the cinque terre

what an amazing day!

we heard how cinque terre was a place not to miss, but beyond that we had no idea what to expect…five villages along the coast. sounded interesting. well, wil and i agree, cinque terre was probably our favorite place in italy by far.

our day started bright and early, knowing we wanted to catch one of the first trains out there. we knew we were cutting it close, but we impatiently waited at the automatic ticket stand to grab some reservations…the person in front of us obviously had no idea what they were doing as each button was like a ten minute decision. we ran to the real ticket stand in hopes that would get us on board faster, with the man reminding us we can just get on the train without reservations, with our passes. of course! we ran from the counter, knowing the train was leaving in mere seconds…and we were just a few mere seconds too late. we watched the train coast away from us as we caught our breath. : (

although we missed our first chance, we were able to hop on the next train an hour and a half later. after a stop in pisa to change trains (we decided to nix a preciously planned day trip to pisa, so this was the extent of our visit to this town- no site of the leaning tower for us), we made it to the first town, riomaggione.

the site wasn’t much out of the station, and we immediately came to the info booth to buy our pass to hike between villages. we started our trek and a few minutes later we came around a corner of the hill and we were hit with something very unexpected…a cliffside path along the amazingly beautiful mediterranean sea more specifically the “ligurian sea” along this part of the coast). the breeze was salty, the water incredibly blue and the view back to the cliffside village was unlike anything else.

since it was about lunch time, we stopped at a little cafe in the middle of the walk, with the table and chairs hovering over the edge. not long after our nourishment, we made it to the 2nd village, manarola. buildings huddled next to one another as they crawled up the slope; terraced vineyards climbed beyond the homes; boats were parked in front of the teeny restaurants and shops down the main drag; and people swam in the deep blue waters in the harbor below. we followed a self guided walk from our book starting at the harbor and took in the intimate characteristics of this little town as we walked uphill… the church from the 1300′s, the family owned vineyards, the quiet cemetery overlooking the rest of the city and the far, blue ocean.

unfortunately the path to the next town, corniglia, was closed due to repairs, and it is the only one not accessible by boat…we opted to skip it (only other way to it is by a small train) and grabbed a boat taxi to take us to the town after that, vernazza. we balanced across a narrow plank to hop on the boat and soaked in the site of the stunning coastline…clusters of homes and vineyards defying gravity and the elements, faithfully clinging to the sides of the mountains.

we pulled up to the breakwater and stepped into the harbor of vernazza, a bigger, busier village. as the heat began to increase, we grabbed some gelato and took a seat along the very edge of the breakwater in the shade, looking back towards the town, reading our guide about the interesting history of the place, and watching people swim, sit and just enjoy the quieter, slower pace of living.

as the last hike was for serious hikers (not us), we caught the local train to monterosso, the fifth town of cinque terre. monterosso, was the most like a resort town…bigger and a bit busier due to more and more people discovering this wonderful slice of earth. the entire time we wish we had brought swimsuits to take a dip in the sea, but instead we took another self guided walk through the streets…we followed a trail up through the mountain, called the “switchbacks of the capucci monks”, away from reality and the rest of the town. it was just the two of us as we hiked together, looking back on the city, stepping through old ruins of fortresses from the days of pirates, and coming across a church, alone on the top of the hill. we stepped in the cool, dark sanctuary, greeted by an ethereal sound of monks singing somewhere within the church. the undisturbed worshippful voices, combined with birds chirping and the belltower softly ringing made us immediately forget everything: the heat, the sweat, the hike, trains, taxis…life. after a moment we made our way back down the hill into the city to finish off our time in the cinque terre.

in order to catch or last train, we had to eat dinner…of course before any tratterias or osterias opened. but we found a place open, more like a wine bar, that served local wines and appetizers. we filled up on delicious italian foods…salami, smoked salmon, rustic bread, bruschette, and great wines.

*speaking of wine- i think i’ve had a wine revelation this trip. wil called me a wine wimp halfway through the trip (thanks dena) and ever since then, i’ve tried and loved every wine i’ve had. i guess i just had to sample the best to convince my palette!

at the end of the day, we took the train back to florence…and when our faith in the rail system was at its highest (wil was talking about his plans all day to start a high speed rail system all across the u.s.), we had some major delays on our train…originally to arrive back in florence at 10 or so,  we didn’t get back to our hotel until after midnight (thus no post at the end of the day). we were tired and grumpy from the rough ride and went to bed immediately, to prepare ourselves for our last day in europe!