Day 23, 22-07
Today was one of the worst mornings but best nights of my trip this far. It was a super early start, we headed to Milan train station at 7.30am to hop on the train to La Spezia, which leads on to the divine villages of Cinque Terre (there are five, we are staying in Vernazza). Much to our horror we soon found out there was a strike on for the full day for many of the trains, including ours! Plans were changed and after a 3 hour wait at BK we got on a different route, to La Spezia with an interchange at Genova. It was the most horrible train ride – the seated cabins were all choc a block and we were left to make do in the TINY little entrance, between the toilet and the entrance of the train. Not just me and Nush, but about 6 or 7 people were standing here cramped with all our luggage too! We were late into Genova which was very stressful as there was only 10 minutes before our next train and we didn’t even know where to go. We ran off, as fast as humanly poss lugging all of our crap up and down stairs and finally made it; luckily the second leg was running late too! When we finally arrived at La Spezia we hit yet another obstacle, the lady at info was veeery unhelpful but managed to tell us the trains from La Spezia were also on strike until night time. Boats and buses were also on hold! The only way was a VERY expensive taxi. Luckily from this point on things started to look up. The taxi driver was quite possibly the coolest person ever! It was about a 45 minute ride up and around massive cliff faces, the narrowest roads, overlooking the Ligurian Sea but this included about 5 stops along the way to do photo stops! He was very much enjoying the role as a tour guide and it was definitely worth it. We finally arrived at Vernazza in the late afternoon. Vernazza is a teeny tiny village with one road and lots of branching off pedestrian alleyways and stairs, so we had a little bit to walk. After taking ages to find our room cave, we set about the town.
This paragraph is gonna get pretty lol but I figured Cinque Terre of all places I’ve been deserves a good description. Vernazza is stunning, for those of you reading this – google it and you will see why! Cinque Terre is the most picturesque discovery of traditional Italy. Brilliantly coloured houses stack up on top of each other against the cliff tops which steeply rise over the bluest sea. It is such an unexpected but perfectly fit urban masterpiece. It takes about 2 minutes to walk the main street, which meets the water with a plaza of local restaurants and gelaterias. In the little bay locals and tourists alike swim and play, often differentiated by those brave enough to cliff dive or venture out more into the choppy sea. There is such a mix of generations here - old ladies meandering about their everyday life gossip and young kids chasing each other on the little beach. And we can’t forget the dozens of stray cats around every corner!
After looking into the few local souvenir and food shops, we went for a quick swim in the bay – delightfully warm but extremely salty, then headed to a restaurant recommended by our awesome taxi driver – Gambero Rosso. He raved about the fish and the local white wine, and also about Claudio who was the owner. The pasta was so fresh with the most divine tomato stewy sauce, and Nush’s mixed fish grill was garlic and lemony goodness. We found out the old crazy guy sitting outside doing random spots of cleaning here and there was actually Claudio! What a good guy. Topped off the best night with a gelato.
Day 24, 23-07
Woke up early today, pumped for a day of walking around all five villages! After missing our first train we had a quick change of plans, and decided to walk from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare which was the longest walk, advised 2 hours. Monterosso is the furthest of the five villages. It turned out to be a cliffy, rocky mountain trail full of slippery rocks, little barriers and staircases from hell! This runner overpassed us right at the beginning, however little over halfway he was on his return, saying he had run to the end of Monterosso already! The views were very much worth it though; because the villages are at low points and the walks are on the cliffs above, you get breath taking sights down below. After a mareish one and a half hour walk we arrived at Monterosso. It was nicely spread out over two little bays, definitely more touristy than Vernazza depicted by the grid of beach loungers covering the sand. Much of the content of the towns are the same – tourist souvenirs and restaurants. A few swimmers were out in the beach but the waves were pretty rough. We then trained right to the other end – Riomaggiore, a steep and narrow village with a little opening out to the marina and a stunning view back up. Colourful trees lined the main street which was a nice touch. We got some juicy juicy nectarines and pizza. The next walk was a quicky from Rio to Manarola – through Via dell’Amore, or Lovers Lane. A tad romantic, it had beautiful sea views and was characterised by peoples’ love notes written all over the walls, and bunches of couples’ padlocks fastened onto railings or netting. Manarola was a nice little village but nothing toooo stand out. Looking back towards Manarola was lovely and I became obsessed with the flat houses continuous with the cliff face. We were pretty exhausted, hot and sweaty by this point though. Unfortunately the walk between Manarola and the next stop Corniglia was closed due to landslide so we had to train over that. Corniglia was quite unique to the rest of the villages as it had an older more worn down feel – lots more stone alley ways and old flags hanging down everywhere. It was also really high above the sea – no access here! Heating up a massive sweat we took a while to embark on our last leg of the journey which we had been expecting to be short, but in fact it was another 4 hellish k’s! But we had to go on. One slippery rocky climb of an hour later, I couldn’t have been happier to see Vernazza’s watch towers peek around the corner. We made it!!! I literally felt on top of the world (ha. ha.) We went straight for a delicious swim in the marina which was absolutely just what we needed. Snack time consisted of buttery margherita focaccia and local pesto (Anushi – 4 scoop gelato). For dinner we rose up to the highest restaurant in Vernazza to reflect on some bloody great views for one last time. The food wasn’t bad too (yum pesto lasagne) but the service was veeery lacking. Anyway, all in all, the time here has been a ridiculous experience and I feel so lucky to have come. After walking through all 5 towns, I think Vernazza is definitely the best place to stay if you come for a couple of days – it has a more homely and traditional feel in its small and comfy size, and the little half enclosed bay is perfect for a quick dip without getting thrashed by the waves. The walks are crazy beautiful and remind me a bit of NZ landscape (bar the architecture), it is definitely something to experience if you ever are travelling Italy. It isn’t too touristy (yet), however we have met several friendly Aussie and Kiwis along the way!
