Strike Two

---

I have been wanting to do the trek through the Cinque Terre for years ... ever since I saw Valerie Pringle Has Left the Building and she effortlessly goes from little village to little village without a hair out of place. Ahem ... great editing!

I had originally wanted to do this excursion on the 23rd. When I was looking at the train situation, I was getting better options for today so I changed my plans. I wasn't super in the mood to be doing it a day earlier but better trains, better day. I rarely change my plans ... it's almost like a superstition and I should have listened to that little voice inside my head. Even why I got up this morning, it took me a while to get excited about heading out there. But on the train, the excitement grew and I was totally into doing this. The weather was out of this world (very hot and very sunny).

The Cinque Terre are essentially five small villages that are perched upon these cliffs and have essentially remained unchanged for centuries. There are hiking paths that link the villages; the blue line being the most popular. There are also trains and boats that go along from village to village. (this would be an important fact in this whole story!) The Cinque Terre is a considered a national park and it is home to vineyards and wine production. And to give you an idea of the size of the villages ... the largest one is Riomaggiore and it's population is approximately 1,800.

So I took the train to Riomaggiore, bought my Cinque Terre card and headed out on the Via dell'Amore which links Riomaggiore to Manarola (population 850). Manarola is apparently the village with the most grapevines which you can see lining the sides of cliffs.

The walk on Via dell'Amore is easy and takes about 30 minutes. Nothing strenuous about it at all. The views are mindblowingly gorgeous. So I make it Manarola to discover that the path that links Manarola and the next village (Corniglia) is closed. Fine ... I will hop on the train when I am ready to move on. Mmmm ... problem is ... there's a strike and there are no trains running today. But how did I get here ... that was a train, right???

So no trains and no path to Corniglia. Well ... there are alternate paths. I tried to find the alternate path and blew out a lung doing so. And truly without exageration ... it would have been the equivalent of me climbing the hill in Mont Tremblant and going back down the other side to reach the next village. Honestly ... I am not exagerating. I asked someone when I was just trying to find the start to the path and he basically said that it was very long and strenuous. You need to be a serious hiker to be doing that and that my friends I am not. I think that they estimate the time it takes to do the alternate route at around 2.5 hours (and one you are on it there is no stopping ... just turning back I guess).

Okay so the option is boats ... there are boats. But here's the thing ... as soon as I found out that there was a strike ... all I kept thinking about was how I was going to get back to Pisa. I was a good hour and half away. The girl at the counter at one point said something ... well you can try to find car. Mmm sure ...easy to do.

I wish I could be one of these people that just can put those things aside and still enjoy the day but I'm not. I am by myself ... I have a lot of time to think and very little distraction that may be travelling partner might bring!! It might also be because I am by myself and therefore the only one who can get me back to my hotel is me. There is no relying on anyone at this point. I wasn't scared ... I knew that there was a solution. And I have said it before ... you can always find someone who is willing to help you. And when push comes to shove ... I can be damn resourceful. So did I enjoy my day ... to be very honest, it was really hard for me to really get into it. And I was mad with myself because I was in probably one of the most beautiful places on earth (paradise ...absolute paradise) and I could not shake the question of how I was going to get back to Pisa.

So I took the boat to Vernazza (the boat doesn't stop in Corniglia so I only got to see if from afar!). When you approach, there are rocks jutting out and they have this tiny little beach. The water is this incredible colour ... I wouldn't even know how to describe it. I stopped for lunch at one of the little cafes and enjoyed some gnocchi ... but again question still gnawing.

I poked around Vernazza and then found the trail that would take me from Vernazza to Monterosso. I started up the trail and about 15-20 minutes in I was starting to doubt my ability to actually do this the whole way. First, I saw a group of teenage boys coming from Monterosso and they looked like they were about to die. They are supposed to be full of energy and life and they are struggling with this. Do I really think that I (who technically could have been their mom) can do this??? Then I met another couple who said ... I hope you have a lot of water with you. Mmmm ... I will keep going for another little bit and see. So then I met another couple who were about my parents age. I said to the woman that I was starting to have doubts about my ability to actually make it all the way. She answered "if I knew then what I know now ... I would have turned back". Well ... so I answered something to the effect that I would be taking the advice of the wise and turn back. Her husband looked at me and said "if we were so wise we wouldn't have walked all the way ... we would have taken the boat!". Sold ... I am turning back.

Okay so my dream of trekking through the Cinque Terre was a little less than realistic. Hence why I say good editing on the part of the Valerie Pringle show ... she just looked like she breezed through that thing. Mmmmm .... I'm guessing that she took the train. So my Cinque Terre was really just a Tre Terre because I only got to see three of the villages.

So now I had to find a way home .... think think think. So I hoped on a boat that would take me to La Spezia. This little town is often the starting point for tour groups and the train station I know has tons of connections for regional and intercity trains. When there is a strike, there are still some trains that run. But there are also tons and tons of cancellations. And if there were no trains, I figured I would have a chance at finding a hotel room if it came to that. Oh God I prayed that it would not get to that.

Getting to La Spezia necessitated a boat change in Porto Venere. Such a cute town ... it is the Italian version of Marseille with fishing boats along the water. There is a church high atop a cliffside. It just seemed like loveliness and I wished that I would have actually been able to stay longer (although at that point I was not really into being a tourist ... I had a job to do ... Pisa or bust!!)

I finally reached La Spezia. Okay ... now train station ... where on earth is that. By that time it is past 6 pm and there does not seem to be alot going on in La Spezia apart from the throngs of tourists hoping back on their tour buses to get back to their hotels (lucky bastards!). The Tourist Information desk was definitely closed at that time. So where to go when you need someone who speaks a reasonable amount of English and knows a lot of stuff about being a lost tourist ... a hotel. So I meandered aimlessly until I found a pedestrian street that was lined with boutiques and I came upon the Hotel Genova. I explained my predicament and told him that either I wanted a train and if I could not find a train then I wanted a room. So the lovely gentleman went on the internet, made a couple of calls and was able to give me some train information. I believe that I said "oh my God I love you" to which he turned beet red. He also wrote all of the information down and gave me a map which he highlighted so I could walk to the train station.

I got to the train station and waited and waited. Periodically there were announcements which always ended with the staff being very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I had myself a little picnic of McNuggets and fries on platform number three. I had a nice chat with an Italian couple about my Kobo eReader. During that time I also learned my numbers in Italian ... didn't realize that waiting for a train could also be educational. So there were repeated announcements about train "uno-otto-uno-cinque" that was supposed to be arriving on "binario tre". And then like a mirage, it appeared and finally I was on my way back to Pisa Centrale. So by around 9:45 pm I was safely tucked into my hotel ... I cracked open a bottle of the bubbly wine from the mini bar ... I don't care that it is ridiculously expensive I made it back in one piece and with my sanity somewhat intact!! I don't anticipate doing much of anything tomorrow!!

---

Photos

21
I know ... I always take shots of laundry hanging. Part of it is for my mom who just loves these kinds of shots just as much as I do.