On May 25th we headed out from San Vito di Caldore towards the Cinque Terre. Another overcast day and as we approached the Autostrada near Brixen, the rains came. Maybe a downpour would be more descriptive. Made for a fun drive south.
Rain continued all the way south past Verona, finally clearing as we turned west in the direction on Milan. This part of Italy is more industrialize than the south. We passed Reggio Emilia and Parma before once again heading south.
On the outskirts of La Spezia, our directions took us into the hill country where (we weren't using GPS but rather road by road directions that I had written down) we got a little lost. We hit one little town where we executed the old right turn, right turn, right turn manuever. Fortunately it didn't last long as we decided to pick a road and go for it.
Holiday House Il Sole di Valletona (yes, that's how it's listed) is situated on a hillside over looking the Mediterranean Sea a couple of kilometers from Corniglia a small (150 Pop.) town built on a bluff.
We arrived in the late afternoon, hauled our bags up the steep steps to the house and settled in. Nice place, but the upstairs bathroom had a shower that was a challenge for me with a wicked step up that was tough to navigate at night.
We had a bottle of wine and snacks watching the sun set.
The next day with still fair weather we walked about a quarter mile down the narrow road to a driveway that took us to the Sentiero Azzurro, the Blue Trail.
It's 7.5 mile trail that connects the villages on the Cinque Terre from Monterosso to Riomaggiore. Portions are often closed due to landslides especially between Manarola to Riomaggiore, which happened during our stay. Steep in some sections with uneven stairs and (during our time) often muddy portions, the Blue Trail is why most tourists visit the Cinque Terre.
At the end of the driveway was a cluster of "apartments" that folks could stay at as well as a nifty little bar, Bar Il Gabbiano. Heading south towards Corniglia was a pleasant downhill walk. The trail was muddy in places but not particularly crowded.
At Corniglia was a little kiosk that had a employee who sold and checked day passes on the trail. It was around noon when we got to town and the narrow little streets were packed with tourists. We had planned to have a glass and lunch but every thing was packed. Instead we opted for gelato. Mine was my usual Coconut and Mary had Basil, which was suprisingly good. On the way back we stopped at Bar Il Gabbiano snagged a little table by the window with a view of Corniglia.
The next day, as we headed to La Spezia for groceries we saw a little hilltop town that was up the hill from where we were staying that led to San Bernardino. We pulled over and took a walk through the mostly deserted town with a view of hillside vineyards and the sea. We'd come back for that.
On May 28th, we headed North on the Blue Trail destined to Vernazza. On this nice trail, though muddy again, we met a woman on the trail who stopped us, pointed at Mary's Chaco sandals and said in a big voice "FORBIDDEN". Guess she didn't like Mary's choice of footwear. I think Mary might have said something about hiking in Chaco's for years, but since she didn't flash a badge, we kept going.
Mary and her forbidden footwear.
Vernazza has a small port that was crowded not only with fishing boats, one of which was painted like a Jack Daniels bottle. Lots of tourists again but we walked thru the small streets checking out the views before starting back.
At the kiosk where a gentleman was checking passes, I skillfully avoided paying the fee since it's only about two miles or so to where we get off the trail and pointed uphill and said "San Bernadino casa". My way of saying we weren't going to Corniglia. He looked at us for a moment, then waved us on.
On the 30th we walked down the trail to Corniglia and headed towards the train station to go to Manarola. Since Corniglia is on a hilltop bluff you have to go down a a steep 400 step staircase called the Scalinata Lardarina. We purchased our tickets and got on the crowded train.
Manarola's population is only about 350 but when it's swollen with tourists it's very crowded, not only at the train station but also the cafes, bars and streets. Very picturesque.
We noticed folks coming out of a shop with paper cones of fried fish, so we picked two of them up. It had some calamari, little fishes with heads on and a couple other varieties. Neither of us finished them.
We headed uphill through the back streets and got away from the masses and found a great view of the town.
On our last day in the Cinque Terre, we headed back up hill to San Bernadino to hike a trail that I had found on the internet. It headed North towards Vernazza but stayed in the valley. It crossed a couple farms where we weren't sure about trespassing but figured it was okay.
A pleasant hike that rewarded us with views down toward Vernazza and the sea.
We got up early the next morning to leave and when passing San Bernadino, we came upon15 or 20 men with either rifles or shotguns. Don't think it was a posse but have no idea what they were hunting. I was glad we weren't walking on the trails around there. Off to Florence and Roma.
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