This is another of the excursions I was really looking forward to. We got to Livorno around 7am and took tenders into town. We met Andra (Andrew) our tour guide and hopped on a bus.
Our trip to Cinque Terre started with a drive up to the mountains and past Pisa
to the small port of La Spezia.
On the way you can also see some of the marble quarries where they get the stone used for many of the italian monuments.
From here we were supposed to take a boat to the first of the towns of Cinque Terra, but it was very windy out, so we ended up turning back. But we did get some photos of the area from the boat that were quite nice.
This boat is used for training by the local navy.So we ended up hopping back on the bus and driving to Manarola. The first town in our visit of Cinque Terra.
The Cinque Terre are five coastal villages in the province of La Spezia in the Liguria region of Italy. They have come to be among the most popular areas of Italy among tourists. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all encapsulated in a national park by the same name. The five villages are, from west to east:
- Monterosso al Mare
- Vernazza
- Corniglia
- Manarola
- Riomaggiore
Walking through Manarola, we got our first glimpse of the steep hillsides that the original inhabitants cut into terraces so they could grow the grapes and olives that are so important to the region. There are actually little trolly systems set up along the terraces to help with the carting of materials off the hillside.
Manarola may be the oldest of the cities in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name "Manarola" is probably dialectical evolution of the Latin, "magna rota". In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to "magna roea" which means "large wheel", in reference to the mill wheel in the town
.
Overlooking Manarola is a very large nativity set up on the hillside.
Manarola has also been called little Venice due to the large number of bridges in the town.
The streets are very narrow, so there are no cars in the streets here. There are some little golf cart type vehicles that are used for hauling.
This is the plaza outside the train station.
From here we started walking the paths connecting the towns. The path from Manarola to Riomaggiore is called the Via Dell'Amore (roughly, "Lovers Walk"). This winds along the shore, is very picturesque and varies in nature and difficulty from an easy stroll to a rough and physically challenging hike.
Lovers Lane is known for its love inspired graffiti. It definitely made me wish I had a guy on my arm.
The stretch from Manarola to Corniglia is also easy to hike, although the main trail into Corniglia finishes with a climb of 368 stairs. The trail from Corniglia to Vernazza is steep at certain places. The trail from Vernazza to Monterosso is by far the steepest. It winds through olive orchards and vineyards and is rough in places, but offers the best view of the bay and the spectacular approaches to both Monterosso and Vernazza.
From RioMaggiore we took the train to Vernazza, the fourth town heading north into the Cinque Terre. It has no car traffic (a road leads into a parking lot on the edge of the town) and remains one of the truest "fishing villages" on the Italian Riviera.
From Vernazza, we took another boat to Monterosso. The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town. The two areas are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians and the very few cars in the town. We had time here to do some shopping and eat. I had a wonderful bruschetta and had a little kitty begger who loved mozzarella.The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and is well used by tourists and locals. The beach is the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre. Monterosso is a small town that in the summer months is overrun by tourists.
I loved watching this dog fetch a stick out of the water.
We ended our day outside this black and white marble church. It was a tiring day, but I was very happy to see our tour bus and to head back to the boat.
