After getting up at a decent hour, we began our 180 km drive to Cinqueterre. The drive from Nice to Cinque Terre is truly breath taking. From towering mountains to little seaside villages, the 180 km can rival any road excursion in Europe or the world, for that matter. We finally reachied our destination, the town of Levanto. Levanto is a small seaside village 10 minutes from the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre is a string of five villages once only reachable by train and until the last few decades, was relatively undiscovered. The villages have true Italian character. We hopped the train and headed to Montarosa. The ten minute train ride is awesom! You are perched high above the sea as you pass pristine coves and gently rocking fishing boats.
Cinque Terre suits my taste in travel perfectly. The pastel colors of the buildings take their que from the surrounding environment. The blue sky, the coral sand, and the green hills bring about an interaction of man-made architecture that blends so gracefully with the mountains and the sea. Early in the evening as the restaurants and cafes began to come to life, the elder towns-people gather in the local squares greeting each other with hugs, handshakes, and animated conversation.
Around every corner there's a slice of life happening before you. They key is to slow waaaaay down and integrate yourself into the atmosphere. There's no rush - walking slowly and observing your surroundings brings about the greatest joy in traveling. The Cinque Terre offers many local wines. I especially like the white wines. Made from indigenous grapes, they are crisp refreshing and acidic. Each village has its own local juice and they are very proud to have you try their wines and as suspected they go very well with the local seafood.
This morning we decided to train into Vernazza we and have a light snack of local fruits and wine before we embarked on a boat trip to Manarolla. The restaurant we chose sat high above the coast. The almost vertical walk up, twisting centuries old stairs, and pathways had a great pay off with views of the town, the harbor, and all the going ons on the beach below. After downing the local five dollar carafe of wine we headed to the harbor to catch the boat. The boat ride to Manarolla was a great way get a different vantage point of the area. I had hiked the villages before and had seen the towns from the vantage point of high elevation but never from out at sea looking in. The villages were strung out like pastel charms on a mountainous green bracelet.
In order to get the fishing boats from the village above to the harbor below, a crane of sorts was used to lift the boat and swing it out over the harbor, where it would then be lowered gently to the water below.Once in Manarolla we hiked to the village of Riggaromagorie. The route between the two villages is called Via del amore. Lovers from the world over have carved the names of their loved ones into anything that was available to carve into, be it in the slate mountains, trees, or even cactus. The next day we decided to stay at our home base, the town of Lavonta. The beach side town was different from the five villages of the Cinquaterre. Firstly, they allowed cars in the town limits. The villages only allowed cars related to village maintenance. Secondly, there was a discernible absence of tourists! Lavonta was a great base. The cadence of the Italian language echoed through the streets in such a beautiful chorus and the pace was perfectly suited for “The beauty of doing nothing”.
To say the sunsets in Cinqeterre were incredible would be the understatement of the year. I shot over 80 pictures of the sunset alone as it changed the sky from hues of light pink to a fiery blood orange.
While hiking the jetties to take pictures of the sunset, 2 little girls about three and five years of age ran onto the jetties which can be quite dangerous. As I turned around to take a picture, one of the little girls fell between the rocks and disappeared. Bruce and I sprinted as fast as we could to find her. We were about 30 meters away and could hear her high pitched screams. The whole beach looked on. In just seconds we got to her, Bruce pulled her up by the arm and held her as she cried at the top of her lungs, she was bruised and frightenend but OK. She had somehow fell between the rocks without any serious injuries. Her parents were nowhere in sight. We asked her sister where her parents were , she pointed to the restaurant 100 meters away on the dock. We reached her parents who didn't have a clue that their daughters had been playing on the dangerous jetties. They gave us a quick thank you as though nothing had happened. I'm guessing they were just in a bit of shock from the fact that strangers were bringing them their screaming child.
I have made fond memories of The Cinquterre. I don't think I will ever tire of visiting these wonderful villages. If you decide to make it to the villages, I would say come in late September or October. The crowds of tourist are gone and the locals have their village back. Even the prices go down on everything from food to boarding. One of my nicest memories was hopping a ride on a grape picker.The terraced vineyards are so steep in the villages that they must use a one-seated, one-track, motorized grape picker to reach the fruit.
Our next destination will be Tuscany. I'm looking very forward to returning to the land of Chianti, olives, sun, and hill towns.