Cinque Terre
Trip Start
Sep 25, 2008
1
25
36
Trip End
Ongoing
Riomaggiore,
Italian Riviera,
Italy
Friday, February 20, 2009
2/20-2/21
We arrived in Riomaggiore, which is one of 5 small fishing towns, collectively called Cinque Terre at about 1ish. The train ride there was pretty amazing as we got closer. Sweeping beautiful views of the Mediterranean, plants that were green, cliffs, it was just wonderful. When we arrived we went searching for our hotel. We went about it kind of backwards and wandered up all the way to the top of the town. I still can't believe I walked that high up. All five towns are basically set into cliffs, so it was really high for me to be up there. When we got to our hotel, no one was there. There was a note to call a number and someone would come. That's when we found out my French cell phone doesn't work in Italy. We banged on the door, rang the doorbell, and looked around to no avail. We had all our bags and were exhausted. I decided to search out a payphone while Jason waited in case someone showed up. The first one I found only took Italian phone cards, which of course we didn't have. I went back and we decided to just start wandering. We stumbled upon another phone booth that did take coins and we were able to get in contact with the owner of the hotel. She'd be back at 2, after lunch of course. In Italy, as in France, most things shut down for their two hour lunch. The weather was beautiful, so we got some focaccia bread, a specialty of the region, and chilled out on a bench for awhile. At about 2ish we hiked back up the hill to our hotel. There we met a teenaged boy, who told us he had our room key, and "I take you to the beach!" We headed back the same direction we had come, and had no idea where he was taking us. When we initially had booked the hotel we asked for a room with a view, and it turns out our room was actually a little apartment that looked over the little beach/harbor. It was probably the most amazing view I have ever had from a hotel room. It was truly amazing. We even found postcards of our town with that view on them.
After we settled in, we went to the train station and got Cinque Terre cards. The five towns are connected by train, so the pass covered unlimited train rides, plus access to the hiking paths. You can hike between all five towns in about 5-6 hours, but we weren't really willing to do that, plus some of the paths were closed for the off-season. We headed to the farthest town first, Monterosso. It is the biggest of the 5. There we walked along the beach and walked around in the cute little town area. They also have a gigantic sculpture carved out of a cliff that was pretty amazing. We got espressos at a beachside café. It was probably the best coffee I have ever had. On a side note, coffees in Italy are crazy tiny. First if all they come in a tiny cup, which is only half full, if even. They are super strong though, so they give you a good kick start.
After Monterosso we took the train to the next town, Vernazza. It was once again, absolutely beautiful. Imagine a calendar of Italy, and it was just like that. Little fishing boats were everywhere, the harbor was beautiful. We actually saw fishermen out fishing. We watched the sunset here as well. Every little town has an adorable little church with a clock tower too. I don't know if there is anywhere else like it.
After it got dark we took the train to the next town, Corniglia. By this time it was really dark out, and the town didn't seem to be near the train station. It also seemed pretty dead. We wandered a little in the direction, but decided to turn around and take the train back to Riomaggiore. We ended up waiting at the train station for about an hour, but it wasn't a big deal.
Back in Riomaggiore we changed and headed out to dinner. We ate at a little place called La Lampara. Seafood, big surprise, is also a specialty of the region, which was no good for me, but Jason got a big platter of various fried seafood. Some of them still had eyes, uugh. I got pasta with eggplant that melted in your mouth, Mmmm. We got dessert and wine, and it was a delicious first meal in Italy.
The next day we did a short easy hike from Riomaggiore to Manarola, also known as Lovers' Lane. It was about 1km and basically along a cliff. I was pretty uneasy the whole time, due to my fear of heights, but other than that is was beautiful. The weather was perfect, the sun shining, the water perfectly blue, heavenly. All sorts of plants grow on the side of the cliffs, there are even cacti! At one part they have a sculpture of the supposed two lovers. One thing we noticed there, and then saw at other spots in Italy, was that there were tons of locks attached to the railings. Tons and tons of them. There also was a ton of graffiti on the rocks and walls on the walk. People even carved things onto the cacti. It was mostly blah blah loves blah blah. Jason did not want to graffiti, so we didn't add to it. When we got to Manarola we walked around again, another tiny cute fishing village. Only about 850 people live there, but it seemed to be where most of the winemaking was done. They had vineyards climbing dizzying heights up the side of the hills. They also have tons of lemon trees there. They are known for their Limoncello. Side note once again, all five towns are actually a national park. We spent the day just relaxing. We went back to Monterosso, and we actually tried a shot of the Limoncello in a shop and relaxed. I got some gelato too. We had to head back to Riomaggiore afterwards in order to catch our train to Florence. Overall, Cinque Terre was a really amazing place. It was so beautiful and relaxing. It was a really nice first stop on our tour of Italy.
Next Stop: Florence
