Terracing within the land, along the path of the hikes, to prevent further land degradation
Vernazza, where we climbed rocks to enjoy our packed fruit after the rigorous hike from Monterosso
Manarola, where we swam
Long dinner of trofie al pesto, spaghetti and seafood, boiled mussels, and a fried seafood plate to share...all the must-try foods of the region in one sitting.
Monterosso, old side of the village, where we stayed
No hay palabras...
...except that these pictures speak for themselves. No added effects/color boosting/Instagram tinting needed. Everything about each of the five villages is magnificent and yet unassuming, and I can't really wrap my mind around how that can be. Yes, Cinque Terre has exploded with tourists over the last 10 years, and sure there's plenty of souvenir shops and mobs of confused, camera-clutching groups wearing Tevas and fanny packs and carrying walking sticks, but I still felt that this was some place altogether different from any other touristy place I've been to in Europe. Friday and Monday may have been a whirlwind of travel that I would like to remove from my memory forever, but Saturday and Sunday couldn't have been more perfect and made the trip more worth while.
Friday- 3:30 wake-up, bus to airport, plane to Barcelona, start reading The Glass Castle to pass the time in my 6-hour layover, another plane to Milan Malpensa, bus to Milan central train station, navigate to find out how to print train tickets, kill time reading/walking around the train station area/finding a hostel for Monday night while waiting for Stephen, find a local pizza place who made my to-go pizza in the shape of a heart, with black olive eyes, a cherry tomato nose, and basil leaves for lips in the middle (actually delicious, and a nice brightener to a rather dull day), finally Stephen arrives just in time to make the 3-hour train to Monterosso, arrive and follow Cherry's email directions to our B&B (never met Cherry, don't have wifi to contact her, don't even know if we have a room securely booked...), and after waiting a few minutes on the street, her husband greets us and shows us to the apartment. And so finally, after a very condensed, stripped down version of my long, almost 24-hour travel day, I had arrived in Cinque Terre: my dream vacation of dream vacations. I knew I loved it already when I set foot off the train in Monterosso, the first of the five towns, when I could already hear the sound of the ocean. The walk to the apartment was short and extremely easy, and even in the middle of the night I felt a sense of homey-ness. Everything was peaceful. A few bars were still open, playing music, but there was only the moonlight, the few strand lights that lit the sidewalk above the beach, and the lights of the houses in this tiny town. No cars. No sirens. Just the ocean and faint music. If I hadn't been so tired, I would have wanted to run out on to the beach immediately and look at the stars, but before I could have second thoughts about doing that, I had passed out.
Saturday- our lucky day. Why? The forecast had shown rain, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. How'd I know that? A huge skylight in our antique, renovated room opened to show the little Italian rooftops, mountains, winding streets below, and beautiful sky. You could even climb out onto the roof if you wanted. We started walking around the town, just to see it in the daylight, around 7:30 am and found our way to the top of a hill that overlooked, well... I just can't even begin to describe the sights. It would take me too long to think of the perfect adjectives to use, and I would never be satisfied with it. Let's just say I was already awestruck and we hadn't even started one of the famed hikes between towns yet. We had breakfast at the B&B's patio dining area, where we were offered omelettes and scrambled eggs, yogurt and granola with honey, fresh fruit (which we could take to go), and pastries. And still I had never met Cherry, the owner of the Alle 5 Terre, but her husband said not to worry about paying now, whenever would be fine. This only affirmed my assumption about this town, that it's nothing like anything I've ever experienced before. Nowhere in my life have I been personally greeted and shown where I was staying, given a little history of the building I was staying in, been told breakfast was served whenever you were ready for it in the morning, including omelettes, and that I could pay whenever it was convenient. That takes some serious trust. I already admired so much the way of life here. With granola and oranges packed and ready to go, we started the 90 minute hike to Vernazza. Stunning. New views around every corner. Plus it was probably the most difficult hike I've ever done, and I love some good exercise when its mixed with doing something fun.
From the breakfast patio
I love everything about hiking, and I've managed to get some form a hike into almost every city I've been in. As much as I like art, museums, and learning the history of ancient structures (not even being sarcastic, I really do), and while sampling the gastronomy of a new country/region of a country is something I look forward to and Trip Adviser-research for days before visiting a place, when I can be outside and just part of the world, I feel like I'm experiencing it to its fullest. If there's a way to walk to a place instead of taking public transportation, I will be the #1 proponent of choosing that method of travel. If there are outside steps up an incline or to another floor of a building versus an elevator, you better believe I'm taking them. Basically I'm at peace when I can feel free to move as I please. Cinque Terre begs that of you. Although some trails were closed because of mudslides and inclement weather and the trains were the only ways to get to certain towns, walking within the towns is necessary and for the most part, traveling by foot from place to place is the most encouraged option. Obviously I was in heaven. The thing that was so great about Saturday was that it was SO much fun, but time didn't fly by! The day felt long and like we could fit so much into it. Maybe that was because I wasn't on anyone else's schedule. I did everything at my own pace, deciding when I wanted to leave for another town, what time I was hungry to eat, how long I wanted to lay on the beach and nap. It was all just too perfect. By the time we reached Vernazza we were both dripping sweat, so we climbed the rocks past the beach to take in the sights of the water and the mini harbor with all its colorful umbrellas and little boats (the ultimate postcard) and re-energized with our oranges. Afterwards we got gelato (pistachio and berry). From there we made our way to Riomaggiore by train to take in some more breathtaking sights. While you physically can't get lost meandering through the streets of any of the towns because they are literally so small (5,000 residents throughout all 5 of the towns), its also impossible to feel bored as you find yourself admiring the vibrant flower arrangements on every porch, the sweetest looking dogs you've ever seen lounging on the front steps of shops, and the mouth-watering pesto pizza slices giving off aromas of what I can only call quintessentially Italy. From Riomaggiore we backtracked to Manarola and found a swimming spot as well as a place to lay out on some flat rocks, on the lower side of the town. I changed into my bathing suit at once and jumped in the water because it was actually really hot outside, but I almost immediately regretted the decision. Stephen managed to stay in a little longer but I was (maybe a little on the over-exaggerated side) approaching hypothermia, so I hopped out, or rather, was pulled out because my muscles were too frozen to help me do much of anything. Still, it was so warm outside that after sitting on the rocks for a few minutes, I felt good as new. In the meantime Stephen bought some pizza slices and some regionally produced white wine for us to snack on in the sun. Others looked down on our swimming hole (which we pretty much had to ourselves since the water is, well, still freezing) from the plaza above and I felt like they must have been envying us. All I could think was- this is the life. The thought came across my mind time and time again all weekend long, too. Sunbathing, wine sipping, pesto/margarita pizza-snacking, and crystal-blue water-gazing along the Italian Riviera...on a regular weekend during the school year for me. Unreal. Afterwards, it was back to Monterosso to drop off my backpack and hit the beach for the later part of the afternoon. After all the walking we'd done so far, I fell fast asleep in the sun but Stephen got in the water again and skipped rocks for at least 45 minutes. When I woke up it had become shady, but instead of going in like lots of other people were doing, we just moved our towels to the far side of the beach and let the chilling re-commence. We hung around until the sun was setting and people had showered and changed into their dinner outfits. Skipping the shower part (kind of a waste of time if you've only got a couple days in a place like this), we went straight to a seafood dinner in Vernazza. The waiter was slow, but that turned out to be a good thing because it gave us time to digest between each meal we ordered. I'm always such a fast eater anyways that I'll get way too full before I realize it and then it's too late. But not tonight. Tonight was the most relaxing of dinners I've had in a long time. I also realized that since I've been in Europe I've grown to love fish so much more. I even found the fried anchovies appetizing, and I used to hate anything that tasted fishy. Everything was delicious and beautiful, and we managed to order all of the famous dishes/items that the towns are known for within one meal. The only thing not ideal about the night was that we had to wait for the train back to Monterosso and it didn't come until 11:45, at least an hour after we finished eating. I tried to suggest walking around, sitting by the water, just watching the sea at night, but the temperature was so much colder by now that I couldn't stand it outside for another minute. We quickly found a little bar and got hot tea to sip while we waited. Even with the chill, it was a perfect end to a perfect day. I couldn't have asked for better weather, a better hiking partner, or really a better way to have spent any moment of the day at all.
Trying to capture a little bit of all of the five towns from Monterosso, some tucked behind the mountains
Dad, you'd be so proud of my anchovies-eating abilities
More on Cinque Terre days 2 and 3 to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment