Cinque Terre, Italy - a vacation from my vacation

Ah, bella Italia!

After my overnight train ride from Spain, I rolled into La Spezia, Italy. I changed my money (2200 Italian Lire = 1 Dollar) and ate lunch. Today's specialty was Spaghetti Mare. The spaghetti had an Unidentifiable Scary Thing on top of it - I think it was a crayfish but it looked more like a huge cockroach to me. I discretely placed the poor dead thing behind and under the lip of my plate so I wouldn't have to look at it.

After lunch I took the milk-train out to the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre are five small, pastel-colored, sun-drenched, clinging-to-the-cliff villages overlooking the Mediterranean in northwestern Italy. Really special.

The train stopped at Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia, then pulled into Vernazza, where I had decided to spend a few days. Vernazza has a small harbor with a breakwater, beautiful turquoise-blue water, lots of rocks to sun on, all overseen by a ruined castle and an old church.

From the Vernazza train station, I mosied down the main street. The street is lined by restaurants and bars, a few grocery stores and touristy shops, and the town folk sitting on benches watching the daily parade pass by. On top of the business establishments are residences and pensiones, with the ever-present Italian laundry flapping in the breeze.

There are no cars in any of the Cinque Terre towns, except Monterossa del Mare. To get from town to town you either hike, take a train or a boat.

I stopped in at the Gelato Shoppe, and asked the proprietess if she knew of any places to stay. She stepped out onto her deck, cupped her hands around her mouth, looked up at a window across the street, and hollered something in Italian at the lady in the window. The lady opened her window, hollered something back and made her way down the stairs. She took me back across the street and showed me her room, which I accepted. It had its own shower!!! My first private shower in MONTHS! But I have never figured out these European showers - there is no boundary between the shower and the rest of the bathroom, only a curtain rod and curtain, so the water goes all over the bathroom floor. I swear, I have had more adventures with toilets and showers in Europe than I care to recall.

But I digress.

Anyway, after getting settled I explored the side streets and hiked up to the ruined castle to take in the incredible view. I picnicked on the rocks by the harbor as I watched the sunset, with several other tourists.

The next day I took the train back to Riomaggiore and set out for a hike. A trainload of other hikers piled off the train and we all made our way to the Via Dell'Amore - the first leg of the hike. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day. The whole hike takes about 5 hours. Halfway through the hike I stopped for lunch (Foccia Pizza) in the plaza in Corneglia. Ferral cats roamed around, hoping for handouts from the hikers as we rested and ate. At the plaza I met Meg from Minnesota, another solo traveler who was staying in Vernazza but hiking in the opposite direction. We chatted, and agreed to meet for dinner later that evening.

After my lunch break, I continued on to Vernazza where I decided to stop. I completed the last, toughest leg to Monterossa the next day. Again, a wonderful hike, straight up, then straight down, past vineyards on steep hills, on sometimes perilously narrow trails next to cliffs leading down to the sea. Hikers said 'Grazie,' 'Merci, or 'Thank you,' as we squeezed pass each other. In Monterossa I ran into Meg again and we ate lunch together. I took the boat back to Vernazza.

This was a nice change of pace. I left the Cinque Terre with my batteries recharged and ready to tackle the rest of Italy. On my way out I stopped in Pisa to see the tower.

Next stop, Florence!