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Published: June 21st 2007
Vernazza
One of the best views of this small town. I think the picture says it all. There was a quick stop on the way to Cinque Terre at Pisa, famous of course for the leaning tower. The city is pretty tacky, and doesn't have much else to offer, but it was funny to see all the guys selling goods illegaly sprint off at the sight of cops. I bought a nice leather wallet from a merchant there... one of the legal ones that is.
Cinque Terre is pure heaven. There's little I can say to describe the scenery I saw, so for that, I'll just give you more photos to ogle over. As for the experience, that was also out of this world. Cinque Terre is a grouping of five small towns, just minutes by train from La Spezia. As I understand it, they were originally built on the rugged coastline, because it afforded better protection from pirates. The towns are accessible only by train or boat, and no vehicles, except for the public buses can drive through them. Also, they have not yet been discovered by the hordes of tourists in Italy (although that will soon change), so it was a nice break from the bustle of the bigger cities.
I booked a
Duomo in Pisa
Name says it all. hostel in Riomaggiore, the first town from La Spezia, because I wanted to be right in the middle of the action. Wow, I was not disappointed! My hostel was right off of the main street in the town and about 2 minutes from a beach. The marina there was spectacular as was the beach, where I spent the afternoon of my first day, relaxing after a late night and the bus ride. Later in the day, I hiked through Riomaggiore to get some stunning views of the mountains and the town.
When I got back to the hostel, I met my roomates, four Canadians (Toni, Stacey, Nick, and Chris) and an American (Mike). They were all really cool and laid back. We had a great time that night in the hostel, playing drinking games. One such game, called Ooglie Booglie (originally Australian), consisted of branding someone's face with a burnt cork if they couldn't challenge someone properly with a tongue-twister (that's what the black marks in the pic are). We checked out one of two bars in town, Bar Centrale, but it closed pretty early. That was probably a good thing, because we planned to do the five hour
Cheese Galore
Had to put this one in or I wouldn't be a true tourist. hike the next day.
Four of us headed out early the next day for the hike. It's a grueling trek over mountains that is only 12km, but consists of too many steps to count, with steep climbs and descents. We took the train to Monterosso (the last town) first, to do the hard part before the heat of the day set in. From there we made our way to Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and back to Riomaggiore. The hike is basically one big giant stairmaster. It was worth the effort though and I had some great conversations with my roomates and some other Canadians we met on the way. I ran into a guy going into medical school at Ottawa U, and a guy in dentistry at U of Toronto. This part of the trip was certainly up there for being the best time I've had so far.
For dinner that night, I bought some food from the local markets and cooked up some pasta with pesto, tomatoes, yellow peppers, shaved ham and pepper on the suggestion of the Canadian girls. What a good idea! That night we were all pretty wrecked, but we went to Bar Centrale for
Riomaggiore
This is the town I stayed in. Gotta love the colours of those houses. Who would ever think to build them like that? a bit, drank some strawberry-mango daiquiri and ate gelato. I said goodbye to my new friends the next morning, but hopefully I'll meet up with them later.
It's hard to imagine anything topping the peaceful beauty of Cinque Terre. Still lots of traveling left though and plenty of opportunities! Next stop, Nice.
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Ruth & Bill Sprott
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Great Photos!
Your blog and pictures bring back such wonderful memories of the trip with Carol and your mom!