Cinque Terre

---

We have been offline somewhat as the Internet connection has not been good: so now for a catch up.

The next stage of our journey was a train trip from La Spezia to Vernassa, the second of the 5 Terre townships on the upper west coast of Italy. They are all originally fishing villages with a famous walking track between them in the cinque Terre national park. We walked from Vernazza to the third town, Corniglia, an approx 2 hr walk along the cliff tops overlooking the sea. From there the track was closed due to landslides, so we travelled by train to each of the other two villages, Manarola and Riomaggiore, stopping to enjoy the seascapes and relax. Manarola was our favourite of these villages: the businesses were mainly closed (as is the case in a lot of Italian towns in winter), but we found some very lovely, simple homemade pizza type food made on a bread like base.

This is our last day before we leave for Genova and we have recently discovered that parking is a huge issue in this city. What to do? We are contemplating leaving the car at La Spezia and taking the train, which will then mean backtracking to collect the car in two days time, or to try and tackle the Genova traffic and book into a parking place: which will be very expensive. Let's decide tomorrow!

We spent our last night at a local restaurant, located near our apartment, where we enjoyed some wonderful food and this time DID remember to take some photos.

---

Photos

Vernazza
Start of our Cinque Terre adventure

Vernazza from the fort
Wild Meditteranean Sea

Walking track to Corniglia
Beautiful landscaped steps and terraced gardens

Corniglia Train station
Where was had to go as next phase of walking track was closed due to land slides

Manarola
Beautiful colourful villages beside wild seas

Streetscape
Characteristic building style of all the 5 villages

Manarola train station
The trains go through tunnels and only take between towns

Looking up the Main Street from the beach
The river goes underneath the Main Street of the town - how pretty it would have been when visible

La Spezia cathedral
We wandered around the city after returning on the train: there were markets and many people but we saw some of the sights including this lovely church.

Dinner appetiser
Breadcrumbed mussels on skewers

Primo plate
Tagliatelle and local 'ugly' fish

Second plate
Stuffed anchovies

Other second plate
Calamari and shrimps: we had to have seafood in the seaside town. Couldn't take photos of dessert as they were devoured rapidly!

Comments

[Ali Soden]

Our trip!
You can see the apartment where we stayed in 2008 in this photo! We loved it there and were lucky enough to be able to do the walk all the way from Manerola to Vernazza - however, we caught the ferry back!

[Ali Soden]

Winter!
It looks so quiet!! Lovely time of year to be there, although we did enjoy the sunny weather in May (not so much the crowds though)!

[Ali Soden]

'Our' flat!
You could be standing right next to our flat to take this photo!

[Yannisee]

Winter!
Actually I see you do have lovely sunny weather! Perhaps still a bit chilly though ;)