Eurotrip 2011 – Pisa & Cinque Terre, 29 Apr -1 May

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We set off from Rome to Pisa to see the famous leaning tower of Pisa on route to Cinque Terre. Our Eurail pass allowed us to hop off at Pisa, do a half day sight seeing and hop on back to the train. We came to realize during planning that Eurail passes doesn’t save you much money in Italy unless you travel long distances (>3hrs). This is because, even with a Eurail Pass, you still need to pay 10 Euros to reserve a seat on the fast trains. You will be better off buying a point to point ticket.

We did what all tourists do at the tower which was to take pictures with each of us trying to support the tower. Silly but what the heck, we were here. Later on, we heard sirens and the area just beneath the tower was cordoned off by the Italian police. Seems someone jumped off the tower. An apparent eye witness, an Italian guy dressed in purple was explaining to the police what he saw. I don’t understand the language but from his gesturing and body language, it appears that was what that happened.

We went to the café nearby on the other side of the tower to have some cappuccino and people watch. Cool temperatures, warm sun, hot cappuccino and a nice view of the tower, it was great.

I first came to know about Cinque Terre from one of Rick Steve’s travel guidebook. It mentioned a series of 5 towns separated by hiking paths between them with wonderful views of the coast and dramatic overhanging cliffs. Each town is also interesting to explore with its narrow alleyways, colourful buildings and vineyards surrounding the towns on the cliffs. We arrive in Vernazza in the evening. This is where we will stay for the next 2 nights. We arrived at our accommodation after climbing 4 flights of stairs with our backpacks and realized our landlady wasn’t around. Apparently we arrived 1 hour earlier than what we stated in our email. Not a big problem, we waited downstairs for a while and we were met by a motherly Italian woman who spoke no English but we managed to communicate through our gestures and body language. It was a little comical but we liked her. Her attic was refurbished to house travelers like us. The room was small but it had everything we needed and with her delicious homemade cookies and coffee for breakfast, we felt it was good value in the popular town of Vernazza.

We hiked from Vernazza to Corniglia and the view of Vernazza from the hiking path was stunning. The air was fresh and crisp making it a wonderful day to hike and burn off the calories from our pizzas and spaghetti. Unfortunately, the easier hiking path from Corniglia to Manarola was closed probably due to possible rock fall or landslide. We took a short train ride to Manarola where we had delicious seafood spaghetti for lunch before hiking up a hill to have a breathtaking view of Manarola. We sat on the benches which overlooked the town and enjoyed the view until we were ready to hike to Riomaggiore. On our way we saw nets set up to safe guard hikers from falling rocks. On the nets were numerous locks which I believed were left by people. Upon further reading on the internet, I realize this route is also known as the Love’s Trail where people leave locks behind as a symbol of love. We took a train to Monterosso to finish the last and longest hike back to our home base Vernazza. Monterosso is most like a resort with a beach for people to sunbathe. It is also where the big boats depart from for cruises along the Cinque Terre. The 2 hr + hike was still manageable and we had freshly squeezed lemonade to drink to power us up. We completed the hike to Vernazza just as the sun set on our little town providing more amazing views and photos to take home. I liked Vernazza and Manorola most for their amazing views and colour. The shops are nice to explore and the seafood here is great.

The next day, it was time to leave this place for Switzerland. Before that, we got ourselves some pesto and the famous sciacchetra dessert wine for souvenirs to take along. We truly enjoyed Cinque Terre after the hustle and bustle of Rome. We received huge kisses from our animated landlady before we reluctantly said goodbye to this place. We left her some “White Coffee” for her to try.

It will take us 6 hours to reach Bern from Cinque Terre.

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