A Weekend Away in Cinque Terre



Vernazza: a view as we were hiking on the trail to Monterosso

 Chris and I were able to steal away on a relaxing weekend to Northern Italy, specifically the Cinque Terre area.  This mountainous area consists of 5 coastal towns: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, & Riomaggiore, that are linked by hinking trails and by train.  The area makes wine, pesto, and anything lemony.  I could stay here awhile... We arrived in Pisa and hopped a train to Vernazza, where we stayed for 2 nights.  Finding our room was a bit of a challenge, but after 3 phone calls to the owner, who spoke little english, and almost walking into a few rooms that were not ours, we came upon our room on a skinny side street in the middle of lots and lots of steps.  No grand lobby, elevator, or reception desk; just a little room.

The entrance to our room

Saturday morning we stopped by the bakery and picked up 2 buttery focaccia rolls for breakfast, and headed for the Cinque Terre Trail.  We decided to hike the most difficult section first, to Monterosso.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  The trail winds up and down the mountainside, with the ocean always in sight.  There are a lot of Americans in Cinque Terre; we even met a couple from Colorado!  We arrived in Monterosso and admired the view from the beach.  We walked through the town, visited a monastery, and ate some pizza.

Part of the trail was closed, so we hopped the train to Riomaggiore.  From there we were able to hike to Manarola; a very quaint, seaside town.  All of the towns have a similar laid back feeling.  Buildings are in great need of a fresh coat of paint and everyone seems to be hanging out thier laundry.  Somehow, it makes the towns that much more picturesque. We hopped on a ferry to take us back to Vernazza and had a delicious dinner of pesto lasagna and seafood salad.  I have to admit that Chris was more excited about the octopus in the salad.  We sat on the tiny main square for awhile and just watched the local families interact.  There were 6-8 little kids that were playing ball, and tag as the parents chatted.  It is the one of the only places in the village that is open and flat.  We asked ourselves if we could ever live in a tiny remote town like this and our answer was only if we had several of our closest friends and family with us.  So, you may get the call one of these days... 

Pisa is a pretty city along the Pisa river.  There is one main central area where most of the tourist sights are located and of course, the Leaning Tower.  It really is quite a sight to see. It started to lean while they were biulding it, so they compensated by making the floors on one side taller.  That made it lean even more, due to the weight of the extra height, so they anchored it to the ground so it would not lean even more.  It was built as the bell tower to the church that is next to it.  After taking pictures and eating lunch, it was time for me to fly back to Amsterdam and Chris to take the train to Milan for work. This is what living over here is all about...