Cinque Terre, Italy

Don't get excited, I'm not returning to blogging with any regularity...but we had a fantastic trip to the Cinque Terre and I have a bit of down time at home (my Mom is sick with Shingles and the weather is drab) so I thought I'd try and post a little account of our trip.



My parents arrived in Geneva on August 19th, we spent a few days lazing around the house and visiting the nearby towns while they got over their jet-lag. I have to say they are amazing. I feel terrible from jet-lag every time I travel back and forth from the U.S., but they seemed to adjust very quickly. We wandered the local towns and I showed them the Academy were I work and took them to a lovely dinner at the Buvette de la plage. A little restaurant on Lake Geneva which is a stone's throw from work. My colleagues and I often stop by for a drink after work in the summer months when the weather is gorgeous and we're finished working by 5:30pm. It's really pretty fabulous. My friend (and colleague), Nick, had some friends in town as well so we all had dinner together. They were a laugh. Then we headed to the Tannay Chateau to enjoy a free jazz concert.

Sunday we jumped in the car and headed off to Italy. It was about a 6 hour drive which we broke up with a picnic lunch and then an hour stop in Genoa. By the time we actually arrived in Riomaggiore (the Cinque Terre town we were staying in) it was nearly 8pm. We were all happy to get out of the hot, sticky car - unfortunately we have no air conditioning and Italy is hot. We found the apartment we were staying in and enjoyed a nice dinner before exploring the town.

For those who don't know the Cinque Terre (5 Lands or often seen in Italy abbreviated as 5 Terre) is a chain of 5 towns on the Italian coast which have become a national park. The towns are starting from the North; Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. No cars are allowed into the towns and there are hiking trails along the coast which connect all 5 towns. Some trails are short and easy to hike, others are quite long with lots of ups and downs and foot wide paths with no fences forcing you to cling to the cliff side when other hikers need to pass. There is also a convenient train that connects the 5 towns and is an extremely cheap way to get around when you've spent too long at the beach and just can't make the hike in the blazing hot afternoon sun.

Our first day we hit the "beach" in Riomaggiore. I say "beach" because it wasn't a beach in the sense of lots of sand. It was a beach of boulders and large rocks. The water was so clear you could see to the bottom and with goggles you could watch the little fishies swimming by. We spread out blanket and towels and dove into the Mediterranean. I loved it while we were out swimming staring at the rocky coast and clambering onto the boulders out in the water. Unfortunately, when I wanted to stretch out and relax in the hot sun to read my book or take a little snooze I found I just couldn't find a comfortable place on the rocks. It was just too hard from my taste. I wanted to lie back with sand beneath me and molding to me. The Hubbster loved the water. He wanted to rent some snorkeling gear, but decided to wait till we found just the right beach and were sure we were going to stay for a large portion of the day. After a picnic lunch we decided to drop off our cooler at the apartment and hike our first trail - the Via dell'Amore. A short, 20 minute hike to the next town Manarola. The trail was well-paved with lights in the cliffs making it nice for a night stroll. Apparently it has become a tradition to lock a padlock to the fences with your honey to symbolize your love. The local hardware stores now sell engraved silver and gold padlocks for lovers to buy and leave on the path.

We explored Manarola following Rick Steve's self-guided tour (I bought his Snapshot guidebook of the Cinque Terre and it was quite helpful). We took the vineyard hike and enjoyed the beautiful terraced hillsides. Then found a place to take another dip in the water. Again the "beach" was rocks and this time a cement ramp. the water here was extremely deep and for some reason didn't seem quite as crystal clear as the mornings water in Riomaggiore. It was definitely a refreshing break. After our cooling swim we decided to tackle the next hike which was a bit longer and more rugged, but only about 45 minutes to the next town, Corniglia (pronounce Cornelia). After a beautiful (but warm) hike we were glad to get to Corniglia, ready to sit down and enjoy a glass of water and a cold glass of white wine. Only problem was the trail ends at the train station and the town is at the top of the cliffs. Time to trudge up more stairs in order to reward ourselves with some wine and gelato.
Corniglia is a beautiful little town with crooked, narrow streets and charming shops. We had a lovely bottle of Cinque Terre white wine at an Enoteca on the main street. A charming atmosphere and some unexpected nibbles made it the perfect little break. We even met the owner before we left to find some dinner. We followed Rick Steve's advice and made for Le Cecio restaurant with good food and a lovely view and not so charming service. He was 100% correct. We were the first people there and when I asked if they were open the woman slowly looked at the clock, ascertained that it was 7:00pm and grudgingly told us "Si" and let us choose our seats. We probably didn't endear ourselves to her by staring at all the empty tables wondering which one would be the best...when they all pretty much had exactly the same view. Seriously, our decision making skills could really use some work! The meal was very good. We had a good time laughing, eating and drinking wine. If I remember correctly DH and Mom were particularly impressed with the pesto. Apparently pesto is one of the regions specialties. I feel like I read somewhere they pretty much invented pesto in this region...but I could be mistaken on that one. After dinner we, naturally, found the gelateria and partook in what would become our ritual of sampling gelato from each of the 5 towns. Hands down, this artiginale gelato (handmade gelato) was the best I tasted. The dark chocolate and mint chocolate chip were to die for. DH preferred the limone gelato in Riomaggiore, Dad liked the gelato everywhere, and I believe Mom agreed with me - hands down the best we tried!
As evening was approaching we decided to hit the trails back to our apartment before it got too dark. Luckily it was light out as we hiked from Corniglia to Manarola and the Via dell'amore (from Manarola to Riomaggiore) had lights along the path, which was really quite beautiful. Hmmm...looks like my "short" account has once again turned into a novel. Well, that completes the arrival of my parents, enjoying our local area, getting to the Cinque Terre, and our first full day there. Considering I am soon finished with my vacation and back to work we'll see if I ever finish the telling of the rest our holiday in Italy! I'll try my best, but make no promises....so savor the ridiculous drivel I've written so far (at least the photos are pretty good). Ciao!