we stopped to refil our water bottle from a street fountain. Again we experienced the sort of help and hospitality that is becoming pretty common in Italy. Three guys were chatting in the street, and one noticed us begin to fill the bottle. He shook his head as he approached, and mimed that we should pour it out, let the water run till it was cold, then refill the bottle. Just a little thing, but special.
Now the real adventure began. How to drive out of La Spezia. To cut a long story short, we found the entrance to the autostrada, but I misunderstood, thinking it was the entrance to the north bound section. I took an offramp immediatly, and we spent an hour or more driving south on a minor road that ran through every little village from La Speaia to Cararra. Scenic views of the mountains of marble, but very slow. What I hadn't appreciated was that the entrance to the autostrada is most often the same for both directions. It is only after you collect your ticket from the booth, that the road splits for either direction. Anyway, we managed to get back on to the autostrada down Carara/Massa way, and stayed on it till close to Pescia. Back up the valley and mountain to Villano.
