Last Day on the Cinque Terre

Today, Friday, the 13th, is our last full day on the Cinque Terre and, in fact, in Italy.

In the previous blog I wrote, I neglected to mention that this area of Italy is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site. The text from the website says: The Ligurian coast between Cinque Terre and Portovenere is a cultural landscape of great scenic and cultural value. The layout and disposition of the small towns and the shaping of the surrounding landscape, overcoming the disadvantages of a steep, uneven terrain, encapsulate the continuous history of human settlement in this region over the past millennium. Stretching 15 km along the eastern Ligurian coast between Levanto and La Spezia, the jagged, steep coastal landscape has over centuries been intensively developed with stone walled terraces for the growing of vines and olive trees. The area was almost inaccessible, except by sea, until the Genoa-La Spezia railway was built in the 1870s. The main five villages of Cinque Terre date back to the later Middle Ages. Starting from the north-west, the first is the fortified centre of Monterosso al Mare, that is a coastal town grown along two short valleys and facing one of the few beaches that exist in the area. Vernazza has developed along the Vernazzola water-stream on the slopes of the rocky spur protecting the village from the sea. Corniglia is the only village which has not been built on the coast itself but on a high promontory projecting to the sea. Manarola is a small hamlet in which the houses are ranged in part on a rocky spur running down towards the sea and partly along the Grappa stream. The most eastern – southerly village is Riomaggiore; its houses line the narrow valley of the Rio Maggiore water-stream, today covered to - be used as main street.

After Delcie's big hike yesterday, she decided she'd like to take it a bit easier today which, of course, suited me. So after breakfast, we took the train to Vernazza, the next village south and about a 5 minute train ride. This town is very popular, particularly with American tourists because of Rick Steves touting it as one of his favourites. Its charm cannot be denied. It has a very picturesque harbour, a lovely little church, and a dramatic hillside behind it.

Somewhere, way up there, is the trail Delcie hiked yesterday from here to Monterosso

We took oodles and oodles of photos before deciding it would be great to linger her a little longer. So, we made for a cafe where she ordered an espresso. It was my intent to have orange juice but, when I saw the woman beside me sipping an Aperol Spritz, I couldn't resist - besides it did have an orange in it! As we sat there, we chatted to a group of six people beside us. They turned out to be Romanians who were on a Celebrity cruise docked in La Spezia. Their English was very good. They were drinking a cocktail called a Hugo- Prosecco with elderberry liqueur. That appealed to Delcie so she ordered one - and then another which meant I needed another Aperol Spritz. Bear in mind this was all before noon!!

Well, there is a slice of orange in it!

After that, we wandered back around the harbour to get more photos. We had heard about "cones" of fried fish that were sold here - basically paper cones stuffed with a selection of your choosing - from squid to anchovies and shrimp. It wasn't to my liking but she ordered one and seemed to enjoy it. Our decadence continued as next we went to a geletaria where we each had a gelato - mine was caramel and it was delicious.

By then we were ready to head back to Monterosso so caught the train - these train rides between all the villages and La Spezia cost 5 Euros. For the longer rides, that seemed a fair price but for the 5 minutes between the two places we were today it seemed a bit steep. Monterosso is divided into two parts - to the north, a more modern town where we are staying; and, to the south, the older town you get to by walking through a tunnel. We spent the next part of the day strolling around the old town which has two medieval churches (maybe more but we saw 2) and lots of shops and restaurants. It was fun to poke around but we bought nothing.