3 nights amongst the 5 lands (Cinque Terre)

Venice to Vernazza, Day 8 22 May 2009

Feel quite sad to leave our apartment in Venice.  It has become to feel a bit like a home and we would definitely recommend this and come back here.  After our coffee, we head off with our trunk on wheels and bid our landlady (who is delightful) farewell and trudge through the growing heat to the vaporetto for the last time.  A 45 minute ride to the train station is full of drama.  The boat is full to the brim and we are not favourites with the locals with my big pack and the trunk on wheels.  We end up sitting beside a grumpy old Italian man and an initially grumpy old Italian woman.  However, she warms to me after a while and offers me a seat next to her.  In my best Italian I tell her we are from NZ.  She responds that she has lived in Venice all her life and she was so nice after the hostile start.

In addition to the sardine like packed vaporetto, it is 32 degrees and increasing.  Finally, the vaporetto vomits a slew of travellers and baggage at the train station.  Being the seasoned travellers we are, we confidently book the train to La Spezia, which is a Eurostar to Florence, with a change to a local train to La Spezia.  You would think we had learnt from the last experience of catching the Eurostar in Milan, but this time it is not all our fault.  The platform it leaves from is only announced at the last minute and there is a surging tsunami of anxious travellers bound for the train when it is finally announced.  We decide to split and I will take the bags and Kathy will validate the tickets.  I find the carriage and board confidently, only to find that the place to store bags is at the other end of the carriage.  I look back to get off and get in the carriage the other end, but the passage is blocked with people and bags.  Oh well, I pick up the trunk and lunge forward step by step until I find the designated seats - someone else is ensconced in our seats - how dare they!  I indicate to them that they are in our seats and then have a chilling thought - better check the ticket again - WRONG CARRIAGE!!  Lug trunk and pack off the carriage in humiliation and find correct carriage.  Slump into seat in a pool of perspiration yet again.

The remainder of the journey to Florence and La Spezia is really all about one question - why do some tourists have to talk in loud voices all the time about inane and boring subjects??  We don't find the answer to this question on this journey anyway, but plenty of examples.

La Spezia is a bit of a run down station but after bouncing the trunk down a large flight of stairs to change platforms we discover a marvel of modern travel - a lift that will just fit in two people, a large trunk and a double pack.  We smile warmly at the watching travellers as we rise in the glass lift, which only operates with the button held in.  We are blissfully unaware of what awaits us....

Next stop is Vernazza, the third of the five villages in the Cinque Terre.  The regional train takes us right to the middle of this little village and we gaze at the brilliant blue Mediterranean and are thankful to have finally arrived.  After a phone call, we are greeted by a friend of our landlord who gives me a comical look as he looks at the trunk on wheels.  Ok there are a few steps - I can handle that.  What I had overlooked is that the people who built this village centuries ago did not care much for wheels.  They were about boats and walking. There are no cars in Vernazza; you can only get there by train or walk.  We set off.  Firstly there are steps with risers of about 300mm.  Okay....  These go on and on.  Then there is some respite as we are lead through a tunnel built under houses and then more steps and more steps and more steps.  Part way through the guy takes pity on me and shares the carrying of the trunk, but he gives up pretty soon too, complaining about a sore back or something similarly paltry.  We finally arrive at the apartment and look up at a 45 degree flight of 15 steps to the front door.  Don't forget it is over 30 degrees as well.  Ah well, at least I won't lose all that cardiac fitness too soon....

We wander down to the centre of the town and the port.  It is really beautiful.  We mooch around the waterfront and end up right down on the pier. The deep blue Mediterranean is lapping at the concrete pier and there are people swimming.  There is a middle aged European man there whose daughter is swimming below.  He really wants to jump in but is scared.  She tries to reassure him and then another young chap dives in and tries to tell him it is over 3m deep.  "I want to, but I am afraid-a; it is on my bucket-a list-a".  He finally runs forward, leaps and disappears in a ball of white splash and then re-appears beaming at all of us "LIFE IS a GOOD!!"

We find a local restaurant and a lovely older Italian waiter, who demands everyone speaks in Italian, regardless of ability.  He is charming and tells us to take our time - he is working until midnight!  The meal is really wonderful and when we ask for the bill, he asks us what we had!!  "Ahh... that is a lot of stuff!!"  We would love to return tomorrow night to sample again the local specialty of fish and the sensational ice cream made fresh each day in the restaurant, drizzled with real caramel, but they are not open tomorrow.

Vernazza Day 10 25 May 2009

I decide to get up early and take some photos of the town at first light.  What I had miscalculated was that Vernazza faces due west and the sun was behind the steep hills until after 7am.  However, it was lovely to be up and to see life beginning to start here.  They have these mono rail systems for getting to and from the vineyards on near impossibly steep slopes.  Spotted someone in the distance using one.  Shame the photo doesn't really show how steep this was.

We go down to the village, have a quick coffee and bombolone (a plump, fresh doughnut filled with custard) and set off on the walk from Vernazza to Riomaggiore, the first of the five villages.  We had seen that the profile was a bit steep, but the reality was somewhat different.  We were so glad to be in the shade for most of it and realised why they are all so skinny over here.  As we rose rapidly out of Vernazza, the views along the coast were stunning and the morning really beautiful.  We were virtually the only ones on the walk this early.  It took us over an hour to reach the first village of Corniglia, where of course we seek out a 'bar' and have another coffee and bombolone!

As we headed out from Corniglia to Manarola, the next village, some of the hordes coming the other way start to appear.  It is easy to recognise the Germans, with their walking sticks, sturdy boots and earnest expressions.  We are wombling along in sandals and wonder why you need walking sticks.  They even walk around the towns with them.  I vow I need to snap this phenomenon, but will need to choose my moment carefully, as I think that they are aware of the mocking stares from others....

Corniglia is very steep, so steep in fact that the walk down to the water does not appeal when the thought of the walk back up emerges.

On to Manarola, which is a more gentle climb and the trail wider.  Manarola is a lovely little village and time for lunch.  We love having an antipasto for lunch and enjoy this opportunity to refresh ourselves before heading on to the "Via del amore" the walk of love.  In times gone by, this part of the trail was narrow and dangerous and couples from Manarola and Riomaggiore would meet on this path and sometimes it was impassable due to rock slides etc.  Today to make it safer they have blasted a tunnel through the rock face and it is filled with padlocks symbolising a couple's commitment to one another.

After a mooch around Riomaggiore and while we are waiting to buy tickets on the boat to return to Vernazza, we are entertained by boys jumping off a cliff immediately opposite the ticket office.  I managed to snap one of them in full flight.  The boats board with a gang plank from the bow of the boat and the rising swells give some interesting challenges for the helmsman to keep the vessel in the right position so that the passengers can alight and board.  Just close your eyes for a moment and imagine how the German mammas navigate a bucking gang plank!!  It was comical to watch.!!

After returning, my first swim in the Mediterranean was lovely and refreshing.  No beach though.  The routine here is to claim your "rock" and then lay all your stuff out on it and that becomes your base.  Dive into the beautiful clear water and then return to the rock which has been heated by the sun to dry off.  Good times!

Then the next highlight is dinner. Our favourite restaurant is closed tonight, but we go to one next door our friendly waiter recommended.  I order one of the local delicacies, which is octopus.  It was delicious, but Kathy did complain at one point about a bit of tentacle hanging out of my mouth!  We sink in to bed with weary limbs, but very satisfied with a great day.

Vernazza Day 11 26 May 2009

The next day the challenge is to walk to Monterosso, which is rumoured to have the hardest trail.  Kathy decides to pass on that one, so I set off by myself after the traditional coffee and bombolone soon after 8am.  I am the only one on the trail and it rises like a stair case with foot high risers from Vernazza relentlessly.  Despite the fact that the morning is still cool and the sun is largely not up yet on this side of the range, my shirt develops large sweat stains pretty quickly.  I press on with some short stops to soak in the views until I am pretty high up.  I come across a lovely small stream, where the path goes over it with a small bridge and there is a little hobbit's house next door.  It is amazing and I sit there for a while to soak in the stillness and tranquillity.  There is no one else around.  After a few minutes of tranquillity I round the corner to find a guy sitting there in a flouro jacket with a huge rifle!!  After a "buon giorno" I gesture at the rifle he has laid across his lap and he mumbles something in Italian I don't understand, but gather he is shooting some wild life!!  This is all a bit strange, as the Cinque Terre is a national park with protection on both sea and land.  I decide not to upset him in any way and walk on after "e' una bella giornata no?" to which he doesn't reply.  I meet my first walkers coming from the other direction and warn them about what is around the corner. They agree that he is or will be a close friend!!  I imagine as I walk away that if his gun had gone off while I was enjoying the tranquillity I might have more than sweat stains on my nice new blue shorts!!

This trail is definitely not like the others and is very narrow in parts.  So narrow, that you have to press yourself against the cliff in places to let others past.  The descent into Monterosso is savage as well.  Whilst it is only an hour and a half to walk it, it is a good work out for me and very enjoyable.  My calf muscles were complaining when I started out in the morning after the previous day's walk and I know that this was even harder than the previous day's walks.  Kathy made the right decision.

I manage to snap some German walking sticks (Alpenstock) in action as well.  The users did not look too happy about it, but the 200mm zoom with Image Stabilization on my camera is great.

I arrive in Monterosso not realising that the town is sort of split into two.  The swells are really getting up and there are some spectacular scenes as I approach Monterosso.  After a mooch in the old town, with a coffee and bombolone Kathy makes contact on the cell phone sounding slightly stressed about washing our clothes in this huge machine and running out of cash.  She will be late.  No problem, I love just walking around the old town and checking out the local sights.  The surf breaking on the break water immediately behind some tourists makes a great sight too.

Back to Vernazza on the train and into the Med for a swim.  The swells coming in make some of the rocks from yesterday unavailable, but I really enjoy resting my tired legs in the sea and soaking up some sun and having two refreshing swims.

Ahh... time for another Campari spritzer before sampling more of the region's wonderful cuisine.  Unlike in Venice, we have yet to experience an "ordinary" culinary experience.