Cinque Terra - September 4-8 2018
Tuesday September 4 - We got up early and took the vaporetto to the St Lucia train station to begin our journey to Monterosso, which is one of the 5 villages of Cinque Terra.. At one of the stops prior to arriving at the train station, a wave came over the boat and soaked part of the deck. I had to hold up our suitcases to prevent them from getting wet.
On our ride from St Lucia to Florence, we met a couple from South Dakota, Scott and Pam. Scott is an OB/GYN and we had a wonderful conversation about traveling, life in a small town, and Scott's experiences as an OB/GYN in a small town.
Once we reached Florence, we had about 13 minutes to catch our next train to Sarzana. We offloaded at the far end of the platform so we hightailed it to the main area of the terminal to see what platform our train was leaving from. It was platform 3. Platform 3 is not in the same area as most of the other trains. There were signs for platform 1 & 2, but nothing for 3. We hurriedly asked one of the attendants where 3 was, and she directed us the same area as 1 & 2. Still no signs but we finally found 3. Out of breath, we settled in to journey to the next transfer station of Sarzana.
Our next leg of the trip was from Sarzana to Monterosso. We met another couple, John and Marti Byrd. They are from Seattle and we exchanged travel tales with them as well. They have been to Monterrosso before so they had some good recommendations for us. They also told us about a hotel they stayed at in Sorrento. Sorrento is on our itinerary and we have not booked anything yet, so the recommendation was really helpful..
Our hotel in Monterosso, La Spiaggia, is in the new town. It is a 3 minute walk from the train station. We have a room with a gorgeous view overlooking the Ligurian Sea. After getting checked in, we freshened up and decided to scope out our surroundings. We found a little outdoor cafe in the old town and had a couple of drinks. Jeri was starved so we found a nice little restaurant, Ristorante da Ely.
After dinner, we found an orchestra playing down on the waterfront in the old town. It was absolutely beautiful to listen to. The main instrument was a bandoneon. A bandoneon is almost like an accordian, but much smaller. I have uploaded a fairly long video if you would like to hear the orchestra..On our way back to the hotel, as we passed through the tunnel between the old town and new town, we heard this beautiful piano music. We thought it was piped in, but as we got to the end of the tunnel, we saw a man playing a small piano. The acoustics through the tunnel were amazing!!
Wednesday September 5 - After breakfast at the hotel we decided to visit Vernazza. This is the crown jewel of Cinque Terra according to Rick Steves. We took a boat ride, which was only about 10 minutes. Vernazza is Italian for little Venice. The river used to run down the middle of town and there were bridges linking the 2 sides, thus the name Vernazza. The river now runs under the tourist filled streets. It really was more packed than Venice, and we decided to try to escape the crowds by hiking up the trail to Corniglia. We did not intend to hike all the way to Corniglia today. We just wanted to get a view of the city from above.
After spending some time admiring the views from above the city, we decided to take the train back to Monterosso. Big Mistake!!! The platform was so crowded, we could not move. Imagine trying to cram everyone onto the train. Off we went back to the boat for a much nicer trip back!!
Blaine needed to cool down so he took a swim at the beach in front of the hotel.. Jeri sat at the Gelateria with a diet coke and the Rick Steves Italy 2018 guide book. Jeri said she looked up the weather on Google and it said the temperature in Monterosso was 77 degrees. She swears it is hotter!! Must be her Northwest blood!!
We had dinner at Ristorante La Barcaccia, which was right around the corner from our hotel. I ordered the Seafood spaghetti and Jeri ordered a tomato pizza. Jeri's pizza came out right away, but for some reason my seafood spaghetti took at least 30 minutes. The waiter brought a plate of anchovies, compliments of the chef, because of the delay. I had mussels, clams and shrimp in with the spaghetti. The dish was pretty messy and after the meal Jeri discovered that the shrimp had exploded all over my shirt when I was peeling them. I guess I should have had one of my granddaughter Lila's bibs!!!
Thursday September 6 - After breakfast at the hotel we took the train to Corniglia. We didn't realize that the train station is pretty close to sea level (although you can't get there by boat), but the town is not. After 400+ steep steps up to the town we were ready to sit down and have a couple of drinks. Jeri was absolutely thrilled to find that Cafe Matteo had real Diet Coke!!! As we sat there we struck up a conversation with a young couple from New York. All of a sudden, the man at the table on the other side of them knocked his glass of wine off the table as he was speaking with his hands!! The glass shattered and the wine spilled on the young woman. I mention this because as you will see, it seemed to be a pattern in our day.
After walking back to the train station we caught the train back to Monterosso. It was quite hot and Blaine decided to take another dip in the water. Jeri was busy arranging dinner with our new friends, John and Marti Byrd, who we had met Monday on the train ride from Sarzana. John had made reservations at Ristorante Belvedere. in old town. We agreed to meet in the Piazza Garibaldi for drinks before dinner. As the waitress brought our drinks, she accidentally dropped Marti's Aperol Spritzer. The glass shattered and the whole sticky drink landed on John's lap!! Fortunately their hotel was just up the street, so he went back and changed his clothes.
Dinner at Ristorante Belvedere was really good. We sat out on the outdoor patio overlooking the water. Blaine had pasta scampi and Jeri had linguine Pesto pasta. The place was really busy and the waitress was moving at light speed. The table behind us had ordered a seafood soup that came in a huge urn, which they then transferred to large bowls on the table. We were almost done with dinner, when all of a sudden we heard a crash behind us. The waitress had dropped one of the bowls onto the ground. It didn't break, but it sure made a loud sound!!! Marti said we must be bad luck, as this was our third such incident today!!!
After dinner we were thrilled to witness the famous walnut toss competition that was being held in Piazza Garibaldi. There were about 100 people competing. It was actually a pretty big deal. We didn't stay long. You see one walnut toss, you've seen them all!
Friday September 7 - Blaine decided to hike the Corniglia to Vernazza trail this morning. It had been raining and the paths were going to be muddy and possibly slippery. Jeri has been dealing with a blister from her sandals, so she decided not to go. She wanted to explore more sights in Monterosso.
Blaine took the train to Corniglia. It was raining pretty hard when he got off the train so instead of hiking up the 400+ steps he decided to take the bus up to the center of town. After a quick bathroom stop and a little wait for the rain to stop he headed out onto the trail. There are lots of pictures and a few videos posted. The hike was absolutely beautiful!! As he was on the path there was lots of thunder and lightning!! You should be able to hear the thunder in a couple of the videos. It was really close!! He was carrying a metal selfie stick so the thought of getting hit by lightning was definitely on his mind. After about 80 minutes on the trail, Blaine arrived in Vernazza, where he caught a train back to Monterosso.
Jeri spent her day exploring the cemetery and churches above the town. She found the Ferrari family mausoleum. Not sure if it's the car family or not.
We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to book our accommodations in Siena and Sorrento. No luck yet, but we will keep trying. We did find time to take a walk into old town. Jeri has been eying the lemon slushes, so she ordered one with vodka!! YUM!
It was time for dinner and we walked around the corner to Ristorante Mistral. There was no one there, which made us a bit hesitant, but the waiter was really friendly so we went in. We sat on the outdoor patio (kind of a theme here) and Blaine ordered a veal with mushrooms. Jeri ordered a delicious pizza with grilled vegetables. She declared it to be the best in Italy!! After dinner the waiter brought us a couple of lemoncella shots. The lemon journey begins!!
This was on the trail from Corniglia to Vernazza. You can really hear the thunder on this one. Scared the crap out of me!!
You could hear this music echoing throughout the trail. It was really pleasant to listen to as I hiked.
A small video to show some of the challenging path from Corniglia to Vernazza.
