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Published: June 20th 2012
Tuesday 19th June 2012 – Monterosso al Mere Today, after a leisurely breakfast, we caught the ferry from Monterosso to Riomaggiore – a 40 minute trip to the southern-most town of the five towns that make up the Cinque Terre (five towns) . Along the way, we stopped at 3 others of the townships (the middle town doesn’t have a mooring for the ferries). We had a lovely lunch in a restaurant in the town, and then walked approximately 20 minutes north to the next town of Manarola in time to catch the ferry back to Monterosso for an early dinner, and back to the hotel for a relaxing evening – that word seems to keep cropping up in our conversations – “relaxing” – it sure is!
We decided not to do the approximately 8-hour walk from Monterosso to Riomaggiore (there was a landslide some time ago that added an extra 3 hours and 500 steps in 30 degree heat) – too hot for us! It’s 8:35 pm as I write this and it’s still 29C (the internet says it’s -4C at home!)
The towns of the Cinque Terre are fabulous. They are built
on almost vertical cliff faces in parts, and are a maze of narrow streets and alleys offering tourists almost all that they could want. There is a huge variety of shops that we saw – mostly for the tourist trade – and mostly for the women! (Smart locals!)
The waters of the Mediterranean here are beautifully clear – a lovely shade of blue; almost like copper sulphate has been tipped into it. On our return Steve could taste the salt water on his lips, and feel the layer of salt on exposed skin – a great feeling J
The photographs we’ve taken don’t do the place justice. There has been a sea haze since we arrived, but Steve has still managed to take several hundred photos – so, a lot of culling to do!! None the less, his photos will show that the locals very friendly.
One of the things Steve found interesting to observe from the sea was the railway line that only occasionally pops out of the mountain tunnels for short distances. The effort that went into creating this train line must have been enormous.
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Some Friendly Locals
Kate
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Cinque Terre
Italy still looks amazing - I was reading about Cinque Terre in a brochure last night...inspired again today! Might have to compare/get tips when you're back :) enjoy