May 7 - June 6, 2010
(click on any photo to enlarge)
Riomaggiore |
Manarola |
Corniglia |
Vernazza |
Monterosso |
|
Riomaggiore |
Manarola |
Corniglia |
Vernazza |
Monterosso |
,
|
Thursday & Friday, May 6 - 7: We were able to fly from Columbia through Atlanta to Milan. Italy is 6 hours ahead of Columbia. Upon arrival at 9:30am, we had some difficulty making our mobile phone work. Rick finally determined that the 7E credit that came with the Italy SIM card had expired(?). Once the card was re-charged, we were able to contact Gianfranco to arrange for him to meet us at the apartment we've rented. Next we hit the ATM for Euros (noted by "E" throughout these journals). Thanks to the financial crisis in Greece, the euro has dropped considerably against the US$. At the beginning of the week it was around $1.35, but by the time we got here, it was just under $1.30 and falling. This is good! We took the bus from Malpensa airport to the Central Station (about 45 minutes) and then managed to get on the wrong bus for the apartment. The bus number we'd been given had changed (apparently in the past few weeks) and no one seemed to know exactly which one we should take. We wound up about 1km out of our way, called Gianfranco, and he met us as we were walking back. Our apartment is as adverised on the internet: downstairs is a kitchen, bathroom, and sitting area; upstairs (the loft) is the bedroom. The place is well equipped including hi-speed internet access. After going through the formalities of checking out the place and arranging for Gianfranco to meet us at 10am tomorrow morning (to check out), we spent a couple of hours wandering the neighborhood. The weather is cloudy, with occasional very light rain. We understand that it has been unusually rainy this spring so far. We found restaurants, the tram stop, a supermarket, bakery, fruit stand, etc. Pretty tired after our trip, we nonetheless resisted the urge to lie down (well, Rick did). About 6:30pm, Rick roused Rory and we went off to eat at one of the restaurants we'd passed earlier. Of course, we'd forgotten that the Italians take siesta from about 2-6pm and restaurants don't open until 7 or 7:30. We were the first patrons of "La Fermata" of the evening. Dinner was fine (vermicelli with mussels for Rick, ravioli for Rory) with some wine and salad. Rick topped his off with a cappuccino, and we headed back to the apartment for the night. We slept well. Rick went out to get some fruit and bread for breakfast and returned to rouse Rory. Gianfranco showed up just after 10am and accompanied us to the tram stop. We caught the #7 tram to the Zara metro station, and then the metro to Milan Central RR Station, where we caught our Intercity train to Sestri Levanti. We shared a compartment with a young couple from Minneapolis and two guys from France. At Sestri, we got off the train to transfer onto a local one to Riomaggiore. It was great that the connecting train was waiting for us, not so good that Rick forgot to validate the tickets in the machine before we boarded. The train was practically empty until we got to Monterossa, where hundreds of tourists boarded. Monterossa is the northernmost of the 5 cities that comprise the Cinque Terre. (The others, from north to south, are: Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola,and Riomaggiore. We'll stay in Riomaggiore for the next month). The region has become more and more popular with tourists who have done the Rome-Florence-Venice thing. Rick was surrounded by a large group of women who were members of the Slovenia Over-60 Gymnastics Club. He had a great time chatting with them (one of them spoke pretty good English). They seemed disappointed when they realized he was married and Rory was on the other side of the aisle, hidden by all the passengers. Thankfully they and most of the others got off at Vernazza (one stop). We also met a very nice older gentleman from Corniglia who is a retired "chef on the train". He spoke almost no English, but we had a delightful conversation anyway. As we pulled into Riomaggiore station, we were greeted by the train conductor
who was checking to see that tickets had been purchased and validated. If you
remember, our hero forgot to validate them.
Saturday, May 8: It's raining pretty hard when Rick wakes up, rolls over and doesn't get up again until after 10am. We are going to enjoy the luxury of an extended stay in one place. We won't be in any hurry to do anything. From our balcony, we can see a parade of umbrellas of every color, slowing making it's way along the narrow street that leads to the well-paved footpath that connects Riomaggiore with Manarola. People come from all over to trek these paths. Most of them have only a day or three, so they can't waste one if it rains. We don't have that problem. The apartment is very cold and our first priority is to find out how to make
the heat work. Fortunately, Gianna lives just above us. Her husband, Mario,
The footpath (called the Via del Amore, because young couples like to
Sunday, May 9: It chilly and rainy again--outside! Inside, the heat's been on for a couple of hours and it's quite warm. Rick will spend most of the morning reviewing the photos we took yesterday and organizing the website pages for this trip. There is internet access above the National Park Center office and we'll see whether we can use our own computer and/or thumb drive. We notice from our balcony that the mid-morning train has disgorged another hoard of tourists, most of whom head for the trail to Manarola. Because the weather has been so bad, it's the only path open. All the paths between the other towns are closed. Normally the Cinque Terre trails cost 5E per day. With only one short trail open, it's surprising to see there's anyone on line to buy tickets. We're sure there are quite a few not too happy tourists. We're not feeling too energetic today. We settle for a stop to update our
website and check email (5E for an hour), we can use our own notebook, but we
Monday, May 10: The weather isn't getting any better. It's cloudy,
windy, and before we're ready to leave the apartment it will rain again. We've
decided to spend the day in Monterosso and catch the noon train. Monterosso
is divided into the new city (where the train arrives) and the old, accessible
by a paved road through a combination vehicle/pedestrian tunnel, or a walking
path along the sea. The new part of the city has beachfront, and, when the
You can see all of the old city in a very short time, and once we've done
that, we walk back toward the new part of town, detouring up the hill to the
Church of the Cappuccin Friars. The "attraction" here turns out to be the
cemetery; very much like the one we saw in Portofino in 2001. There are rows
and rows of marble "shelves". The deceased are buried above ground in these
shelves, then the facade is closed with what would be the equivalent of a
headstone. Each one has the name, birth date, death date, and a picture of the
person interred there. There are also elaborate mausoleums, which house the
remains of the more well-to-do families. We find a stone path that winds
down the hill and comes out on the main street in the new city. While we're
standing at the relief map of the town, Rick picks up on the Aussie accent of
a couple (Graeme and Clara) trying to get their bearings. They live in Brisbane and have just
arrived in Monterosso, after driving 6 hours from Zurich. After chatting for a
while, we all sit down for a cold one. Sitting next to us are two more
couples from Australia (Perth). The sun has come out, the temperature has
warmed up, the company is great, and it turns out to be a great afternoon. It
doesn't take long to become great friends with Aussies. We agree to meet
Graeme and Clara in Vernazza tomorrow at noon. Tuesdays are market days in
Vernazza. Then we head
back to the old town for dinner at Ciak, which we'd picked out earlier. The
risotto with prawns was quite good, but we would have been happier with more
prawns and less risotto for the price. But we had a nice bottle of local wine,
and were quite satisfied. We caught the train back to our apartment in
Riomaggiore and were in for the night by 10pm. Rick finishes his first book
of the trip (which he had started at home)--"A Short History of Nearly
Everything" by Bill Bryson. He has loaded up his Kindle with 17 books.
Tuesday, May 11: Just when you think the weather can't get any worse,
it does. It's raining hard, just pouring; and it's windy to boot. Our plans
to get to Vernazza early are discarded. We wait till after 11am before walking
down to the train station. The train gets us to Vernazza about 11:30, and as
we're walking toward Piazza Marconi to meet Graeme and Clara, the sky opens up.
The rain starts again--enough is enough. We decide to go back to Monterosso. Graeme and Clara have some videos (of their daughter's wedding and their rental condo unit 45 minutes north of Brisbane) that they want us to see. We get pretty wet by the time we reach their B&B. After an hour or so, the rain stops. Graeme's promise of sun by 3pm is long gone, but at least it isn't raining any more, so we walk back into the old city, where our Aussie friends hadn't been yet. Rick is trying to decide whether or not to buy a pair of jeans. (He didn't take any because he figured the weather would be warm enough without them.) We stopped in an upscale sportswear shop where he found a nice pair. The attractive sales clerk asked him what size he was. Rick said he didn't know his European size, but indicated she could figure it out by hugging him around the waist. We were all laughing when she asked Rory if it would be OK. At 99E, Rick decided he didn't need another pair of jeans that badly, so we said "Ciao" and left the shop. Around 6:30, we decide we'll go back to Riomaggiore for dinner and to pick up a few incidentals. We invite Graeme and Clara to meet us tomorrow afternoon in Riomaggiore, and we walk back to the train station. Here we encounter our first issues with Trenitalia (the Italian train
system). All the trains back to Riomaggiore are either late or have been
cancelled. Finally one rolls into the station and we board. Nothing happens.
The train just sits there. Across from us are two couples from Norway. They
speak English as well as we don't speak Norwegian. They have been travelling
since 4am and they are 6 minutes from their destination (Vernazza) with no way
to get there except to wait until whatever is causing the delay is rectified. We
enjoyed talking with them. Rick suggests to Rory that we get off the train, have
some dinner and then come back. If the train is still waiting there, at least
we won't be hungry. If the train is gone, it means the tracks are open again,
and we'll get the next one back, no matter what time it is. Good plan-- while
we're eating, we see the two Norwegian couples hauling their luggage to the
nearest hotel. Maybe they've decided they can wait to get to Vernazza until
tomorrow. When we returned to the station, the train was still there. Apparently it
was being delayed by a signal problem in Riomaggiore. Finally,
at 9:23pm (three hours after we'd boarded the first time), the train started
to pull out of the station. It went two stations and stopped again. After about
20 more minutes, we were again on our way to Riomaggiore where we arrived
without further incident.
Wednesday, May 12: Could it be--a day without rain? Looks good this morning. Rick is up and out at 9:00 to get some cereal and fruit for breakfast. After updating our journal, he's off to the train station to use the internet. Rory meets him there and since Graeme and Clara are coming in from Monterosso on the 2:29 train, we're off for lunch. We were pleased to find that the Euro has continued to drop against the dollar. It's down to $1.27. We have focaccia sandwiches and meet two more Aussies (an older couple from Sydney). Are all the Australians in Italy now? Are any of them still back down under? Rick goes back to the apartment to drop off the computer and change into shorts (finally!!). Rory heads for the station. Clara and Graeme have taken an earlier train and eaten lunch by the time we meet
them at the station.
Just before 7:30, we're on the Via dell'Amore on the way to Manarola
for dinner. This walk has been described as a "film-gobbling promenade", but with
the advent of digital cameras, who's counting? We meet some more Aussies, this
time a brother and sister from southwest of Sydney. At the end of Via Birolli,
where we stopped for drinks a couple of evenings ago, we've got another opportunity
for sunset photos.
Thursday, May 13: We woke up to some sun, but we could see that the
clouds would move in from over the mountains. Today we'll explore Manarola and
hope the weather will permit us to finish off Vernazza as well. Although it's
a bit windy, it's pleasant enough when we reach Manarola. We walk through the
pedestrian tunnel into town and turn right up the hill. There are few "sights"
here.
Many of the restaurants at the harbor are filled with tourists. We're looking for a place for a light lunch and find one. Rick has grilled peppers (served cold) and Rory has bruschetta with tomatoes and pesto. Pesto is a specialty of the region. We fill up on bread and some wine (a beer for Rick) and it starts to rain lightly. We're sitting outside, but under cover. When the rain abates, we decide we'll go back to Vernazza rather than to Corniglia. We're not much interested in making our first visit to the latter in the rain, especially considering it's almost 400 steps up from the train station to the town. We catch the train to Vernazza using our original ticket (which is good for 6 hours in one direction). As the train arrives in Vernazza, the sky opens up and the rain comes down harder than it did on Tuesday (if that's possible). We position ourselves inside the Parco Nationale office where it's warm and dry and check out the collection of maps, books and souvenirs. The storm causes the power to go out. Then it starts to hail!! Do you believe it? We think maybe all this rain is the result of the Iceland volcano eruption, which we understand has erupted again. We decide to take the train back to the apartment in Riomaggioe. It's not like we have a short time to do everything--one of the luxuries of a long stay in one place. Rory buys the tickets, but, since the power is out, the validation machines are not working. Then the rain stops, so we decide to take a chance and browse the shops we missed when we were here the other day. The power is back on in the shops and Rick buys a sweatshirt. Then the power goes out again. The shops are dark and you can't see much and after about 20 minutes of this, we've had enough and return to the station. The machines still aren't working, so, assuming we're not questioned by a conductor, our ride will be free and our tickets will be good tomorrow. We're back at the apartment by 4:30 and spend the rest of the afternoon
reading and watching the tourists walking below in the rain. The 5 day forecast
is calling for more of the same until Monday. About 7:30, we wander into
town for dinner. La Grottino where we ate the first night is closed (on a
Thursday?) and there is a wait at all the others. We decide a 20 minute wait
at La Lanterna
is bearable and then a bit longer to get an inside table. The
food is worth it and we are entertained by the waiter (owner?) who waits all
the tables by himself. We both have pasta, Rory's with fresh clams, Rick's
with fresh mussels; about 40 each! The chef wishes us "buono notte" as
we leave. It's a chilly walk back to the apartment, but
it's an opportunity to walk off dinner and,
at least it's not raining. We're guessing we're in for more crummy weather
tomorrow. All the shopkeepers and restauranteurs have been apologizing
profusely for the
unusual weather as if it was their fault. Even the oldest of them can't
remember a May with this kind of cold, windy, rainy weather.
Friday, May 14: Yup, you guessed it; it's pouring agin this morning. We get an added dose of thunder and lightning! Whatever else they may do wrong, Italians seem to be pretty good at forecasting the weather. No matter-- Rick will take the opportunity to update the journal. Looks like another morning (at least) to relax, read, and watch the tourists trek by in their rain panchos, under their umbrellas. We've got "vittles" enough for lunch in the apartment, so it can rain all day for all we care! Rick predicts it will stop and the sun will shine by 2pm......and it does! Since we've got nothing particularly pressing, we decide it would be a good day to get the laundry done. We pack up the dirty clothes into a tote bag and stroll into town. There's a laundromat (laundrateria) where for 7E and 1E for soap, you can wash and dry a load of laundry. While we're waiting we pick up a few grocery/household items and Rick hauls them back up the hill to the apartment. On the way back, he finds the paved street along Via Santorini where it faces the harbor has had a minor landslide. The wooden railing that guards a short path above the street has fallen down. It's no more than a few pails full of dirt and stone that's lannded on the street, but the local carabineri (police) won't let anyone pass. Rick goes back around the long way to meet Rory at the laundromat. Mission accomplished, we return to the apartment to relax. We've been doing a lot of that! The hills behind Riomaggiore are no longer covered with ominous black clouds. There's more blue in the sky than we've seen any day since we've been here. Maybe the weather has changed for good. We'll see... For dinner, there's a restaurant (Restaurante Ripa del Sole) high above
Riomaggiore. It takes a little while to find the right street, but once
we're high enough the restaurant comes into view. It overlooks the harbor,
with great views of the town and hillsides as well. What looks like a tour
group or club meeting has convened on the patio, but we go inside and get a
primo table in the corner with a panoramic view. We both order fish and the
food is the best we've had yet. We'll definitely be back. After dinner, we
find a "shortcut" back to Via Santorini, take a left to see if the path is
still closed (it is), and then back to our apartment. The night sky looks
good from our balcony, so we're hoping for another good day tomorrow.
Saturday, May 15: Well, it's not raining this morning....or is it? There is a parade along the path to the beginning of the Via dell'Amore, some people have umbrellas, some don't. There are no dark clouds above the hills above our apartment, so maybe we'll have a nice afternoon. At 9:45 our door chime rings. It's Gianna with fresh sheets and towels. We were wondering about that...now we're not! We need to hit the "hole in the wall" (ATM), which Rick was going to do while Rory got ready, but changed his mind when it seemed to be raining lightly. It's also very windy and there are whitecaps on the Ligurian Sea for the first time. Not sure what we'll do today....maybe Corniglia. Well, everytime we set off for the train station, it started to rain; and
coupled with the wind, it was enough to keep us indoors reading. Rick finished
his second book of the trip: "The Bullpen Gospels" by Dirk Hayhurst (recommended
for all baseball fans); Rory
finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. Just before
7pm, we decided to go for dinner, hoping we could get a table at La Grottino.
But when we got there, it was already full, with a short waiting line, so we
went across the street to La Lampera. The food was good, but pricey; not nearly
as good as La Grottino or La Lanterna. We might come back for lunch as they
had an extensive choice of pizzas, but not for dinner. The wind has disappeared,
there's no rain, and it's a pleasant stroll back to the apartment. We'll
try for Corniglia tomorrow.
Sunday, May 16: Looks like it might be a good day. It's still cloudy, but there's no rain, and several patches of blue sky over the sea--and it's NOT raining. We're off to Corniglia, the only one of the five towns that is not on the sea. Corniglia sits high on a cliff overlooking the Ligurian Sea. When the sun shines on it, Corniglia looks like a pile of shining jewels. From the train station, it's a climb of about 400 steps to the town; or you can take a bus for 1.50E. We'll do the stairs, mostly to say we did it! We have a short wait for the train in Riomaggiore and we're in Corniglia in
about 8 minutes. The steps to the town await us above the station. It's really
It's about 12:20
and we decide we're going to have our main meal of the day at the restaurante
enoteca "Il Pirun", where Rory bought the CD. It is owned by Mario and Marilena.
There is a town we can see high above the hill outside Corniglia. We ask
and are told it's called San Bernadino. Rory decides we should hike up the
The weather has held up all day and it turned into one
of the best yet! Back at the apartment, we're still full from our meat at Il
Pirun and settle for snacks and some more reading time.
Monday, May 17: A little about Italian trains. Trenitalia is the national train system and it's really quite good. Sure, occasionally they run late (like they did last week when we were leaving Monterosso) and sometimes they go on strike (for about an hour at a time usually), but they are the most convenient and least expensive means of local transportation especially in the Cinque Terre. A one-way ticket between the end point towns of La Spezia and Lavanto costs 1.4E and is good for 6 hours from the time it's validated in the originating station. You can get on and off as many times as you want, but on the original ticket you can only go in one direction. Riomaggiore is the next stop north of La Spezia and Lavanto is the next stop north of Monterosso. In between are Manarola, Corniglia, and Vernazza. To go beyond either of the endpoints costs more. For example, to go to Sestri Levante (where we are headed today) costs 2.3E, and the same rules apply as above. Thanks to the train system, we have no need to hire a car. In fact, we probably won't even ride in one until we get home again. We intended to go to Santa Margherita Ligure today, but we got a late enough
start that we missed the last train until afternoon. Instead we went to
Tuesday, May 18: Rick had gotten up during the night and noticed that the sky was filled with stars--no clouds, and hoped it boded well for a good day. We were not disappointed. When we got up, there wasn't a cloud in the sky for the first time since we got here. Finally a day for "shorts"! We were at at the train station befote 8am to catch a train for Vernazza. While waiting we met a couple from Mt. Pleasant, SC (near Charleston) and kept running into them all day. As soon as we got off the train, it was apparent that the open air market was nothing special, mostly cheese, produce, and similar vendors. Since
Even though the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia is still
closed, we hiked up into the hills to the Parco Nationale trail office. Since
there was no one at the office to stop them, several hikers ignored the "do
not enter" signs and took off for Corniglia. We understand the fine if you're
caught is over 100E. We'll wait, and hope it will open before we leave the
first week in June. The views are breathtaking from up there as well--the
We had dinner at La Lanterna again. Rick had a fish dish which he rated as
the best meal he's had in Italy so far. As we were finishing, the couple
from Charleston walked in. We'd given them our card and hope they will call
us when we're all back in SC. Of course, we had to tell the chef (who
is also the owner) how much we enjoyed the meal. He remembered that we'd been
there before, and we promised to come back again at least one more time before
we leave. We walked back to our apartment with full tummies and tired legs. It's
been a near perfect day. Tomorrow will be a "kick-back and relax" day.
Wednesday, May 19: What a luxury it is to have a day on a trip like ours
to do nothing; or at least not feel any pressure to do, go, or see anything.
Today was such a day. As nice as yesterday was, the weather today left a lot
to be desired: cloudy, windy, chilly. Rory slept late, Rick updated our journal,
and finished his third book of the trip: "Switch - How to Change Things When
Change is Hard" by Chip and Dan Heath, and broke out our old Italian
language course workbook to brush up on his Italian. We even ate lunch in the apartment.
About 4:00, when the wind had died down, we finally went out, hit the internet at the Parco
Nationale office, picked up a few groceries, and waited until we were hungry
enough to find a place for dinner. We chose Veciu Muin, which we have passed
every day, but not tried. We were in a pizza mood and their pizzas looked
really good when we'd walked by. Sitting next to us were two young couples
from Arkansas. They had been married on the same day, honeymooned in the same
place, but not met until sometime later. We enjoyed talking with them and
giving them a couple of dinner recommendations. Our pizzas were terrific;
we'll be back. By the look of things (clear, cloudless sky), it's going to be
a beautiful day tomorrow. We plan to take the train to La Spezia and then the
bus to Portovenere.
Thursday, May 20: We got the weather we predicted, so off we went to
Portovenere.
It's sunny and warm in town, where we stop for lunch at a small foccaceria.
The bus ride back to La Spezia is crowded with a group of school children,
making it hard to see exactly where we should get off. At our stop, several
people call out "Stazione" and we take the cue that we should get off if we're
heading for the train station. We've walked a lot today and are tired out. After
relaxing for a couple of hours at our apartment, we're off for dinner at La
Lanterna (third visit). We are welcomed enthusiastically and treated like
honored guests. We really enjoy our leisurely dinner: the food is, again,
excellent, and Rory's after dinner liqueur never shows up on the bill! It'll
be interesting to see what happens the next couple of times we go there. (We've
still got two+ more weeks here in Riomaggiore.)
Friday, May 21: Looks like another gorgeous day in the making--we haven't had two in a row yet, but today looks like a really good bet! We're going to Santa Margherita Ligure (SML from here on) today, a little less than two hours northwest by train. Fridays are market days in SML, so we're on the train just after 8am. While waiting for the train, we strike up a conversation with two young women from the US (University of Central Florida, if we recall correctly). who are playing professional softball in Italy this spring/summer. Apparently, women's softball is a big deal here; not quite as big as women's basketball, but pretty big nonetheless. One is a pitcher, the other a catcher. They play for the Titano Hornets out of San Marino. They played together in college, but one of the funky rules of Italian professional softball is that two non-Italians cannot pitch/catch at the same time. So the pitcher has to pitch to an Italian catcher, and the catcher has to catch an Italian pitcher. We enjoyed talking with them and learned something we might not otherwise have learned. We have to change trains in Sestri Levante for SML and arrive after 10am.
SML is another
We'd walked through the Piazza Mazzini to get to Corso Matteotti. At the
opposite end of the Piazza is a pedestrian street with several upscale shops,
Overlooking the marina are two old churches. The first, The Oratory of
Having photographed the turtles to the limit, we return to the marina and
Saturday, May 22: Another glorious day greets us--could it be we've seen the last of the rain? Gianna rings the bell just after 10am, bringing fresh sheets and towels. She also wants to take the batteries out of the thermostat. Apparently all heating must be off after 15 April by city ordinance. Because of the cold we've had over the past 10 days, we've been allowed to use it. (Unbeknownst to Gianna, we have our own spare batteries and can turn the heat back on any time. We will play by the rules for now.) We learned last night that the trail between Manarola and Corniglia is now open. We're hoping that the one between Vernazza and Corniglia will also open soon, so that we can hike all the trails between the five towns. (We did the one from Monterosso to Vernazza when we were here 9 years ago.) Now we're considering whether we should buy a Cinque Terre card for more than one day at a time, as the cost goes way down the more consecutive days you buy (5E for one day up to 20E for seven). But today is laundry day. On the way to the laudromat, we pass a couple taking photos of each other along Via Signorini. Of course, we offer to take their picture together. At first they think we're Italian because we used gestures to offer our "unique service". We just expect that most people we encounter do not speak English. Don't ask us why, unless it's because of all the Aussies we've met! They are Wanda and Bobby from Dallas who are staying in La Spezia and are in Riomaggiore for the first time. Since they're heading in the same direction we are, we provide good "native tour information". When we reach the laundromat, we suggest they meet us for dinner this evening. We'll meet on the street near our apartment and take the Via dell'Amore to Manarola for dinner. While waiting for the clothes to finish drying, Rick makes friends with a cat who seems to live next door. Rick names him Rog (short for Roger) in honor of our friend Joanne's cat of the same name, because Rick could never get Roger to do anything he wanted. Rick loves animals, but he obviously doesn't understand cats! The rest of our day is spent at the laundromat, eating lunch (where we meet a couple from Raleigh, NC), and "Rory shopping" again at Giro di Boa where Rick keeps teasing Palmira about giving us a "sconto" (discount). The weather has gotten better and better. Today we wore our sandals for the first time. At 7:15pm we're on Via Signorini to meet Wanda and Bobby. As planned,
we walk the Via dell'Amore to Manarola which gives us some time to get to know
each other. This is a wonderful couple and it doesn't take long before we
feel like we've known them for years. We suggest Marina Piccola for dinner--
same place we ate with Graeme and Clara. Again we choose to sit inside, not
because there are no tables outside, but because inside is non-smoking. We're
going to order several things and share. There are so many good choices on
the menu that it takes a while to decide. Finally it's: mussels and salad for
appetizers; tuna steak, pesto pasta, anchovies with potatoes, and grilled
sea bass. Everything is wonderful. We are glad that our recommendation is
such a hit! We'll also go through 2 liters of house white wine, a small
chocolate chip-topped custard, and one cappuccino! Considering the meal,
the setting and the company, on a scale of 1-10, we rate the dinner 11. The
stroll back to Riomaggiore in the moonlight is the perfect ending to the
evening. The train to La Spezia where Bobby and Wanda are staying is waiting.
We all agree that we should get together again. Tuesday will be the day. We'll
meet them in La Spezia and go to Portovenere. Hurried hugs and they're off.
Sunday, May 23: Four beautiful days in a row!!
Monday, May 24:
Our Cinque Terre card entitles us
We thought we'd eat at the Ripa del Sole (above Riomaggiore) where we had
the good fish last week, but it's closed on Mondays, so we go back to La
Grottina. Rick has tuna steak, Rory has calamari, and we accompany it with a
bottle of Verdicchio (white wine). Sitting next to us is a couple from--all
together now--Australia! Jeremy and Wendy are from Adelaide--the first Aussies
we've met from SA (South Australia) this trip. We chat with them off and on
during and after dinner. He's in IT and she's in finance--sounds like us!
Tuesday, May 25: It's cloudy this morning, but there are large
patches of blue sky. The sea, which has been so calm, almost glass-like, is
producing some surf, crashing against the rocks below our apartment. There's
also some wind, but the temperature seems to be holding up. We're getting
ready to leave for La Spezia to meet Wanda and Bobby, when the phone rings.
It's Bobby. Apparently he got some bad fish at a restaurant in Manarola last
night and isn't willing to be too far from a bathroom. Rick knows the feeling--
he was sick for the better part of three days in Greece in 2007 for the same
reason. They ask if we could postpone our plans to go to Portovenere
until tomorrow. We're more than happy to do so and hope Bobby will feel
better. At least there's the chance to spend more time with them. While
we're deciding what to do, Rick has one of the pieces of strudel pastry he
bought Sunday. It's so good that he decides if it's the last bite of food he
ever eats, he'll still be happy!
We decide we'll go to Levanto. We've not been there and we may want to
take the hike from there back to Monterosso before we leave this area. While
Wednesday, May 26: No rain today--and no calls from Bobby and Wanda so we're on the train in time to meet them in La Spezia at 11am. They have run in to two old friends from Charleston (Joanne and Jerry). Wanda and Joanne are both Executive National Directors for Mary Kay. We will find out later just how big a deal that is. From the station we walk to Via Garibaldi where we catch the bus for Portovenere. When we arrive we stop for coffee and a bit of browsing the shops. We choose a place at the seaside for lunch, and while we're sitting there, a couple (Ben and Patsy, from Greenville, SC it turns out) passes us. Patsy does a double take when she sees Joanne, It seems she works for Mary Kay as well and is in awe (twice over) to meet Wanda as well. Apparently Executive National Directors are the "rock stars" of Mary Kay. They are constantly being asked to pose for photos with Mary Kay consultants (sales people) and occasionally are even asked for their autographs. Since Ben and Patsy are from Greenville, we give them our card and hope they'll email their contact info so we can touch base when we get home. After lunch, there's more shopping and a brief visit to the church and the
ruins of the old walls, then back on the bus to La Spezia. Bobby and Wanda are
leaving tomorrow, so we part ways, promising to keep in touch and visit each
other. We catch the train back to Riomaggiore and have dinner in tonight.
Thursday, May 27: We were planning to go to La Spezia for market day,
but Rick checked our tour book and found out that market day is tomorrow. In the
Friday, May 28: This morning is very cloudy and we're not sure if we'll have any rain. We are going to go to La Spezia. We'll take the umbrella, because when we do, it doesn't rain. Fridays are all day market days in La Spezia. We don't have high hopes after Santa Margherita Ligure. The Via Garibaldi is lined on both sides of the street with vendors two deep for several blocks. The center of the street is one way for today only. We won't be able to catch the bus here if we want to go back to Portovenere. The La Spezia market is worse than the SML market only more so! We are glad we didn't get up early, but instead caught the 10:41 train from Riomaggiore. The nice lady at the tabacchi shop
We have dinner tonight at Veciu Muin again. They have the best pizza and
Rory wants some hot soup. Rick has created
his own, adding pepperoni (peppers here in Italy) to the "Giardinetta" that
already has artichokes, mushrooms, and capers in addition to the traditional
cheese and tomatoes. Six young men from the University of Georgia come in
and sit at the table next to us. They are here "studying" for 6 weeks and
seem to be having the best time! It is their "Maymester" and they will
receive credit for their studies and experience. They have already been to
Istanbul and we enjoy listening to them talk about their travels. Good guys
(even if they are UGA "Bulldogs")!!
Rory gives them the link to our website and encourages them to check it out
and contact us if they'd like.
Saturday, May 29: Another beautiful day--and perhaps the warmest of our trip so far. Gianna delivers fresh sheets and towels; Saturdays have become laundry day. While we're doing ours at the Lavarapido, we meet a young couple from Melbourne. They've got a week with nothing specifically planned and ask us for a recommendation. We suggest either Positano or Bellagio, and ultimately agree that Bellagio will be easier to get to and it's closer to Riomaggiore. We're going to Corniglia for dinner--back to "Il Pirun". Rick wears his
t-shirt that Mario gave him. We recount the steps on the way up: 383! So
We walk back down the steps to the train
station (without counting). The steps are dimly lit and our concentration
is on negotiating them safely. At the station, we see the red dog (who's name
turns out to be "Kira", so we suppose he's a she). She belongs to the man
who owns the cafe. (Rick saw him walking her this morning.) We have seen her at the
station every day. She sleeps in front of the small cafe or in the shade
anywhere she can find it. This dog is the least interested in people
we've ever seen. We suppose it's because everyone stops to give her a rub
and that she's become so used to it. Anyway, she gets rubs from us every time.
Sunday & Monday, May 30 & 31: The weather is again beautiful--sunny and
warm with a slight breeze. We slept in both days, spending a good bit of
Sunday at the Parco Nationale on the internet & Monday just taking it easy.
Rick finished his fifth book of the trip, "The Fatal Inversion" that Rory had
read earlier. Our
return dinner with Massimo and Elena was canceled, as they had spent a rough
day on the ferry to and from Portovenere and weren't feeling quite up to
meeting for dinner. We were all a bit disappointed--we'll try to keep in
touch with them. We did have a great dinner at Marina Piccola again, both of
us had the tuna steak and it did not disappoint. We ate outside this time,
with an Australian couple from Melbourne at the table to our right and two
young people, one from Colorado and one from Ottawa on our left. The latter
had met at the hostel they were staying at and decided to have dinner together.
We took the Via dell'Amore walk both ways. The sea has been "agitato" all day
and the surf was making that delightful noise that puts people to sleep at
night. It worked for us.
Tuesday, June 1: We've been thinking about taking the train to Pisa and today was the perfect day (at least that was the weather forecast we saw on the internet on Sunday; and it was "spot on"). We were up at 7am and caught the direct train from Riomaggiore to Pisa, getting off one stop before Pisa Centrale station, at Pisa S. Rossore. This station is only 4 blocks from the "Field of Miracles" where the Leaning Tower is located, as opposed to a 30 minute walk from the main station. (Thanks to "Rick Steves' Italy 2010" for that tip.) We'll do the longer walk when we're done at the Tower and ready to head back to Riomaggiore. We arrived in Pisa a little before 10:30 and went right to the ticket
office. We entered the "Field of Miracles" from the Porto Leone gate on the
About 15 minutes before our scheduled entry, we check our pack (no charge)
at the Meeting Point office and make our way to the tower. At precisely 11;40
The Baptistery is almost as
Returning to the grounds, we peruse the row of souvenir stands marveling
just how many there are and that they all offer pretty much the same stuff:
hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, pottery, tchotskys of all sorts with either
"Pisa" of "Italia" or some image of the Tower. The stalls go on forever,
On the train we meet a young Korean attorney from California who is traveling with
his mother. They are on their way to Riomaggiore and we are able to help them
with their train connection, provide directions to their accomodation, and
recommend a couple of good restaurants. We decide to return to the Ripa del
Sole for dinner tonight. Rick tries something new: an anchovy/potato/tomato
dish. Normally we don't much care for anchovies, but these are fresh, not
salty at all, and deboned. He likes it well enough to try it again while we're
here. Everything we've tried at this restaurant has been quite good, including the apple
cake with cinamon and caramel sauce we share for dessert!
Wednesday, June 2: We were planning to do the hike from Levanto to
Monterosso today, but the weather didn't look too promising and by 2pm it was
pouring! We'll try again tomorrow. We haven't seen any rain at all since our first week, so we guessed
we were due. As a result, we remained in Riomaggiore, spent the afternoon reading,
and each of us finished another book: "Frozen Tracks" by Ake Edwardson for Rory
(her 4th of the trip) and "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme
Court" by Jeffrey Toobin for Rick (his 6th). We had our fifth dinner at La Lanterna,
outside this time.
Thursday, June 3: We thought we'd do the hike from Levanto to Monterosso
Dinner tonight at La Grottino. Rick again had the swordfish. His serving
was larger than the two he'd had previously, combined! Sitting next to us was
Lara, a young woman from New Zealand. She'd been living in London for seven years
and was on her way home to NZ. Lara is a pastry chef; and has worked at several
Michelin-rated hotels and restaurants. She was named after Julie Christie's
character in "Dr. Zhivago", but admitted she'd never seen the movie. She
was off to catch the 8:52 train to La Spezia where she was staying, and we
walked back to our apartment. We're hoping the weather tomorrow will cooperate with
our plans to hike.
Friday, June 4: The weather cooperated beautifully--perhaps the nicest
day of our time in the Cinque Terre. Unfortunately, Rick didn't. He woke up
with a sick headache, that despite all trying, kept at him until almost noon. Rory
went off for lunch while Rick slept. Finally around 2:30, Rick thought he might
like something to eat, so we went into Riomaggiore for a very light snack. Still
not feeling totally with it, we limited dinner to splitting a salad and a
giardinetta pizza at Veciu Muin. The only redeeming value of the day for Rick
was that he finished his seventh book of the trip: "The Baseball Codes--The
Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime" by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca.
Saturday, June 5: Today is our last day to explore the Cinque Terre. We'll be doing laundry and packing up tomorrow and we leave for Venice on Monday morning. Our plan is to visit Lerici, another seaside town, south of La Spezia. Looks like another gorgeous day, and we're on the train at 9:25. We check at the "i" and learn that the bus for Lerici leaves from the station, at the bottom of the stairs and will return us here as well. We just missed the "L" bus as we're coming down the stairs and have to wait another half hour for the next one. The ride to Lerici takes about 45 minutes. The bus is crowded but we have
It's 12:30 by the time we're finished with the castle. The town square is
full of little tratorias and pizzerias. We pick one of the latter and relax
and watch the people go by. We hear a funny sounding horn, turn around, and
see an old open car. In the back seat are the bride and groom--it's their
wedding that's being set up at the top of the castle with the Bay of Poets and
scores of sailboats in the background. Lerici has the best beaches
we've seen so far, with rows of bright blue umbrellas for hire as well as
public beach for those who "bring their own". There are hundreds of people
Neither of us is up to the restaurant scene tonight so we pick up a few
things we can eat in and replenish our supply of water, milk, coke, and wine.
The cherries in the alimenteri look good, as does some fresh bread. One of
the reasons we enjoy renting apartments instead of hotel rooms or B&Bs is
that we can eat in (cheaply) if we want. Tonight, we want! We'll eat on
our balcony and watch the sunset into the sea. (The cherries were great!!)
Sunday, June 6: Another beautiful day on the Cinque Terre! We walked to the Lavarapido (laundry) so that we would pack all clean clothes for our train travel to Venice tomorrow. Rick went to get money from the "hole in the wall" (ATM), but for some reason (a message in Italian didn't help)-->no dice! So we finished the laundry and had lunch at Pie da Ma outside overlooking the sea. Sitting at the next table was a young couple from Michigan who will be moving to Greenville, SC when they return from their trip. We gave them our card and invited them to contact us when they get settled. Greenville is only about 90 minutes from Columbia. They are the second couple from Greenville we've met on this trip so far. After lunch we stopped at the hole in the wall, and Rory was able to withdraw the 610E we'll need in Venice tomorrow to pay for our apartment. Her card worked fine! We'll see how Rick's card fares next time we need funds. We made one final stop at the Parco Nationale to use the internet, and met two more Aussie couples. Upon returning to the apartment, Rick called Gloria in Venice who owns the apartment, just to confirm our arrival. She is from Chicago, has been in Italy "for ages", and still speaks very good English! For some reason, she thought we were the Ackerman BROTHERS!! Well, OK, Rory can be a man's name, too. Now Gloria will have to make up the beds differently! We got a good laugh out of that one!! For our last dinner in the Cinque Terre, we chose La Lanterna. The food was excellent as usual, but our friend the busy waiter was off tonight. Too bad! The path from the main part of town down the steps past the restaurant down to the small marina was lined with flowers and candles. Tonight was the celebration of Corpus Domini, and a procession proceded down to the water from the church above the town. There was a brief service. It seemed like the whole town was there, but there were probably as many tourists as townspeople. We met two couples from Scotland one of whom was living in Australia and chatted with them while we waited for the service to begin. Once it did, there was no way to leave, the path being totally blocked by onlookers, so we stayed until it was over. |
