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Published: January 26th 2008
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If any place in the world can be described as truly picturesque, the Cinque Terre would certainly lay claim to the title. I have never felt my breath taken from me as often as I did over the five glorious days we spent here. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I’m ever likely to see in my lifetime.
In the quest for a solid dose of sunshine before the long British winter looming, we flew into Pisa. We were thrilled to arrive to a balmy evening and immediately stripped off our layers of clothes to take full advantage of the warmth. First thing in the morning, we made the mandatory stop to see the leaning tower and confirmed sure enough, it leans (whoever would have imagined???) Unlike the thousands of tourists surrounding us, we managed to overcome the urge to take cheesy photos of us holding the tower up, instead amusing ourselves looking at all the buildings on the site and the varied angles at which they’re now suspended due to their continued sinking! After wandering through Pisa city itself (stopping off to buy some grapes from the local market which are THE best grapes I’ve ever
eaten) we spent an afternoon in the nearby town of Lucca, an old city with its walls still intact. Having reacquainted ourselves with the true delight of Italian gelato, we wandered about the town marvelling at the spirit of Italia etched into every nook and cranny of this picturesque place.
Our next stopover for the evening was La Spezia, a city more famed for its proximity to the Cinque Terre than any charm of its own, according to our trusty guidebook. However, we quickly discovered La Spezia to be a very cute little town with a meandering main street winding all the way from the train station to the water. We found a charming trattoria where staff spoke next to no English. Hence, we were not surprised in the least when our order of pasta (?) ended up being a meat and cheese selection with bread. Coupled with good wine, it was one of tastiest dinners we’d had in ages!
The real highlight was our time spent in the Cinque Terre. Literally translating to five towns, this is a beautiful stretch of fishing villages joined by a hiking trail wrapping around the coast. The entire 7-mile stretch can
be walked in a day if one is feeling 'gung ho' (as was clearly demonstrated by the very professional looking German tourists, armed with walking poles and the very latest of high-tech hiking boots, who marched along the trails at high speed) . The real joy for us though was our slow discovery of the many charms on offer in these picturesque little towns. The first, Riomaggiore, with its very steep main street leading from a cliff top walk over the beach to the town church at its highest point, was so removed from everything that resembled the 'modern' world. It was such a chilled out little place to hideaway. We spent our evening wining and dining on the terrace of our B & B, having picked up a dinner of calzone from one of the local stores, along with some fantastic red wine of course!
The 20minutes walk from Riomaggiore to the next town, Manarola, is called ‘Via dell'Amore', and is famed for the point midway where lovers come to attach a padlock to the fence, supposedly securing their love forever (mind you we arrived lockless so will leave the fate of our love to the gods instead!)
The path itself is the easiest walk of all but is stunningly beautiful. The ease of the walk really let you soak in the scenary enroute to the tiny but lovely town of Manarola. The second of the villages displays the strongest signs of the importance of fishing to the survival of this once small and isolated region-before tourism became its main lifeforce. Boats lined each side of the street from the town entrance down to the sea. It was in this little town we sampled the best foccacia EVER-initially created in this region and one of the region's many claims to fame.
The third of the towns, Corniglia, is most famed for its wine production with slopes covered with vineyards as far as the eye can see. The locally produced wine 'sciacchetra' is simply to die for. It is so delicious-there are no words to describe the sweet flavour. Needless to say I could have drunk it by the bottle-full but at an exorbitant 8 euro per glass, it was back to the wine for me!
Vernazza was probably the most touristy but also the most picturesque of the five villages. The focal point of the town
is its small harbour where we spent quite a bit of time simply soaking in the sun and watching the locals going about their daily routines. The walk from here to the final town of Monterosso was also the most stunning, and most difficult, of the coastal stretch. We chose the perfect time of day to do it, with sunset closing in and the sky turning a myriad of colours as each minute passed. There were also few people enroute between towns at this time of day so it almost felt as though we were alone at the edge of the world staring out at the most beautiful horizon you could ever imagine. It was simply magic.
Monterosso is the 'beachy' town of the five, the only one to lay claim to a sandy cove. It was lovely to lay on the sand for abit though I must confess, it doesn't quite come close to the amazing beaches back in the land of Aus. Still though, after hours spent walking around the cobbled streets, eating pesto pasta and every flavour of gelato, it was lovely to sit on soft sand and listen to waves crashing again-even if it was
a bit too cold for either of us to jump in!
Leaving this part of the world, we were probably the two most relaxed people you could hope to find. Despite its popularity with tourists, this region has managed to maintained a strong sense of itself and is proud to boast of its beauty and creations. Leaving here was so sad-it is the kind of place where one could possibly imagine staying forever. I have certainly discovered one of my most favourite places in the whole world.
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