Crowds, beautiful scenery and good bye Cinque Terre

 

Lesson #1 for Wednesday - always check on whether the country you are visiting has a major national holiday while you are there. I obsessed over where we were for May day recalling Mike and I finding ourselves stuck once with nothing open on May 1st but failed to discover Independence Day - April 25th, same day different war. So this pic is indicative of our day in Cinque Terre, crowded. 

We set off and walked to the ferry terminal via the daily market which sold everything, flowers, veges, fruit, fish, meat, cheese, baked goods. Was a lovely walk on a sunny day - ok weather out of the way first, it got to 13C today yay and while we froze on the ferry with the wind coming right off the snow covered French Alps - which we could see clearly in the distance - once on land it was almost warm!

As we left La Spezia we observed it's really a giant naval base with super yachts. There were loads of navy exercises going on, things we certainly don't see in Aotearoa like a sub emerging, or helicopter rescue practice (so much water flying about). 

Also lots of old fortress buildings scattered around the harbour so loads to explore with more time. 

It was fantastic to see the 5 villages from the sea with the bonus of seeing the viaduct roads, rail tunnels and terraced vineyards along the way. 

First stop Porto Venere looked beautiful with tall skinny homes - imagine walking up the 5 stories of stairs for these - and a hotel that looks just like the hotel in Grand Budapest Hotel. Sitting at the entrance to the La Spezia harbour it still has the old fortress and walled town visible from the sea, loads more super yachts here too and another place to explore. 

The ferry did a good job of staying close to shore for the whole journey so we could take lots of pics. Was fascinating how they could dock with barely 5 feet of a peer and people would come on / off via a gang plank (must say the boat moved considerably while this happened). 

Coming into Riomaggiore was fantastic, here we picked up a Trafalgar tour load of mostly Americans who took up half of the top deck alongside the massive group of French students we picked as year 13 on a school trip (we later learned it is also school holidays in France explaining the many tourists from there as well).

Riomaggiore is the bottom right pic, this one shows the massive viaduct road the runs above the villages. Many of them don't seem to have road access down, we saw a concrete mixer coming off a train and being carried down the steps into Vernazza. 

Top right and bottom left are both views of Monterosso al Mare which does have road access, is the largest village and almost flat. 

Top left is Vernazza which is tiny and appears to be completely landlocked. 

First stop for us was Monterosso, the fartherest away of the 5 villages. It is in two parts, the old side where we docked and spent most of our time, and the new side which is lifestyles of the rich and famous. 

Monterosso reminded us so much of Venice, we wandered the alley ways and explored the gorgeous streets away from the main street in relative peace. 
It was hard to get these photos on the right with no people in them! patience. 

We were ready for lunch by now, our ferry left at 10:15am and Steve told me it took about 45 mins when it was really 2 hours - which was awesome as we saw so much. So early afternoon we were peckish. After looking at tonnes and tonnes of menu's, trying to find somewhere to sit outdoors in the sun we found one tucked up an alleyway which was all steps past it. Our tiny table was right next to another couple who introduced themselves as soon as we sat down, they were Canadian and on the Trafalgar tour. We learned that those tours really rip people off, they got charged 240 Euro for a Colosseum and Roman Forum skip the queue ticket, I think we paid 16  Euro for the Roman Forum and it was about the same for the Colosseum. They also told us how rushed it all was but I guess to see a new site everyday it has to be. So they had trained up from Lucca, stopped at Riomaggiori, ferried to Monterosso and were about to train down to Pisa - all in one day. From Pisa they go to Florence then Venice. Lovely couple, very interesting to hear about their tour. 

For lunch, we shared a bottle of prosecco and Steve had beef ravioli and I got this divine seafood spaghetti - our first pasta of the trip. It was good food, touristo prices but yummy flavours.

From here we walked over to what we called lifestyles of the rich and famous, both sides have beaches and we were surprised at how many kids were in the sea swimming - we had just stripped off the one layer at this stage.
Other than the loud Americans (the Canadians commented on their fellow travellers too) it wasn't too crowded here, just because it's so spacious we think. 

I got obsessed with two things today, tiny vehicles - look at this truck! and people's washing hanging high above our heads. 

Then the serene day turned into a crowded chaotic crazy one. We jumped on a crowded train to Vernazza next, this is a tiny tiny town so imagine thousands and thousands of tourists trying to visit it all at once. The queuing to get off the train down the platform and under to the walkway alone was nuts, then walking single file through a tunnel to the town. I was over it before we even saw the town tbh. 

So this is what we experienced. By now I had a niggly sore throat and was craving fruit so we stopped for a freshly squeezed lemon/pineapple/apple juice and a frozen greek yoghurt which were perfect for my throat. Then we went through a barrier to this cave to a stony beach following other tourists, it looked like the sewage outlet for the town which will be why it was closed off but lovely view of the cliffs above. 

Over Vernazza we did the single file queuing back to the train and headed to Manarola - the town we had seen from a distance from Corgnelia yesterday. Deceptively it's a larger town than it looks from the sea going back a long way from the port into the hills. Ofcourse we climbed to the top of the town where the church, hall and square were all being decorated for Independence Day celebrations and we swear is the set for many movies. 

We liked Manarola except it was over touristed. We stopped in a cute bar near the top of the hill and did a tasting flight of 2 wines each sitting in the sunshine. 

I went into one store to look for unique tea towels but failed to find them and asked the woman behind the counter where her accent was from - Melbourne she laughed - she had been speaking perfect Italian until then with an Aussie twang. We had a good chat while Steve stood outside in the crowded street. She was the one who told me about the French school holidays coinciding with the Independence Day holiday week. I asked her whether she enjoyed living there and she started talking about the cheaper cost of living than Melbourne but doesn't love the tourists. 

After avoiding the walk down to the port we bit the bullet and single filed through the streets until we got down there. It was beautiful and on a quiet day would be a lovely place to stay. 

We think if we returned we would stay in Monterosso though as it is larger with more choices of food but every village would be a fab experience to stay in.  Every town had a Poke bowl place and a tiny Coop so I had to take a pic of the Coop sign for those who recall our Coop visits last time in Italy. 

This set of pics is scenes from the port end of Manarola, you might be able to see the people in the distance on the track too. 

By the time we had finished wandering it was getting towards dinner time so we ventured back to La Spezia for the last time. Bucket list visit to Cinque Terre ticked off - I am so glad we got there and got out on the Tuesday so we could see so much before the crazy tourists arrived. 

We stopped in a supermarket and got supplies eating dinner on our bed - mini mozzarella, prosciutto and bread with a lovely light bubbly wine that was in the fridge in our apartment for us - and planned what to do with our found day!

Hope you all had a wonderful Anzac day and enjoy a long long weekend. Noho ora mai - be well / stay safe. Vic