We find ourselves in Cinque Terre (Five Lands) for a few days. This area is made up of 5 small villages along the coast of the Italian Riviera. The villages are built into the cliffs of the coast and again bring to mind many postcard images. This area is difficult to get to by car and the main mode of transportation is the train. Ferries also run for about 6 months out of the year to shuttle tourists back and forth.
At one time the villagers made their living from the grape and olive cultivation. Now of course, their main source of industry is tourism. Most people come here to walk the hiking trails or take in the idyllic scenery.
We are staying in one of the smaller villages, Manarola. It is also the steepest village and the village with only one road. So, it’s uphill to our room from the train. As space is limited here, we have one room for the 3 of us with some tight quarters. But we had a great location.
The first day we got the hiking pass. The pass allows unlimited daily access to the trains and buses as well. The coastal hiking trails were closed when we were there and I couldn’t get Will to do any of the higher ones. So, we just decided to check out the towns. Went first to the largest town, Monterosso. This village is the largest and has a sand beach. We checked out the town and found a great restaurant for lunch. It seems you almost can’t go wrong when choosing a restaurant here in Italy. The food is so fresh and it seems whether or not it’s cheese, tomatoes, wine or ham there are regulations to keep it that way. We also made a stop at the town of Vernazza. This one has a little cove that is surrounded by the homes.
That night we went out to watch the sunset and since we were still full from lunch opted to just snack. Found a shop that has gluten-free items and had to try one of the ceci (chick pea) pies. It was really tasty, especially paired with a gluten-free beer. The Daura, according to the label, is the world’s best gluten-free beer. Really, it was quite good. I’ll have to look for that one back home.
The next day was a little cloudy and cooler. Since, we still had 2 more of the Cinque Terre to visit, we were off and running in the morning. The first stop was Coniglia. This is the only one of the five villages that cannot be reached by boat. The town itself sets atop a cliff. The journey from the train brought us to the stairway from hell. There is also a bus that will take you up, but we are gluttons for punishment. Walked around, checked out the little town. Then it back down the steps to the next one Riomaggiore. To reach the town center you go through the tunnel, which is nicknamed via dell Amore (tunnel of love). The tunnel was part of the original path connecting Manarola and Riomaggiore and was said to be where lovers from the two different towns would meet.
Took the ferry from Riomaggiore all the way to the end, Monterosso. It was nice to get a view from the sea of the villages.
Dinner and then another visit to the chick pea guy. This time we came for dessert as I had spied some fruits pies that were gluten-free. He also gave us a small bottle of wine since Will had been talking to him and they had some good conversations.