October 9-10
Left Florence via il treno, to Cinque Terre (5 lands) on Italy's northern Mediterranean coast. These picturesque villages are built on steep slopes along the sea, and generations of farming the surrounding land by growing vineyards on the heavily terraced hillsides provides some amazing vistas. The villages are all very small and quaint, and despite being a bit over-run by tourists by day, they are peacefully quiet by night.
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| Manarola in the Cinque Terre |
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| Classic tourist pose #3 |
We arrived in Manarola and met Angelo, an Italian-only speaking man (had to be at least 70) that immediately slung my suitcase on his shoulder and headed up the hill (good thing I pack-light!). We walked up one hill, down a steep stair case and up another and another to our little apartamento, and were delighted by a most amazing view of the sea. La vista e' bella- we all agreed!
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| View from our window |
Manarola is the second most southern town of the five. All the towns are small, but we really like this one as it seems less commercial and completely quaint. The saying "la dolce far ninete", the sweetness of doing nothing, certainly applies here!
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| La Dolce far niente |
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| On the path above town |
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| Boat storage |
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| Narrow quaint streets |
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| Il nostro apartamento |
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| 76 steps to our apartment |
On Thursday 10/10, we woke to the sound of a deafening wind-storm. The sea was churning and rain looked eminent. By mid-day, the wind calmed a bit so we decided to brave the weather and took the regional train to the next town north, Corniglia. The only way to move between towns is by train or via boat. There is also a hiking trail that connects all towns, thus hiking is a major activity here. Unfortunately due to landslides and repairs, the only trails open right now are from Corniglia north- so that is where we decided to start. By the time we hiked up many hundreds of steps to Corniglia (the only town not seaside, but on the mountain top over-looking the sea), it started to rain. Not ones to hike in the rain, we decided to have a nice leisurely lunch at a ristorante with a spectacular view. Not a bad way to pass a few hours in Italia!
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| Lovely lunch (il pranzo) with a view |
Finally the rain let up for a bit, so we did the hike connecting Corniglia with Vernazza-- hundreds of stone steps going up at the beginning and then down into the next town, with several miles of a great hiking and beautiful views in between. A great work out and excellent end to a wonderful day.
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| Trail from Corniglia to Vernazza |
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| View of Vernazza from the trail |
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| Drying grapes to make Sciacchetra' the local dessert wine |
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| Harbor at Vernazza |
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View of Corniglia-the town on the hill
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