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Published: November 8th 2007
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Since we have proven that we can't really sit still for any long period of time on our Italian adventure, it was time to head for the train station once again. This time we headed for Cinque Terre, five charming villages on the Northwest coast of Italy. We trained to La Spezia and caught the commuter train to Riomaggiore - the southernmost village. The commute was a whopping 8 minutes! Welcomed after our two and a half hour ride to La Spezia.
When we were in Italy six years ago we visited Cinque Terre and met up with our good friends Jen and Sonny - so we have very fond memories! Note: November 1st is an Italian holiday...so the following weekend is 'pazzo' (crazy) for travel. Yeah, we didn't know that. We thought we'd have the place to ourselves since it's November and technically it is low season. Not the case. It was a very busy train ride and a busy day all around. That's okay - the sun is shining, it's in the 70's and the sky is perfectly blue (as is the water).
We get off the train in Riomaggiore and decide to take the 'Via dell'
Amore', the Walk of Love that winds you up the coast from Riomaggiore to Manarola (the second village). It is a beautiful walk along the sheer cliffs. Thankfully, the trail is mostly paved and very wide. It was just a spectacular day - the kind you hope for when you head for the coast on your last adventure. We arrived in Manarola, which is one of the smallest of the villages and decided to take a ferry to our favorite village of Vernazza. We wind our way down the streets of Manarola and notice that instead of cars parked in front of the houses there are boats! I wonder how they handle double parking?
After a short, but very sharply declining walk we are at the ferry station. Or at least what the lady at the ticket booth said was the ferry station. It was swarmed with tourists, so it had to be the right place, but elegant it was not. It was a hunk of asphalt laid over some very jagged rocks with one metal post sticking out where the boat tied up. It was very odd...no barriers, no gangway, just asphalt and sea waves lapping at your
feet. Hopefully the ferry comes BEFORE high tide. 😊
The ferry arrived and latched onto the asphalt slab and we boarded in the usual European fashion: no line, no order, no courtesy, lots of pushing and crowding. Things we will not miss when we are back in North America.
The ferry ride was gorgeous! Gus and I made our way to the back of the boat and were able to take some pretty fantastic pics of Manarola, the vineyards and Corniglia (the third village). It was really nice to be back out at sea again. Especially in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean. The ride took about 15 minutes and we enjoyed every second of the sun shining on our faces with the ocean breeze in our hair. Mmmmm...
Yay! We're in Vernazza! Time for lunch...yes, that is all we (the Rixlet and Jen) think about...food. We remember eating at this great little cafe up the main road. We hope it's still there and hope we'll remember it when we see it. We walk up most of the main drag in town past the gelaterias, souvenir stores (which Gus has coined as 'crap-a-rias' or 'tchotchke-rias') and ristorantes.
And THERE it is...up on the left, the Blue Marlin Cafe. Not the most Italian name, but who cares? The food is, or at least was, great! We choose a table outside because it would just be criminal to sit inside on a day like this and get our hands on some menus.
Since Cinque Terre is known for it's incredible basil, a pesto dish is a must! I order the pesto pizza and since Gus is feeling veggie-deprived (a side-effect of my pregnancy aversions) he orders the Blue Marlin salad. Did I mention they are known for their pesto? I forgot...when we sat down the waiter filled us in on the specials and the fact that they have NO bruscetta and NO PESTO! Huh? Isn't most pesto from Italy made here? I am perplexed and give the waiter a mildly hard time about that fact. And no bruschetta? Aren't we IN Italy? After he goes and double checks he finds out that the pesto has just arrived - whew - crisis averted. My pizza is incredible - thin, crispy crust with a slightly salty-sweet tomato sauce, fresh and buttery mozzarella all topped at the last minute with a
layer of pesto...mmmmmm. Gus's salad is divine! It is a base of butter lettuce, tomatoes, corn, oil-packed Italian tuna and some incredible fresh hard-boiled eggs. The yolks of the eggs are gold and gorgeous, a yolk color you just don't see back home. And then we ate! It was perfetto!
Now that we have fed our stomachs, time to feast the eyes on our surroundings. We bid farewell to the Blue Marlin Cafe and hit the streets of Vernazza. We hike up hill to find the scenic bus tour stop but find that the bus runs only every hour...no good. So we're off on foot to find the trail to Monterosso (the fifth village). We head back towards the water and take a detour to go and check out the views from behind the church right at the edge of town along the water. Pretty nice. We find the trailhead and find out it's a 2 hour hike and we are sane enough to realize that you really only need to go about 30 minutes in before the views get insane! You hike - uphill - to some great cliff-side vantage points. We didn't do this hike last time
we were here, so it was nice to get some new views of Vernazza. We couldn't resist and took some prego pics on the side of a cliff - getting up and down from where I was standing was "interesting", no more rock climbing while prego. I turned around after about 30 minutes because it was toasty and a little too sunny and a little too uphill for me. Gus continued on and got to some pretty gorgeous cliffside pics.
When I left Gus I headed back to town and rewarded all my uphill/downhill stair and trail workout with some gelato (what else?). I sat on a park bench and people watched for a while. It was a nice break and the gelato was some of the best I've had all trip. I also tried the town well water which runs constantly from a spigot in the middle of town. Mmmm...nothing like cold, fresh water after chocolate gelato. I think I drank a gallon!
Gus and I met up back down by the water and he showed me his pics from his Jen-free adventure. The pictures are, of course, gorgeous and well-composed! Such a sweet and talented hubby!
I "convince" Gus to get a gelato and we park it on the same bench. After cooling off and letting our feet recuperate we decide to take the train back to Riomaggiore to explore a bit. We decide that because Monterosso is the biggest village with a lot of hotels it will most likely be too packed to enjoy. We take the 12 minute ride south and walk through the passageway to the center of town. As we start walking up the main street we realize that this was where we stayed last time. We tried to find our "hotel", but there are so many nooks and crannies that we soon give up. Instead we head uphill to watch the ocean and the sunset, first from the south side of town and then from the north. And let me tell you, the hike between the two is not for the faint of heart! The stairs are on an insane incline! I can guarantee that no resident needs the Buns of Steel workout videos!
The sunset is marvelous reflecting off the ocean. The breeze is getting chilly, but we don't mind, we just sit closer together. 😊 After sunset
we headed back into town to find some dinner before heading back on the train to Florence. Gus got a hunk of focaccia slathered with pesto....mmmmmm. And I got a slice of spinach tort - yeah, the BEST spinach tort I have ever had in my life. I would LOVE to meet the owner of the snack bar I bought it from and 'borrow' the recipe. I will definitely try to replicate it at home. Yummy!
After our glorious day in Cinque Terre, we boarded the train for home...er...Firenze.
Ciao ciao!
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Had to stop by and leave a comment that you took some beautiful photos!!! Had to rate a few...Keep blogging!!!!