Cinq Terre - Friday afternoon
Yesterday we managed to exceed all our plans for walking. Due to the rain, many if not all the walking trails in the area were closed down so we purchased a one day rail pass- 16 Euro each.
With trains running every 20 minutes or so it was fairly easy to get around. The 5 "Terres, starting at Riomaggiore run along the coast with Manarola being the next followed by Corniglia, Vernazza then Monterosso. We actually stopped at Vernazza first then Monterosso and finally Manarola. Due to time and the rain we skipped Corniglia altogether.
It was raining quite heavily when we arrived in Vernazza. A short walk from the station brought us to the centre of town where we made a brief stop to visit the main church before wandering into the upper parts of the town to explore a ruined church yard with a rather spectacular view of the harbour. Returning to the station we then set off to explore Monterosso. A much larger town with most of the buildings at sea level it was definitely the most commercial of the towns. A couple of large flat beaches were covered in recliners and beach chairs that were completely unoccupied due to the rain and wind. A brief gust made short work of Susanna's umbrella so we decided to take shelter and enjoy a quick lunch- sandwich and hot tea.
As the weather was showing little sign of improving we returned to the station to await the arrival of a rather late train south towards La Spezia, the main town.
We decided at the last minute to get off at Manarola which looked very similar to Riomaggiore- a long tunnel leading from the station to the Main Street which sloped fairly steeply towards the sea.
We stayed just long enough to visit a few shops, snap some photos of the waves breaking against the harbour wall before returning to Riomaggiore to warm up and change our clothing.
That evening we set off for La Spezia, a 10 minute ride by train. The town looked quite dumpy from the train but once we got closer to the city centre it's appearance changed considerably, with several beautiful old buildings and churches.
My plan for dinner was a restaurant that had a few good reviews on TripAdvisor.
We arrived at Locanda del Mercato at around 6:30 pm and found the place closed, even though it advertised a 6pm opening. Staff informed us that they opened at 7 so we wandered the streets and explored for a half hour or so.
The place was everything I expected and more. Starting with several tapas, cod, fried zucchini flowers, vegetable couscous and octopus salad then a main course of seared tuna coated in sesame seeds for me and grilled octopus for Susanna.All were very delicious and the bill came in at 51 euro- our standard price point for nearly every meal.
A leisurely walk back to the station found us comfortably early for a 9:15pm train back to our apartment so Susanna had a small Cappuchino at McDonalds while we waited. McDonalds in Europe is a far cry from the offerings in North America with fancy desserts as well as wine and beer.
Returning to Riomaggiore, Susanna relaxed while I made an attempt to view and photograph the town at night.
This morning we awoke quite sore and quite late from all the rain and walking. After a quick breakfast of coffee and crepes at Bar Centrale, a catch all of a bar/diner/ gelateria we set out for a hike into the hills to a nearby religious sanctuary. Roughly 1.2 km as the crow flies but closer to 4 by road. We eventually called it quits about half way due to the very steep inclines. In spite of that we still managed to capture some very amazing photos of the town and surrounding hills. Returning to town by an alternate route we visited the local castle which was off limits due to reconstruction, but still offered a great view over the town.
Returning to the town centre Susanna picked up a take out meal at Il Pescato Cucinato, apparently the best of several seafood takeaways in town. Their specialty is small pieces of seafood, deep fried and served in a paper cone along with fries and onion rings. Consisting mostly of sardines, anchovies and the odd bit of fried fish, almost like small chicken nuggets, it paled in comparison to a decent sampling of English fish and chips but it was OK. I contented myself with a small taste while finishing off some leftover pizza from a previous meal.
After a brief but well needed siesta the church bells are tolling 5pm and at this point we have no plans for the evening. Tomorrow we will travel by train to Pisa but there are enough trains that we have not made any firm arrangements yet. Our accommodations are booked and we will just "get there when we get there!"
With trains running every 20 minutes or so it was fairly easy to get around. The 5 "Terres, starting at Riomaggiore run along the coast with Manarola being the next followed by Corniglia, Vernazza then Monterosso. We actually stopped at Vernazza first then Monterosso and finally Manarola. Due to time and the rain we skipped Corniglia altogether.
It was raining quite heavily when we arrived in Vernazza. A short walk from the station brought us to the centre of town where we made a brief stop to visit the main church before wandering into the upper parts of the town to explore a ruined church yard with a rather spectacular view of the harbour. Returning to the station we then set off to explore Monterosso. A much larger town with most of the buildings at sea level it was definitely the most commercial of the towns. A couple of large flat beaches were covered in recliners and beach chairs that were completely unoccupied due to the rain and wind. A brief gust made short work of Susanna's umbrella so we decided to take shelter and enjoy a quick lunch- sandwich and hot tea.
As the weather was showing little sign of improving we returned to the station to await the arrival of a rather late train south towards La Spezia, the main town.
We decided at the last minute to get off at Manarola which looked very similar to Riomaggiore- a long tunnel leading from the station to the Main Street which sloped fairly steeply towards the sea.
We stayed just long enough to visit a few shops, snap some photos of the waves breaking against the harbour wall before returning to Riomaggiore to warm up and change our clothing.
That evening we set off for La Spezia, a 10 minute ride by train. The town looked quite dumpy from the train but once we got closer to the city centre it's appearance changed considerably, with several beautiful old buildings and churches.
My plan for dinner was a restaurant that had a few good reviews on TripAdvisor.
We arrived at Locanda del Mercato at around 6:30 pm and found the place closed, even though it advertised a 6pm opening. Staff informed us that they opened at 7 so we wandered the streets and explored for a half hour or so.
The place was everything I expected and more. Starting with several tapas, cod, fried zucchini flowers, vegetable couscous and octopus salad then a main course of seared tuna coated in sesame seeds for me and grilled octopus for Susanna.All were very delicious and the bill came in at 51 euro- our standard price point for nearly every meal.
A leisurely walk back to the station found us comfortably early for a 9:15pm train back to our apartment so Susanna had a small Cappuchino at McDonalds while we waited. McDonalds in Europe is a far cry from the offerings in North America with fancy desserts as well as wine and beer.
Returning to Riomaggiore, Susanna relaxed while I made an attempt to view and photograph the town at night.
This morning we awoke quite sore and quite late from all the rain and walking. After a quick breakfast of coffee and crepes at Bar Centrale, a catch all of a bar/diner/ gelateria we set out for a hike into the hills to a nearby religious sanctuary. Roughly 1.2 km as the crow flies but closer to 4 by road. We eventually called it quits about half way due to the very steep inclines. In spite of that we still managed to capture some very amazing photos of the town and surrounding hills. Returning to town by an alternate route we visited the local castle which was off limits due to reconstruction, but still offered a great view over the town.
Returning to the town centre Susanna picked up a take out meal at Il Pescato Cucinato, apparently the best of several seafood takeaways in town. Their specialty is small pieces of seafood, deep fried and served in a paper cone along with fries and onion rings. Consisting mostly of sardines, anchovies and the odd bit of fried fish, almost like small chicken nuggets, it paled in comparison to a decent sampling of English fish and chips but it was OK. I contented myself with a small taste while finishing off some leftover pizza from a previous meal.
After a brief but well needed siesta the church bells are tolling 5pm and at this point we have no plans for the evening. Tomorrow we will travel by train to Pisa but there are enough trains that we have not made any firm arrangements yet. Our accommodations are booked and we will just "get there when we get there!"
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