sean's musings

(More Pics below)
They say life moves slower in the Cinque Terre. Boy were they right. From the time we got off the train in Vernazza, you could sense things went at a slower pace. The hurried masses in Florence were replaced by people strolling slowly through the town taking in the coastal atmosphere. We carried our stuff down the main drag to the harbor where our room was. The Cinque Terre is 5 towns each set into the hillside along the Ligurian Sea. We were staying in the second most northern of the 5 towns, and the only one with a natural harbor. Our hotel (Alberga Barbera) was right in the main square overlooking the harbor. As luck would have it, we had another top floor room. But this one came with a sea-view which was pretty awesome. After dropping our bags and changing(traveling in the heat, carrying bags works up quite a sweat), we took a stroll to survey the town. People we strewn everywhere soaking up the sun and swimming in the sea. There’s a small beach that kids were playing soccer on, and large groups of people walking around. There’s not much to actually “do” in the town except relax, eat, swim and hike. The buildings are all multicolored and built into the side of a hill with rows of grapes high up on the hilltop. We spent a lot of the day exploring, eating gelato, and swimming in the sea. I must say it was very very salty. It was cold at first but was welcome after the heat and sweat of the day. We bought our two day Cinque Terre cards which are good for hiking the trails between the towns. This allowed us to walk up from Vernazza in either direction and scope out some photo opportunities. Found one spot and took some pictures on the north side of town, and planned to return a bit later in the evening. We made reservations at a restaurant that sat up above the town looking at the sea and the setting sun. The meal was ok, but the view was better. Hiked back up to the northern side and there were already a couple photographers camped out in the spot I’d eyed earlier. I snapped a few as the sun was going down, but they stayed for a couple hours at least. Perhaps I’ll have that kind of dedication at some point.

Amanda and I spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the harbor. She reading a book, and me snapping photos of the town and it’s lights as it got darker. She got quite a few looks and questions about her iPad. One guy was from Seattle and his son went to UW.

Woke up early the next morning to catch the train to the northern most town Monterroso to start our hike. Walking around Vernazza before most of the tourists have woken was a fun experience. Locals sweeping their section of cobblestone, someone grooming the beach with a rake, and folks out getting their boats ready for the day. This is the “real” Vernazza, sans the tourists that descend each day and stay out late. Of course it figures that the ticket office doesn’t open until 7:00am and this is one of the few train stations without self ticketing stations. We hopped the train anyway and figured we’d tell the ticket checker if he asked.

We’d decided to hike from north to south as it seemed that would be the best way of viewing the towns from the trails. This turned out to be a great idea especially since the hardest part of the trail was the first part, and it was before 7am when we started. The stairs that rose out of Monterroso were butt-kicking. The stairs just seemed to keep coming. And coming. And coming. I’d agree the trail can be done by someone in good shape, but that initial climb was a killer and tiring. I think it was tougher than we’d both anticipated. Walking along a cliffside through rows of grapes, lemon orchards, flowers and a great sea view more than made up for it. It was truly spectacular. We eventually dropped back into Vernazza and stopped to eat a little food. Next we made our way to Corniglia, which was another climb. The town itself sits on the hill, and is the only of the 5 not on the water. After descending 400 stairs to where the train station is, I can see why it’s the least popular place to stay. No way I’d want to lug my stuff up those stairs. I guess there is a bus though that can take you up to the town though.
We stopped in Manarola to get a cappuccino. Manarola was a cute town with a little marina. People were still starting to get up in this town too, so it was nice and quiet. The stretch between Manarola and Riomaggiore is a 20 min walk along the semi-famous Via dell’Amore. When the trail was first built it allowed a way for people from the two towns to actually meet up, which led to romance between couples from the towns. This trail is where they would meet up. The path is covered in graffiti, mostly professing love between couples. I even saw someone wrote John 3:16 on their, describing God’s love which was cool. There were also locks everywhere chained to the fence. Apparently the crazy right now is to close a lock on the fence with your loved one. Once we hit Riomaggiore, we hopped the train back to Vernazza. We planned to return later in the evening for dinner and photos.

In all, we took about 4 hours including picture taking to do the trail. I think the guides say it would take an average of 5, so I think our hiking conditioning helped a lot. Not the mention the fact we’ve been walking everywhere and climbing a lot of stairs on this trip

Siesta time and some reading and nap-taking ensued. The nice thing about this place is there’s nowhere you really have to be, so a lot of time can be spent relaxing and enjoying the beauty. Had some more gelato and take out pizza for lunch.

I’d read the trains between the towns are unreliable, and we certainly found that to be true as we were going to dinner. The first train we’d expected to take was cancelled 6 min before it was supposed to arrive, the next one never came, and finally an hour to hour and a half later, we finally got a train to Riomaggiore. Walked through the pedestrian tunnel to the main town, which is very steep. Found a little place to eat on the main road. Pesto bruchetta for me, and lasagna for Amanda. One note about eating out in Italy. The food is good, the service typically sucks. Since tipping is not customary we seem to end up with a bunch of waiters who do not have very happy personalities.

Went down to the marina to take some pictures, though the sun was covered by clouds, so the light I was hoping for wasn’t there. I did have fun climbing over a bunch of boulders that make up the jetty to get a view back on the town.

We waited about an hour for the train back to Vernazza. Its funny that the trains only take a few short minutes between towns, but you can end up waiting an hour for the train itself. Things really do move slower here.

Quick side note: You see people from all over the country in the towns and riding the trains. It’s pretty interesting though when you see people from your region of the States. Saw a guy with a USC shirt, a Washington State shirt, UW shirt, and chatted with some people from Boise, Idaho (and the woman used to work for IBM).