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Published: March 10th 2007
Cinque Terre
October 24 - 27, 2006
Tuesday
After checking out of our Florence hotel we went to the train station to get cash and eat McDonald’s before leaving for Cinque Terre. The train to La Spezia, the station that serves as the start of the rail line that connects the five villages of Cinque Terre, was noteworthy solely for the huge number of fashionable students who disembarked at Pisa. Upon our arrival at La Spezia we saw a 2:45 train and a 3 pm train (we had to run to make the 2:45 train). The first stop should have been ours but it wasn’t. In fact the first stop looked a lot like one we passed on the way into town…. After hopping off and getting on board the train going the right way we arrived before too long in Riomaggiore.
The five towns of Cinque Terre are strewn along 18 km the eastern coast of Ligura. The five towns, from north to south, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore are situated in the Cinque Terre National Park. The shoreline and adjacent area make up the protected Cinque Terre Marine Area, designated for the unique flora
and fauna that live among the rocky, seaweed covered coastal sea floor. The hills here have been cultivated for centuries and even the steepest and most forbidding slopes have well-groomed gardens or crops along them. In addition to the rail line they are connected by ancient walking paths that make for excellent hiking today, winding along the cliffs through olive groves overlooking the sea.
Riomaggiore climbs up the steep hill from the sea and the train station, leaving visitors only one way to go when they pull in (steeply, achingly, upward). To say our walk to the hotel was uphill would be an understatement. At first it seems like just a hill, following the single roadway up into town past small shops and restaurants, but when the time comes to turn into the densely packed hillside of pathways and alleys that lead to hotels and residences the notion of uphill changes somewhat. Once we made our turn it was almost all steps, many old and uneven, zig-zagging among the buildings. The combination of climbing, loaded backpacks, two weeks of solid eating in Tuscany, and being a little (or possibly a lot) out of shape made for a trial of
an ascent.
Our hotel was a very nice place with a private patio overlooking the town. When we checked in and were squared away we learned that most of the path between the towns was closed for a few days due to landslides. While we would be able to visit each town by train our plans to hike off the cheeses of Italy along the old goat trail were squashed.
We chanced the descent (and the unavoidable re-ascent) to town to look around and sample some of the local specialty, focaccia (anchovy and olive for Amy and olive for Roger). We spent some time checking out the local restaurants and found that most were pricey. We found one that we never got around to trying featuring anchovies, another local specialty, with an all anchovy meal for 40 Euro (Amy has developed a keen addiction to the salty little critters). At the base of the town we crossed under the railroad tracks to the compact marina where we sat on the rocks by the water to do as the locals do and just enjoy the beautiful sunset. Before returning to our room to watch the four episodes of Grey’s
Anatomy we had recently downloaded we picked up some olives, tomatoes stuffed with tuna, anchovy wrapped olives, wine and focaccia to have for dinner.
Wednesday
We got a really late start and ended up at breakfast at 9:40 just before the 10am cutoff. We wondered what they call the people who always come in right before breakfast ends - the Browns? After breakfast we left for the train station around 11:30am and discovered that the walking track was open between Monterosso and Corniglia. We took the train to Monterosso where we looked around and dropped of our laundry (it cost a princely 11 Euro but it would have cost us 7 Euros to do it ourselves and this freed us up for 2 hours).
Monterosso extends up the hill from the water so it is steeper than Vernazza but not nearly as steep as where we were staying. It is supposed to be the most touristy of the five villages but it was not nearly as touristy as we were expecting although we only walked around the old part of town, there’s a new part too. Having arrived at the tail end of the tourism season we
expected to see more chaos at all of the villages. Tourists are definitely here (and much younger than we expected) but it was not as bad as we expected and in fact Riomaggiore feels like a quiet, slow town.
Monterosso has kind of a beach town feel to it thanks to the longest and broadest accessible beach in the area. The sand appears to be fairly gravelly but it is very pretty and complete with the usual beach fare of t-shirt shops and enotecas (wine bars). We couldn’t find any inexpensive places to eat lunch. It cost 5 Euros for a focaccia that cost 2 Euros just down the rails in Riomaggiore. We ate at a little place overlooking the water where sandwiches were around 4.50 Euros before picking up out laundry and some water and heading out to the trail. We are somewhat embarrassed to admit we took our laundry with us on the hike but what if we needed clean clothes midway?
The trail out of town consisted almost completely of steps carved and wedged into the steep hillside, each a reminder of how out of shape we were. It got much easier after we got
going. We passed a lot of people going the other direction and said hello to all of them but the only ones to really respond were the Americans and Australians (saying hello and seeing who responds is a little game we have really grown to enjoy). We passed one woman sporting a classic New York Yankees cap and Roger said “go Yankees” only to receive her annoyed response “no Dutch”. We laughed and talked about that for quite awhile. Did she forget she was wearing a Yankees hat? Does she think Americans call themselves Yankees? Does she think all Americans act like characters from Team America (America…f*ck yeah)? Did she buy the Yankees hat at one of the Italian vendors (because they’re at all of them) thinking it was Etruscan writing of something Italian? What an ignoramus.
The hike was extremely pleasant and left us lamenting that we would not be able to do more. The trail wound around and over gorgeously cultivated hills, impossibly located homes, and featured stunning views of the villages and the sea below. Arriving in Vernazza we made our way through the maze of narrow streets to the harbor where we enjoyed some cold
water and gelato and sat by the water relaxing. Vernazza is rumored to be the most picturesque town and it is quite cute by the water. It’s very flat compared to our town and would probably be preferable for someone that can’t get around quite as well. It is smaller than Monterosso but still managed to feel quite touristy with plenty of ice cream, drinks and purse vendors. We walked around the town and explored and then stopped at a cheap place to get some focaccia, pizza and wine while we waited the hour for our train back to Riomaggiore.
Frequent trains connect the five towns and cost 1.10 Euros/ride and do not take very long. It takes 19 minutes to get between the two most distant towns. You need a permit to hike the trail which is 3 Euros or you can buy a one day pass for 5.40 Euros that covers the train, trail and some in-town transportation (a great deal but one that denies you the opportunity to pay for your trail tickets at the tiny offices manned by bored staff at the trail heads).
Thursday
After a pleasant late start and another nice
breakfast at our hotel our goal was to cover the remaining towns in the Cinque Terre region and to hike the only remaining section of the trail open to us between Vernazza and Corniglia. Our slow start led to our missing what was essentially the last train to Vernazza but we figured we could catch the “express” which blasted past the other towns and on to Monterosso figuring that from there we would catch the regular service train back to Vernazza. There appears to be a lunch time lull on the train schedule and we did not want to spend the hour gap wasting our time in familiar surrounds.
Our plan worked a little. We did get to Monterosso but we missed the outbound train by a hair (we ran from our platform to the other, popping up from the stairs just in time to see our train gaining steam). We killed time in Monterosso at the internet café exploring a new idea, that of going to Milan to see Da Vinci’s Last Supper rather than or before going on to Venice and east. After the trains began running again we headed to Manarola, the smallest of the five
towns. We strolled along the pleasant and intimate little town, stopping for lunch at a carry out place that featured the best focaccia and a sign board with a creepy pirate head. We had a nice lunchtime chat with an older couple from Portland who were among a throng of American day trippers.
From Manorola we stopped in Vernazza and continued the search for information on Milan and The Last Supper finding only that Dan Brown’s book and movie have combined to make seeing the fading fresco a tough ticket (try buying three months in advance for your 15 minute viewing slot). A little later than we had originally planned we started the steep climb up to the trail.
From Vernazza the trail begins as a single and improbably long series of steps straight up. It boggles the mind to think that until the early 20th century these pathways were the only land link between these towns. By the time we reached the top of the stairs and the stunning views of Vernazza and the rocky coast we were covered in sweat and wondering about the condition of our hearts. Thankfully the trail moderated somewhat and our altitude
would not change too radically for about a half hour of hiking, occasionally ascending another series of stone steps before leveling. This section of trail winds through a good number of gardens and cliff-side fields of cultivation. Most of the crops appeared to be olive trees and their small, silvery leaves and stubborn rows added a nice touch to the walk.
The trail was somewhat more crowded that we had found the previous day, particularly as the path can be very narrow and the edge an unforgiving drop. As startling as the views were we were continually shocked to stumble upon a home stuck to the side of the mountain between or above the path and the sea. With no visible roads and only the narrow path it is hard to imagine the owner buying a new sofa. There is a roadway across the top of the ridge in this area but any groceries or futons could only be driven so far before having to be hauled along the uneven stone path.
Rounding the top of the mountain we got our first glimpse of the only Cinque Terre village without a harbor, the small town of Corniglia. Corniglia
sits on top of a large flat outcropping, crawling from the exposed hillside out to the cliffs directly above the sea. We entered the grape covered hillside and descended into the town and followed the handmade signs to the city center. Corniglia’s perch seems barely wide enough to support the two rows of buildings visible from the center street. It is very shady, dense and there is not much elbow room. We walked to the edge of town (denoted by the sheer drop to the rocks and sea) and took in the beautiful view of the sparkling ocean. As our dinner reservation back in Riomaggiore was nearing we opted to head towards the train station.
The train station in Corniglia is a little further out of town than in the other villages and we were lucky we left when we did. Not only is the walk rather lengthy but the entire south edge of town is a steep drop down to the railway and requires a hiker to take a series of wide but significant stairways to the bottom (a hiker moving north along the path would have been disheartened completely). We made the train and thus were assured
of making our 7:30 reservation at La Lanterna.
La Lanterna is situated just above the rest of the Riomaggiore harbor and it appears to fill to capacity each night. Like the rest of the village harbor there are plucky, opportunistic cats everywhere. Our dinner of antipasti, potatoes and anchovies, anchovy pasta, scampi pasta, and limoncello was terrific. Most of the items were recommended by our waiter, an efficient if a little off-putting sophisticate (his focus on a couple of friends and subsequent snubbing had offended at least one potential pair of diners in to leaving).
Friday
We went to breakfast at 9:40 (again), showered, watched a little CNN, and didn’t leave the house until after 12:30 (again). We walked into town and used the internet to research our next step but didn’t get far before breaking for some focaccia outside. Mission attempted we returned to our hotel where we used their internet to book tickets to Venice and a hotel. We spent the afternoon watching the light fade in the narrow seaside valley while writing postcards, reading O Magazine, doodling, and drinking grappa, a licorice flavored drink (we had to give it another try but one sip
and the rest went down the drain), and the rest of the crème di limon.
Our dinner was from a pizza carryout. It was a very quiet Friday night in town and we waited down at the water while our pizza cooked. Because of the way Riomaggiore sits within the crease of land and spills into its narrow harbor the nighttime lighting has an extraordinary effect on the mood. It is peaceful and romantic and just a perfect place for a short stroll.
Our pizza was the best we’ve had in Italy and we savored it on our balcony. We followed the meal with four episodes of Desperate Housewives. Edie is a slut.
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Joy
non-member comment
Roger and his faces!!!
Roger, I just choked on my Diet Coke when I saw the picture of your face after drinking grappa. Before I read the note, I thought you were trying to do an impression of an embittered ol Italian grandmother. You're hilarious!