Europe 2008 Part IV — Cinque Terre

The morning dawned mistily with a crisp breeze. Dewy spiders’ webs clung to the hedges and trees. Below us La Spezia lay nestled in the great bowl-shaped valley. Just a few minutes down the winding road we would find our destination — Riomaggiore.

It was the most beautiful morning of the trip thus far; and we had awoken early, before the towns had come to life. On the way down, I spoke with an old Italian woman in her night gown (she spoke no English); yet I was able to glean from her that the only way to park for free would be to find a spot just off the road outside of town. This proved difficult, but we eventually managed to squeeze in behind a line of cars. The Panda’s rear was hanging on to the road a bit, but we hoped it would be alright.

At last, having put all the necessary belongings into a single bag, we marched down the hill into Riomaggiore. As I said, the town was just beginning to wake up. Riomaggiore is literally built on a steep hill. It is easy to get into town, but an arduous uphill battle to get out. As we went down into the heart of town, we found a little breakfast place and went in. It was the best breakfast yet — an omellete, croissant, fruity yogurt and cappuccino. After filling up, we went out to look for a place to stay for the night.

This time, we were very fortunate to bump into Signore Zimmer…though he went by Luciano. He hooked us up with a cozy little room for a very reasonable rate. Though we shared it with eleven other travelers, it was quite clean and comfortable and had its own bathroom and kitchen. Now that our affairs were in order, we bought some focaccia, fresh fruit and water and headed for the open trail.

When visiting La Cinque Terre, it is best to reserve at least one full day for the long hike between the five towns. Our plan was to make the five-hour trek and then take the train back to Riomaggiore in the evening. The weather was on our side. As Luciano put it that morning, “Ah, blue sky. *This* is Italy, eh?” Or something like that…

There were a lot of tourists who had either finished the hike or were just starting out. Again, we happened to get caught on a rather busy tourist holiday. Here is a shot of our cozy little town Riomaggiore, the first town of five. Down near the bottom you can see a little arm of rocks jutting out where we would later have dinner and watch a gorgeous sunset.

 

 

The first leg of the hike is by far the easiest. It is nicknamed Via dell’Amore I suppose because it is a favorite place to view the ocean for lovers. It lasts only a half hour and terminates in the charming seaside village of Manarola.

 

 

The second leg of the hike picks up a bit and lasts about an hour. The trail is steeper and more narrow here, though not too treachorous. The hardest part of the hike is a back-and-forth zigzag staircase up a steep hill, which happens just as you are arriving at the third town, Corniglia.

 

 

One is astounded by the plethora of vineyards which grow in terraces up the hills and hug Corniglia on all sides. We found locals hard at work cultivating the vines and trimming the hedges. It is very important work as this region is known for its wide variety of white wines.

The journey from Corniglia to Vernazza is one of the more difficult legs of the hike. It involves a lot of climbing and descending as the trial weaves along the coastline. Overall it takes about an hour and a half. Coming upon Vernazza is a truly picturesque experience. See how the old castle tower juts out into the sea? In the far distance you can see the fifth town, Monterosso al Mare.

 

 

The trail at this point weaves and winds right down into the heart of town. We sat down in one of the squares and ate our lunch of focaccia bread sandwiches. This is probably the best bread I’ve ever had (and that’s saying A LOT). Nearby, children played in the street and a couple swimmers tested the waters, though it was perhaps a bit too chilly for swimming.

After lunch, we followed the trail through an alley way and up a long staircase. As we began to ascend the hill and look back, this is what we saw.

 

 

Vernazza was probably visually the most stunning of the five towns. The final trek between Vernazza and Monterosso is the longest and most arduous. It takes about two hours, and there is a lot of up and down. The sun was high in the sky and lugging a backpack around was getting pretty old. The tourists became quite thick at this point as some like us were heading toward the final town, but others were just starting out coming from Monterosso and proceeding in the opposite direction.

When the final town was very close we entered upon vast groves of lemon trees. An old farmer stood by selling fresh lemons for only €.50. He carried a large knife and cut them into quarters, saying with a smile “It’s fresh!” Truly, that was the best lemon I ever tasted. About twenty minutes later we arrived in the resort town of Monterosso al Mare.

 

 

We walked along the beach a few times looking for a place to lock up our stuff and swim, but found none. We did manage to find some delicious gelato and mill around a bit. Then it was off to the train station and back home.

The perfect day was soon to suffer a little hiccup. When we arrived in Riomaggiore we hiked back up to the car to get some things. Unfortunately we found a parking ticket which we ended up having to pay.  In hindsight this was a small disappointment, because the ensuing evening would prove to be amazing.

It was time for dinner. We wanted to try some authentic pesto as the famous sauce was invented right there in Cinque Terre. Instead, we opted for a large margherita pizza at a good price to enjoy out on the rocks while the sun set. While our pizza was baking we headed across the street (same place we had breakfast that morning) to enjoy a very decadent treat — hot chocolate. No, I’m not talking about the little packets of cocoa from home. I’m talking REAL chocolate that is freshly melted and goes down hot. You just drink it right out of the cup, though a spoon would probably suffice as well. Luke informed us of this amazing concoction so we had to try it.

 

 

Can you tell it was a sunny day?

Speaking of sun, this was our view for dinner.

 

 

Oh…and we also had a bottle of lemoncino (or lemoncello) and a local white wine. After dusting those off we were feeling quite merry. So Caleb had a brilliant idea. “Let’s have dinner again!”

At this point, our funds were pretty low; but as I said, we were feeling quite merry. So we went back into town to the restuarant that served pesto. After a glass of the house wine (feeling more merry by the minute) and some delicious clams, the main course was served. It was probably the best pesto I’ve ever tasted. By the way, all of the seafood is served fresh, caught that same morning.

After dinner we milled around town for a bit, then headed back to the hostel. It was a long day. For me, it was the best day without question. At this point I really didn’t want to leave. But we had an early morning start. 

La Cinque Terre is probably the place in which we were the most ’settled’, which is one reason why it was the most enjoyable experience. I am sure the charm of rainbow-shaded buildings marching right down to the sea, or the beauty of waves crashing on rocks far below and the clear blue Mediterranean itself, so pure and pristine you can see right through it will have a lasting effect on me.

Some day, I hope to come back…