Day 5: a trip to... Cinque Terre

  

Good morning lovers of trip!|
Today I'm very glad to show one of the places where mostly I used to go during the year because of my job: the Cinque Terre!

Five small villages with a total population of 5,000 people in the east side of the beautiful region Liguria, north-west of Italy, only 100 kilometres from Genoa and a little bit more from Florence.

In few words, this area has been isoleted for centuries because of its position between mountain (Appenines) and sea (Ligurian Sea) with only connection paths from west to east and no roads or train line.

Only in 19th and 20th century, especially after the unification of Italy and the two wars, a railways with five stations was introduced and a couple of roads were created to connect all villages to Spezia or the Vara Valley.

The village's names are from west to east: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore. Today the best solution to get there is to stay in a bigger city like Genoa, Spezia or Florence parking your car there. From these places you can easily travel to the area by train or mixing both train and boats.


My suggestion if possible is to start from east to west (in a rising order of beauty), I mean from Riomaggiore, a small village perfect as a commencing spot to start any hiking tour. Till a couple of years ago, a nice path, called Via dell'Amore (Love Path) was open to connect the village to the next one, Manarola. Today it's closed for maintenance works.
About 15 kilometres separate all villages in a natural landscape composed by several vineyards, coloured small houses and sorrounded by high and arduous mountains.

Less then five minutes by train and you get in Manarola, perfectly separeted in a new area, around the train station and the medieval side, up on the hill, accessible with many steps and hard for elder people, that could stay down in the modern side in one of the many typical restaurants or shops.
Manarola, in case of a very windy day could close its port and consequently its ferry service because the embarkment area was created basically on the rock and it would be too dangerous for a boat to approach the spot in a changeable condition.



The very big passion for hikers is Corniglia, the only one of the fve villages with no marina and only accsesible by train to the station and from there with a notable climb through hundreds steps to reach the centre. Because of this, Corniglia is probably the less known village but for this reason it's still wilder and more similar to the place of 30/40 years ago before the massive invasion of tourists from all over the world.


From Corniglia, you can arrive in Vernazza in five minutes. This is defintely my favourite village. Sorrounded by a defensive tower, become today a panoramic restaurant, Vernazza was strongly damaged by a flood in 2011 but today has come back to the everyday life with a lot of restauration and improvement to roads and services. Its beautiful main church has on the back a terracy, used by sun lovers to get tanned or just to realx with one of the most amazing view of the coast. Many bars offers Farinata, a local dish prepared with chickpea and served in slices for a prefect fast take-away.


Finally, Monterosso! A perfect place for shopping, swimming and eating. 50% of the entire local population live here and the city is divided in two sides: the old one, damaged by the same flood which blemished Vernazza with many restaurants, shops and wine cellars and the modern one with a long beach offering any kinf of service including restautants, showers, chairs, umbrellas (on charge). Here, you'd arrive by train in the station that has also the best information service for all yout itineraries in the zone.

Well, yout trip is going to end and this is time to relax, try a good food and a good glass of wine. If you don't have a lot of time, try the Focaccia, a sort of pizza made with only oliv oil and salts and served in squared slices (sometimes topped with onions, olives, cheese, vegetables, potatoes) or a sandwich called focaccina (similar to focaccia but used as a panini in a round shape) wit tomatoes and anchovies.
If you prefere to seat down somewhere (restaurants are many and have a vaste range of offer in food and prices), try a Bruschetta for starter, a slice of bread topped with local olive oli, salt, oregano and tomatoes.
Seafood salad is one of the best local dish you may try but to be sure that your choice corresponds really to the Cinque Terre tradition, have a Spaghetti with mussels or Muscoli ripieni, mussels staffed with a cream of ham and vegetables. Mussel farms are everywhere along the coast line here.

A good wine with this courts must be a Cinque Terre DOC, a perfect mix of Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino grapes.dry with a straw yellow colour and a delicate aroma.

 

In case you prefer a dessert wine, don't lost the chance to buy a glass of Sciachetrà, a passito wine, also produced only in the Cinque Terre, to be served with dessert or cheese.

  

Have a nice excursion and see you soon!!