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Published: April 23rd 2012
Picturesque coastline
The town of Vernazza in the Cinque TerreAfter five days in Rome, it was time to head north along the coast to the Cinque Terre (saturday 6th June), but first I had decided to stop off in Pisa to check out the Campo del Miracoli (Field of Miracles) where the Cathedral, Battistero and Campanile - better known as the Leaning Tower - were located. Despite nearly missing my train from Rome to Pisa beause the authorities at Trenitalia had once again decided to switch the platform for my train at the last minute; I managed to make it to Pisa and find my way to the Campo del Miracoli with no further problems - at which point I was just as shocked by the sight of the entire square being covered in grass (surely the first town I have seen in Europe where this is the case) as I was by the angle of the Leaning Tower itself.
Unfortunately having left myself only fifteen minutes to get back across town for my train from Pisa to the Cinque Terre, I made the fateful decision to take a 'scenic' route back - which resulted in me getting so completely disoriented that by the time I figured out where
Walking the 'Lovers' Way'
The opening stretch of the Via dell'Amore I was forty-five minutes later, I had managed to do a complete circuit of the town and ended up on the other side of the old town wall that ran behind the Campo del Miracoli - meaning I was further away from the train station than I had been when I started out! :-(
Thankfully a helpful Italian man was able to give me directions back to the train station - at which point I discovered that one of the street signs that I had followed in the first place pointing the way to the Ferrovia (train station), was in fact pointing in exactly the opposite direction to where the train station actually was! Not surprisingly I was relieved just to make it to the small town of Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre a couple of hours later, where I had booked a bed in a guesthouse for the weekend.
The next day I had hoped to walk the entire length of the Via dell Amore (Lovers Way), which is an incredibly picturesque path running alongside the coastline for about twelve kilometres, from Riomaggiore in the south all the way to Monterossa in the north; connecting all five
Rocky path
The coastline around Manorola towns of the Cinque Terre (hence the name, meaning 'five towns'😉. Unfortunately though, with the weather being windy and surprisingly cold when I set out, I decided to leave my towel behind in favour of a pair of long pants - and sure enough within twenty minutes I was covered in sweat and wishing I had brought my towel to go for a swim!
Despite this setback, it was nice to be blessed with a pleasant day for what was a most enjoyable - and reasonably strenous - four-hour trek along the coastline. From Riomaggiore it was only about a half-hour-walk to Manorola, followed by a full hour's walk to Corniglia (which unlike each of the other towns is actually perched high up above the water and therefore has no harbour); and from there it took another hour to reach the most attractive part of the trek - the descent into Vernazza, where part of the town (including a small fortress) sits on a small rocky outcrop jutting out into the sea.
After watching enviously as people frolicked happily in the water, I continued on to tackle the final hour-and-a-quarter stretch to Monterossa, where after stopping for a
Straight stretch of coastline
Looking ahead towards Corniglia beer, a sandwich, a pizza and an ice cream, I gave into temptation and found a perfect spot to go for a swim and then lie on the cement afterwards to dry off. And thankfully having well-and-truly tired myself out on the way there, I was able to take a train back to Riomaggiore - just in time to grab a beer and head down to the waterfront to watch my final sunset in Italy.
Monday brought yet another farcical Italian travel moment, when after first taking a train from Riomaggiore to Genoa - where I had a one-and-a-half hour wait for my connecting train to Nice in the south of France - I picked up a map of the city from the tourist office and decided to set off on a whirlwind tour of Genoa on foot! Once again biting off far more than I could chew, I left myself with less than ten minutes to get from the Cathedral to the train station, collect my backpack from the left luggage counter, and make it onto the train. But make it I did - at which point I was sweating so profusely that I had to towel myself
down and change clothes before I could bare to face the fellow passengers in my compartment!
After connecting trains again in Ventimiglia (on the Italian /French border), I finally crossed into France - at which point the scenery became more and more impressive as the train wound it's way along the Cote d'Azur (Azure Coast); passing beautiful bays and beaches every step of the way. And not surprisingly given the continued hot, sunny weather, my first order of business after checking into my hostel in Nice was a trip to the picturesque (though pebbly) beach on the Baie des Anges - where an entrepreneurial young man criss-crossing the beach selling cold beer out of a plastic bag completed my French riviera experience!
The next day I first took a train to Monaco about thirty minutes away to the east, to check out where the rich and famous live in total luxury (and surrounded by beautiful scenery) in their own tiny little tax haven of a country; and then took another train one hour to the west to Cannes (where equally rich and famous film stars all gather for the Cannes film festival once a year) where I contented
Rocky headland
Approaching Vernazza from above myself with a swim at the rather modest public beach. Back in Nice that evening, I headed up to 'Le Chateau' - a hill overlooking the city of Nice and the gentle curve of the Baie des Anges, before going for a wander through the atmospheric streets of the old town at the base of the hill.
My final day on the Cote d'Azur brought another day-trip to Monaco, since I had failed to actually see any of the attractions I had gone there to see the previous day! Having said that, after seeing the Prince´s Palace and Monaco Cathedral - both of which were suitably impressive - I had to admit that the views of the harbour and coastline from the many vantage points up on the hill were definately the highlight of my visit. Returning to Nice, I got off the train two stations early at a place called Villafranche-sur-Mer ('Mer' meaning 'sea' in French), where a beautiful bay harboured a lovely crescent-shaped beach which I had already seen from the train many times, and where I couldn´t help but make my way down to the water for a late-afternoon swim.
After spending my first three
The final stretch
Monterossa's gently curving bay days in the south of France on the Cote d'Azur, I then headed a couple of hours west to Marseille - where my first order of business was to take a bus to a small coastal town nearby named Cassis, which both Cloe and Yohan (my two French flatmates in Perth) had told me was one of the most beautiful towns in all of France. And while only time will tell whether I end up agreeing with their assessment, I certainly wasn't disappointed! The town centre is set behind a small but picturesque harbour, which is bordered on one side by a lovely white sand beach, that in turn leads to a hill with a modest castle perched on top - one that would no doubt provide a perfect view of Cassis... if it were open to the public that is!
And as if the town itself weren't enough of an attraction in it's own right, it's location on the coast is adjacent to an equally picturesque stretch of coastline known as Les Calanques, which are a series of fjord-like inlets and promontories rising dramatically from the sea. And for twenty euros I was able to take a ninety
Beach town
Monterossa, at the end of the Via dell'Amore minute boat tour of Les Calanques - which despite being most impressive for this part of Europe, could not even come close to matching the spectacular fjords of western Norway. After hopping off the boat and heading straight back to the beach to while away another hour or so in the sun and sea, I then headed back to the bus stop for my trip back to Marseille - only to discover that I had missed the last bus back from Cassis for the day!
And as fate would have it a Korean couple had also missed the last bus, so after convincing them that there was a train station about three kilometres out of town - despite the protestations of a bus driver who insisted there was no train station in Cassis - we set off into the countryside through a seemingly endless array of vineyards. Eventually, about forty-five minutes after leaving the town of Cassis, we finally arrived at Cassis train station - and then laughed our arses off when the oldest, slowest train any of us had ever seen rolled slowly into the station a few minutes later...!
Having seen none of Marseille the previous
day, I spent my second day there making up for lost time. After first checking out a nearby church/cathedral that was almost identical to the one in Nice, I then headed to the port where I was greeted by a sea of sails, as the entire harbour is crammed with sailboats from one end to the other. From the port I made my way north to the massive Cathedral Nouvelle de la Major; before heading across to the other side of the harbour to tackle the steep climb up to the magnificent Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, which stands high up on the crest of a hill overlooking the port, and dominates views of the city's skyline. But as good as the view was looking up at the Basilica from the port, it was nothing compared to the magnificent panorama offered from the basilica itself.
After working up quite a sweat on my way up to the basilica - which despite appearing quite large from below was deceptively small inside - I headed back down the other side of the hill, where I soon found myself gazing out over the perfect beach at which to soak away my
Azure waters
Sunlight glistening off the Mediterranean Sea exhaustion. In fact I enjoyed my time there so much that despite having left the hostel at eleven o´clock in the morning, I didn´t return until half-past-eight in the evening - which gave me just enough time to cook up a quick pasta dinner and then get to the bus station for my overnight bus to Barcelona.
p.s. My sincerest apologies for only including pictures from Pisa and the Cinque Terre with this blog, but the rest of my week's worth of Mediterranean photos was lost forever when my camera (amongst other things) was stolen from the beach in Barcelona recently. But that's a story for another day, and another travel blog...
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