Today we woke up and peered anxiously up at the sky. Was it rainy? Would the boats run to the Cinque Terre? Would we be able to make it there today?
We motored down to the Promenade and asked the lady at the boat shack whether there were services running to the Cinque Terre today. It definitely wasn’t stormy (not like yesterday) and the water looked relatively still. But alas “No, the boats aren’t running today. It’s not safe because the water is too rough” she reported. And so, we had to turn back to seek an alternative way to reach the Cinque Terre.
We eventually opted for the train pass. It’s a full day pass (costs about 10 Euros) which takes you to each of the stops along the Cinque Terre (or the five “lands”). The Cinque Terre is the Italian version of the French Riveria and it is a relaxed and beautiful part of Italian coast. Each of the town are only about half an hour apart in total (i.e. about 2-5 minutes between each one) and despite our 12 pm start, we were able to visit four of the five “lands”.
First stop was Riomaggiore, and in our rush to start the walking trail, we sort of forgot to go into the city centre. Instead, we walked via Dell’ Amore (which is the most romantic trek you’ll ever do) and saw proclamations of love scrawled across the white walls along the way. I added my own (see below) before we indulged in the seascape and the postcard perfect backdrop of those famous colourful houses that appear stacked on the edge of the clifftops.
[Dell 'Amore:]
Once we arrived in Manarola, we had a super Cinque Terran lunch of
- a lovely lunch of vegetable pasta (did you know that pasta is considered as an entrée in Italy!);
- anchovy, olive, mushroom and cheese pizza (anchovy is a specialty of the Cinque Terre); and
- a piece of tiramisu, and lemon sorbet for dessert.
Full and satisfied, we then went to Corniglia (population 240) where we climbed up 382 steps and caught an awesome view of Manarola. The effort of trudging up 382 steps plus the cheese heavy meal (I’m pretty lactose intolerant) inadvertently brought on a bit of wind (not the weather kind) and I accidentally let rip a pretty big “whoever smelt it dealt it!” as we rounded a corner at the 150 step point. It was really loud and I pretended it wasn’t me. But it took one giggle from Man from Mars to bring on a massive laughing fit and as I laughed and laughed with my hair flopping into my eyes, I tripped on a step. I would’ve fallen if it weren’t for him and his long limbs; as I flailed around I grabbed at air before clawing his arm- it broke my fall, but left behind a pretty deep cut. Sorry Man from Mars!
[The scratch after my smelt it dealt it incident:]
We kept climbing the steps, laughing hysterically the whole time and I kept asking Man from Mars: Do you reckon people knew it was me? Was it really really loud? to which he’d reply “yeah” and “yeah”. Dammit.
[Laughing after my smelt it dealt it incident:]
We wandered through Corniglia and as we walked through the narrow lanes, we could look down other perpendicular lanes and spot doorways that lead into the vineyards lining the mountain face. It was like that commercial that you see for South Australia before the movie starts at the cinema, where Martin Dingle-Wall and his lady friend are running around to the strains of La Mer and looping through doorways that lead to vineyards- except this wasn’t a figment of an advertiser’s imagination—it was real.
To end our Corniglian excursion, we enjoyed a gelato from Gelateria (which gets a special mention in my Rick Steve’s guide to Italy) before making our way back down the many many stairs to catch the train to Vernazza (which is known as the “Jewel of the Cinque Terre”).
We ended up missing the next train to Vernazza by about thirty seconds and because there was a fifty minute wait until the next train, and we didn’t much feel like going back up the 382 steps into Corniglia, we decided to take the train back to Manarola to pass the time. Once there, we relaxed and took it easy. We sat on the steps of the post office (which is only open for 4 hours a day) and watched a dog panting super hard from the heat and the incline up into town. I took a photo of his long pink tongue.
When we got to Vernazza, we got to see why it’s known as the Jewel of the Cinque Terre. It is home to the world’s only natural harbour and as the sun started to set, the colourful houses and stunning scenery was a completely fitting way to end a fantastic day. We watched daring teens jumping off the stone wall, into the choppy sea before strolling back to the station to return to La Spezia. Something to note about the trains that you take to the Cinque Terre, is that often the train stops in the depths of a dark tunnel. Don’t worry- it doesn’t mean that you’ve missed your stop, it just means that you have to disembark from the train in a dark dark tunnel and walk up a bit yourself to get to the town.
[Vernazza:]
Anyway, we got back into La Spezia at about 7:45 pm, catching a stunning sunset on the train ride back and enjoyed another pizza and another pasta at our usual haunt (for the last three nights anyway) at Pepe Nero Ristorante Pizzeria.
It was a totally unforgettable day- a pleasure for all the senses.
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