The Cinque Terre, which means "The Five Lands", consists of 5 small villages that run up along the northwestern coast of Italy. For our sake, we numbered them 1 through 5; 1 being the south most city of Riomaggiore. Here are pictures (that I did in fact take) of each town.
#1 Riomaggiore:
#2 Manarola:
#3 Corniglia
#4 Vernazza:
#5 Monterosso:
La Spezia to the south and Levanto to the north act as bookends for the towns. Most travelers prefer to make their home base in either of these cities, as they are larger and more accommodating to rail travel. A rail line does run all the way up from La Spezia to Levanto, connecting the Cinque Terre in between with only up to ten minute rides in between them. A more fun and daring alternative to the train is to hike through the national park trails that run along the mountainside right on the coast. The trails become increasingly more difficult as you head north. When the sun is out and the wind is lightly blowing, the charm of Cinque Terre makes it a top priority visit in Italy.
Friday, July 20 (Chipotle):
As always, our journey begins after class on Friday. Jeff and I were a bit more prepared, as Italian trains are infamously unreliable and we wanted our final trip to go as smoothly as possible. We left the dorm with plenty of time to make it to the train station in Metz. The first leg our trip was a short TGV (yes, George, I finally rode the fast train) trip to Paris Est, where we had to switch stations to Paris Lyon to catch our overnight train to Milan. The hour and a half rides feel like chump change to me now after all summer of sitting on trains. I can't wait to see how short the Chattanooga-Atlanta drive feels now. Anyways, we arrived in Paris ahead of schedule, leaving us with a little over an hour to switch stations via Metro. Chipotle, the quickly growing American Mexican food chain, expanded internationally this summer, opening a location in Paris. It is one of Jeff's favorite places back home, so we figured we would have time to take a quick detour for a burrito. We had to do a little bit of hustling, but we made it to our station about 8 minutes before our train's departure. In true Italian train style, it was more than 30 minutes late leaving the station anyway, which didn't phase us as we tore through the spicy deliciousness of our burritos. At around 10 we decided to hop into our couchette beds and get some sleep.
Saturday, July 21 (Swordfish):
We arrived in Milan around 5:30 in the morning, having to make a quick connection for our train to La Spezia. It was a three hour ride from here, most of which we slept through. Once we arrived, we grabbed a quick breakfast at the station. We waited for a while and then fought our way through the big crowd on the platform to get a spot on the train to Riomaggiore. It was a short 15 minute ride before we arrived at the station overlooking the Ligurian Sea. We headed through a pedestrian tunnel about 100 yards until we reached the our first glance of the Cinque Terre. We headed up the steep, narrow street passed restaurants, cafes, and shops until we reached our hostel to check in.
I went inside, presented our reservation and was instructed to wait outside. I thought this was a little odd, but was willing to wait for whatever little Italian surprise was up their sleeve. A younger guy came out and collected a small group of us "outside-waiters" and instructed us to follow. I had no idea what was going on until an American girl in our little pack of ducklings gave me the lowdown. We weren't actually going to stay where the reception building was. The hostel owned rooms and apartments scattered throughout the town, where it randomly tossed its guests. At this point I was pretty excited to see what sort of accommodations awaited us. We took a quick right up a steep set of stairs that twisted and bent through tiny alleyways. Finally we arrived at our place. We got into an apartment, shared with 5 other people. Jeff and I drew the short straw and had to share a queen bed in the main room. There were two other bedrooms, a kitchen, and two bathrooms.
(Up, up, up the winding staircase.)
(Our room.)
(Kitchen.)
It ended up being a pretty nice place for the money. Much better I would say than the normal dorm style hostels. We grabbed a few things from our bags and then got ready to start exploring. We headed straight for the first trail to city #2, Manarola. It wasn't much of a "trail" and definitely not a hike. The Via dell'Amore path that the connects the two towns is paved and only takes about 20 minutes. People were even pushing their baby stroller down the "Lover's Lane." It was a bit overcast as we started, but the weather would soon clear up into a beautiful sunny day.
(View looking back along the path that we walked. You can see Riomaggiore in the distance around the second jutting rock.)
The path led directly to the train station at Manarola where the trail to the next town was closed. The trail had been washed out in a horrible flood that happened less than a year ago. More on that later. We decided to hop on the train to town 3 and leave Manarola for when it was sunnier. While waiting at the platform, we ran into a group of girls that we recognized from GTL. We formally introduced ourselves and then merged groups to explore Corniglia. The more the merrier, right? Once we made it to the next stop, we had to climb 372 stairs to the town center of Corniglia, which is perched atop the cliffside that pokes into the sea.
(Emerging from the train station. From top of the stairs to bottom: Audrey, Bethany, Lydia, Alyson, and Bill Billman Attorney at Law.)
(Lots o' stairs.)
At the top, we found our way into the city center. The girls grabbed lunch while Jeff and I walked down to the cliff side for an ocean front view.
(Walking along Corniglia's narrow streets.)
(A little cove down below.)
We parked our butts on a bench, overlooking the scenery and taking in the sounds of crashing waves. After a while we motivated ourselves back up the hill into town to find the girls. Finally pulling our eyes away from the stunning blue water, we noticed the lush green hills lined with grape vines and olive branches.
We continued through Corniglia, checking out all the little shops. Once we found the girls, we decided to head to trail leading to town #4, the second most difficult hike in the national park. Jeff and I weren't afraid of the difficulty, seeing as we dominated the Swiss Alps a few weeks earlier. However, the sun was starting to peek out and it was getting pretty warm. After about an hour we reached our destination in Vernazza, sweaty and a bit worn down. The ocean was calling our name.
(Looking back at Terre #3 as we started up the trail.)
(Further now...)
(Corniglia in the distance. A gorgeous view awaited us at the top of every climb.)
(Continuing along the path cut into the hillside.)
(We were drawn in by Italian music to a small craft maker's house right off the trail.)
(Olive trees. Jeff ate one, don't tell anybody.)
(We turned the corner and found Vernazza waiting for us. "All downhill from here.")
We made it down a long flight of steps that led us right into the center of town. Jeff and I quickly hopped in line for some fresh fried seafood while the girls went in search of Gelato. Our next move was to dive into the bright blue waters that had been taunting us all along the trail. We found an unoccupied rock along the small bay of the town and shed our clothes and emptied our pockets. I took first shift watching everyone's belongings, but my turn to swim came soon enough when Audrey tagged me out.
(The crew wading into the sea.)
(A look to my left...)
(A look to my right...)
(My turn to swim!)
(Front Flip McTwist.)
We paddled back to shore, dried off, and tried to wipe off as much salt as we could. We wandered back through the city up to the train station. We rode the short journey to Monterosso, the 5th and final town. From what I had read before we left, this was the most resort like of the five, and boy was it ever. Granted it was Saturday, but the beaches were lined with people. I was glad we had chosen to take our dip in Vernazza. We walked along the beach and crossed through a tunnel into the other half of the town. This part was much less populated and had neat little network of roads lined with little shops and restaurants. Jeff and I got a bottle of reasonably priced wine from the region. I had also read that trying a local wine was a must, and it wasn't let down. I've become so used to wine that is labeled as, "red wine." It was nice to try something crafted and artful.
(Monterosso's crowded sandy beach.)
(Through the tunnel and into the light...)
(Lydia and Rusty.)
(Un bon vin blanc.)
(Heading back to the train station.)
We hopped on a train back to Riomaggiore where we planned to change and find somewhere to have dinner. We climbed the network of stairs up to our hostel, where I took quick shower to rinse off the salt. Once everyone was dressed and ready to go, we hit the streets in search of an authentic Italian meal. Jeff and I planned on making this one count, as it would be our last chance to get a good authentic European meal. It's penny pinching until we make it back to the USA.
(We found the one.)
(Course 1. Mixed seafood salad in olive oil and vinegar.)
(Course 2. Seafood spaghetti.)
(Course 3 and 4. Huge hunk of swordfish and salad. The center of that cut of meat is part of the tail bone. Everything else is pure unadulterated trophy fish goodness. Best piece of fish I've ever had ever forever. You must be thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of food. I hope he didn't eat ALL of that.")
(.... Well I did.)
After what easily my favorite meal of the trip, we parted ways with the ladies and Jeff and I headed down to the harbor to watch the sun set and finish our bottle of wine (no homo). We sat, drank, listened to music, and reminisced over our incredible summer until almost midnight.
Sunday, July 22 (Olive Paste):
We woke up around 9, packed our things, and said farewell to our little Italian apartment. We turned in our keys, and had breakfast at a small cafe while we waited on the girls to meet us. Once they showed up, we searched the town for somewhere that could store our giant backpacks for the day while we hiked the rest of the park. No luck. So, we hopped the train to Vernazza where we figured we could find somewhere that would hold our packs for a few hours. No luck. Jeff and I decided to just man up and take them with us on the longest and most difficult trail from Vernazza to Monterosso, like real back packers. The first 30 minutes of the hike was pretty painful. Pieces of rock acting as stairs to climb this incredible hill seemed to never end. I put on some tunes through my iPhone and that picked our spirits up a bit. Once the trail flattened out it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. The weather was gorgeous and everyone was in a great mood, ready to hit the beach in Monterosso.
(Up we go.)
(A look down at Vernazza, where we started, as we climbed up the mountain.)
(The cross section of what used to be someones home on the hillside before the floods last year.)
(Look at that view.)
(Our destination in sight, the water kept us motivated.)
(Making our descent into Monterosso.)
(The vineyard where our wine from the day before came from.)
Once we made it, Jeff and I separated from the girls to grab lunch. Afterwards, I joined the girls on the beach while Jeff stayed behind, hiding out from the sun.
(My delicious sandwich loaded with my new favorite condiment, olive paste. Beyond tasty.)
After a quick swim, I was refreshed and ready to seize our last day in Cinque Terre. Jeff and I parted ways with the girls, and went into Monterosso to hunt for a few souvenirs. After a while, we decided to head to Manarola, the one town we had yet to visit. We took the train and walked down to the bay to catch a glimpse of Cinque Terre's most popular view.
We walked back through the streets, admiring the Italian culture that was so prevalent here. Jeff was starting to get tuckered out from carrying his pack all day, which did in fact contain his deformable bodies textbook. So it was time to leave the "5 Land" which we had so quickly come to love. We took the train from Manarola to Genoa, where we had booked a hostel for the night. After a pizza, we were ready for bed, exhausted from our action packed last travel day.
... Stay tuned for the epic conclusion of Abroad? Good God!
