Portovenere: After we left Carrara, we bussed down to the Ligurian Sea (the name for this part of the Mediterranean). We arrived in the medieval town of Portovenere. We explored the town for a few hours, had a delicious lunch, climbed a steep hill to a small church, had more gelato (of course), and walked the shoreline. It's a delight!
The above top left is a photo of Poet's Bay. It is a hill town, as evidenced by this steep staircase. The above middle left photo is of the colorful main street, Via Cappelini--many of these buildings date to the 12th Century. Our guide Sarah promised a great view if we climbed to the top of the hill where St. Peter's Church was built. The original church dates to the 5th Century. It was officially consecrated in 1198. The part in white and black bands dates from the 13th century. Views of Poet's Bay (bottom photos above) were indeed spectacular.
In mid-afternoon, we boarded a ferry to head to Cinque Terre. We were lucky the weather cooperated as we would otherwise have had to take our bus to our hotel in Levanto and missed the amazing views of these villages from the Sea. As we left Portovenere, we saw the Church of San Lorenzo, St. Peters Church, and Castelli Doria, a medieval castle/fortress up above Portovenere. Sadly, we didn't have the time to climb up there.
After our ferry departed the Bay of Poets, we proceeded up the Italian Riviera, making stops at each of the five villages collectively known as the Cinque Terre. While there are a few churches, there are no museums. Instead, these towns have shopping, gelateria, bars, and restaurants, as well as places serving locals’ needs (a bit further up the hills). These villages occupy a six-mile stretch of coast and are incredibly photogenic. They also require a lot of climbing up hills to see amazing views.
Above are our initial views were from the ferry ride before reaching Cinque Terre. Below the dividers are photos of four villages (William and I did not visit Corniglia) and Levanto. These were mostly taken on our full day in the area as we took the train between the towns and explored each for a couple of hours.
Above are our initial views were from the ferry ride before reaching Cinque Terre. Below the dividers are photos of four villages (William and I did not visit Corniglia) and Levanto. These were mostly taken on our full day in the area as we took the train between the towns and explored each for a couple of hours.
Riomaggiore:
With our trusty Cinque Terre pass, we had unlimited rides on the train. We boarded in Levanto and rode to the southernmost town, Riomaggiore. It is described by Rick Steves as “the most substantial town of the group.” It is certainly a town with challenging sets of stairs! We followed a walking tour provided by Rick Steves and wandered the streets. We noticed the stone walls that are ubiquitous to Cinque Terre—made without mortar and dry fit. Apparently, across the villages, there are 300 million cubic feet of these stone walls! We followed the suggested tour until we got to the top and found some remarkable views. We followed the route down to await the train and a five-minute ride to Manarola.
Manarola:
We did the most climbing of the entire trip in Manarola. The first shots show the beautiful pastel buildings endemic to the Cinque Terre. Stairs are equally prominent throughout the town.
Vinyards adorn the hillsides above the village. A few years ago, some of these were not maintained. The hill began to erode under heavy rain. Our guide Sarah said UNESCO is paying young people to learn how to maintain the vineyards to help prevent flooding. There is a small train track that allows tiny trains to haul grapes down and supplies up. Prior to the train, workers hauled everything on their backs.
Because of the steepness, our walking tour got us high up somewhat quickly. We put my new titanium hip to the test when we missed a turn and unknowingly started up the trail to Corniglia. It was quite challenging—uneven stone steps, many eroded or chipping, usually no handrails, and one person wide. My slow pace upwards met that we had to squeeze into occasional flat spots to rest and to let others pass us. The views, however, were amazing. We could see up the coast to Corniglia. Any thoughts of taking the trail there ended, though, when we got to a 12” wide dirt trail with a high cliff on one side, no railings or handholds, plus what appeared to be 200 more steps up (that we could see). I did feel happy with how high we had climbed and I saw the benefits of my many hours of PT and home PT exercises.
We climbed back down, found the correct path, and made it back to the train station. We were tired and hungry. Corniglia has few restaurants plus it is 385 steps up to the village from the train station. We decided to skip it and look for food in Vernazza.
Vinyards adorn the hillsides above the village. A few years ago, some of these were not maintained. The hill began to erode under heavy rain. Our guide Sarah said UNESCO is paying young people to learn how to maintain the vineyards to help prevent flooding. There is a small train track that allows tiny trains to haul grapes down and supplies up. Prior to the train, workers hauled everything on their backs.
Because of the steepness, our walking tour got us high up somewhat quickly. We put my new titanium hip to the test when we missed a turn and unknowingly started up the trail to Corniglia. It was quite challenging—uneven stone steps, many eroded or chipping, usually no handrails, and one person wide. My slow pace upwards met that we had to squeeze into occasional flat spots to rest and to let others pass us. The views, however, were amazing. We could see up the coast to Corniglia. Any thoughts of taking the trail there ended, though, when we got to a 12” wide dirt trail with a high cliff on one side, no railings or handholds, plus what appeared to be 200 more steps up (that we could see). I did feel happy with how high we had climbed and I saw the benefits of my many hours of PT and home PT exercises.
We climbed back down, found the correct path, and made it back to the train station. We were tired and hungry. Corniglia has few restaurants plus it is 385 steps up to the village from the train station. We decided to skip it and look for food in Vernazza.
Vernazza:
The first photo is ofthe beach.
The second is a shot of the "main" street. On October 25, 2011, Cinque Terre got 22” of rain in just four hours. A flash flood brought a 12' of mud to cover this street and four people died. Eight years later, we saw no signs of this disaster. As with Manarola, young people are being trained to maintain the vineyards above the town to reduce erosion and reduce the impact of future flooding.
The second is a shot of the "main" street. On October 25, 2011, Cinque Terre got 22” of rain in just four hours. A flash flood brought a 12' of mud to cover this street and four people died. Eight years later, we saw no signs of this disaster. As with Manarola, young people are being trained to maintain the vineyards above the town to reduce erosion and reduce the impact of future flooding.
We had a great lunch in Vernazza at the Antica Osteria il Baretto. We had a tasty Caprese salad to start and then my order of fried anchovies arrived. They were delicious, with a tempura-like batter. Light and flavorful! (I couldn’t finish them all!)
After lunch, we followed Rick Steves’ suggested walking tour through town. The north side of Vernazza apparently gets way more sun (the sciuiu [flowery] side) than the southern side of the ravine (the luvegu [dark] side). Parts of the town date to the 12th Century.
Monterroso al Mare:
When we had departed the ferry in Monterosso al Mare the day before, at the northern-most town of the Cinque Terre, we had a few hours to explore the old town (Centro Storico). We came back there the following afternoon to see the “newer” part of town, called Fegina (connected by a tunnel from Centro Storico). The pics here are from both days. Monterosso is relatively flatter than its sister villages. It also has the best beach (if you call an area by the water covered with small pebbles and rocks a beach). Centro Storico has a lot of small, narrow, crooked streets.
Levanto:
Our group took a train one town a couple of miles north to Levanto where our hotel was located. This town dates back to Roman times. It is quieter, less "touristy," and quite charming. It's a small town of 5000 residents. While there is a big section of modern apartments, we stayed in the Old Town area.
Levanto is only a four-minute train ride from Monterosso. We were located a couple of blocks off the central piazza. I was fascinated that many of the buildings have amazing trompe l’oeil designs painted on them. Windows and balconies are painted on the walls and appear quite real from a distance. My favorite was one of a cat (above right).
After we got settled in, Carlo (the owner of the hotel and also a chef) and his crew (Daniela, Giudita, Samantha and Anca) served up an amazing buffet of local specialties, including an amazing seafood soup, pasta with pesto, two fish dishes, rabbit, roast beef, vegetables, breads and more, paired with local wines. Dessert was a torta di sciacchetra (an almond cream cake) of his own original recipe. Plus, housemade limoncello for after dinner!
Levanto is only a four-minute train ride from Monterosso. We were located a couple of blocks off the central piazza. I was fascinated that many of the buildings have amazing trompe l’oeil designs painted on them. Windows and balconies are painted on the walls and appear quite real from a distance. My favorite was one of a cat (above right).
After we got settled in, Carlo (the owner of the hotel and also a chef) and his crew (Daniela, Giudita, Samantha and Anca) served up an amazing buffet of local specialties, including an amazing seafood soup, pasta with pesto, two fish dishes, rabbit, roast beef, vegetables, breads and more, paired with local wines. Dessert was a torta di sciacchetra (an almond cream cake) of his own original recipe. Plus, housemade limoncello for after dinner!