Hike from Corniglia to Vernazza - The last leg! (5/17/2007)

The last leg of the trail today from Corniglia to Vernazza is almost as difficult as the leg from Vernazza to Monterosso. Lots of steps, rocks, narrow trails, but GREAT views!

Along the trail (and in every city we visited in Italy for that matter) we came across little statues of Mary, like this one:



You see them everywhere!

We started seeing cats again in Corniglia:



Leaving Corniglia - a site that will haunt me for the rest of my life:



Yes, more steps! You learn to LOVE steps in Italy. On this part of the hike, they never seemed to end! I guess it's just a lesson that you have to work hard to get any rewards - and we were rewarded with views like this of Corniglia:



And here's an example of how narrow the trail can get - to Candice's right is a drop-off of about 200 feet!



After about 45 minutes of non-stop climbing, we came across this sign for a free beach. All you have to do is follow the trail down the side of mountain about 20 minutes. My thighs were so rocked at this point that as good as the beach may have been, all I could think of was, "if it takes 20 minutes to go down, how long would it take to get back up?" We didn't go.



Up a few more steps and the view gets even better:



You can see Manarola off in the distance.

Just after that, you come across a most welcome sign:



Yes, at the top of the trail is an air conditioned watering hole - serving wine by the glass, very large beers, water, sports drinks, etc.

We were getting close to Vernazza when we came across this - any guesses as to what it is?



I have no idea either.

Just over a hill, we get the first look at our destination - HOME!



In the middle of the picture, look at the two-store pink house. Just below that is a stone wall with three little windows and a second stone wall making a little porch. That was our apartment. Here's a closer look:



Just a few hundred steps down a windy path and we were done. This part of the hike took about 1.5 hours. My feet resigned after that.

On the way down, we stopped in at this restaurant called La Torre and made a reservation for that night to eat. This place was recommended to Candice by one of her coworkers who actually grew up in this town.



Before dinner, I went down to the harbor to take some quick pictures as the sun was setting and the light was amazing - here's a sample:









And I ran into this recipe for Limoncello - the drink we purchased from the hillbilly guy on the hike to Monterosso:



After a quick nap, we headed back up the several hundred stairs to the restaurant and were seated next to a stone wall overlooking Vernazza. On top of the wall and right next to our table was, of course, a black cat - sleeping next to his watering stone:



He didn't even move when we sat down. After a little while, he got up and took a drink:



And then jumped down off his spot and started begging the other customers for some scraps.

Of course, the view was spectacular:



Dinner was good too. The restaurant appeared to have two people running it - could have been a husband and wife, I'm not sure - as they didn't speak any English. We ordered Accuighe al limone (anchovies with lemon) again - we couldn't get enough of these things! The menu was limited, so we each ordered a slice of lasagna - which was prepared a little different than the lasagne you're used to - but it was awesome. We also ordered some muscles in a red sauce, but they forgot to bring them out, which was not a problem as the lasagna was so filling we were stuffed. Wine was just a half liter of house wine - but was still tasty!

During dinner, we decided to not attempt to bring back the bottle of mystery drink given to us by Achille - it had a strong licorice smell which made us think it might contain Absinthe - which although legal now in Europe, is not legal in the U.S. To celebrate the gift, we ended the night with a couple of shots on the porch.

Next day - up at 4AM to make our 5AM train to La Spezia and the 7AM train up to Turin so we could fly to Paris.

Here's Vernazza at 4:30 AM:



Time to catch the train!



Ugh!

Vernazza – Day 2: The hike to Monterosso (5/16/2007)

So, we finally reached our breaking point and had to find a place to do some laundry. In the Cinque Terre, there are only 2 villages with machines – Monterosso and Riomaggiore. The one in Riomaggiore opened earlier, so we hopped on the train and headed in that direction. Like everything else in Europe, washing clothes in Europe is expensive – 3.5 Euro for each load to wash and 3.5 Euro to dry.

While waiting around for the clothes to dry, I walked up through the little town and snapped these pics:





After coming back with clean clothes, we had lunch at a place just down the steps from our apartment called Da Piva Trattoria.



We had Aschiughe al Limone again for an antipasti (same as last night). Believe it or not, the anchovies here taste nothing like they do in America. Here they are caught fresh the night before right in the waters of the Cinque Terre and they are served fresh – and they are delicious! Candice had spaghetti di Mare and I had tennette (?) pesto – which was basically linguine with pesto. Pesto is a local specialty and is on most restaurant menus here – and for good reason – it’s great. ¼ liter of white wine to share.

The highlight of the day was the hike to Monterosso al Mare from Vernazza. The trail that links the 5 villages is pretty easy to walk between the first three villages, but gets more difficult once you reach Vernazza and Monterosso. The trail picks up in the middle of village across the street from the internet spot and down the steps from our room. The first section is a climb of about 200 stone steps to the trail head where they validate/check your pass to the park. At this point, the views are pretty good:



We continue on up, up, up, up, up – it never ends! Every turned corner reveals a new set of stairs to climb.



But with each step, the views get better and better:



We wanted a picture together, so we asked this German couple to take a picture - but first we took one of them. I asked if they wanted the view of Vernazza in the picture - to my surprise, they said no - just take the picture of them - the town isn't interesting! Whatever.

So they took one of us - and I couldn't tell at the time, but Candice's eyes were closed - oh well - I'll have to make her do the climb again!!



Here’s a far away glimpse of our destination:



Along the way, we see some interesting signs:



and people:



The man above was on the trail selling water, wine, lemons, and limoncello – a home made lemon-based alcoholic treat sold all over the area. We didn’t catch this guy’s name, but he seemed to take to Candice, as after we bought some water and limoncello, he gave her a free lemon.



After a while, we came to a point where looking back we could see this view:



In the foreground is Vernazza. Just beyond on the cliffs is Corniglia and then Manarola – and then way beyond that you can just see parts of Riomaggiore. Amazing.

Monterosso is right at sea level, so all those steps we climbed as we left Vernazza have turned into steep descents. Luckily, most of it is stairs like this:



But occasionally, the trail is very narrow (about 1.5 feet wide) with cliff wall on one side and nothing on the other.

Getting closer:



As we neared Monterosso, Candice had a minute to take a seat at the top of the world with her legs hanging free:



The trail leading into Monterosso:



And finally – our destination:



Monterosso is the most resort-like village of the five – with many hotels, the beach, more nightlife, better access to other cities in Italy, and of course, higher prices.

One look back at the coast line:



and our ride home:





The day was capped off by a fantastic dinner at Gambero Rosso – located at the harbor in Vernazza.



Although they have a huge section of outdoor seating looking over the harbor, it was a little chilly, so we asked to sit inside. We were sat in a room with 4 other occupied tables – all seemed to be locals, which is a nice change as there seem to be so many Americans here. Every once in a while, you kind of want to get a flavor of the local scene – this was perfect.



The meal was outstanding. We had another local white wine made and produced by the Cinque Terre Cooperative – a 2006 vintage. For our anitipasti Candice and I shared Muscardini – mini Octopus served in a tomato sauce with parsley and fresh bread. For our Primi Piatti, we shared Paccheri alla Gambero Rosso – which was a Ligurian pasta (like fettuccini) with fish sauce and tomato. For secondi piatti, we had a dinner for two of baked fish of the day in sea salt. The fish was brought to the table by the chef right on the baking pan – and was covered in sea salt. He placed the pan on a stand, scraped off most of the salt, peeled back the scales, and expertly plated two dishes of the most tender delicious fish you’ve ever had. It was served with a bottle of I Dolia olive oil by LVNAE for us to drizzle over the fish. The salt and olive oil mixed perfectly and the taste was unbelievable!

Candice had an espresso and we shared a slice of Dolce Della Casa – which tonight was a slice of cake with hot fudge and whipped cream on the side. The cake was really good – kind of a cornbread/pound cake consistency, but with a sweet taste.

On our walk back, we go by Da Piva Trattoria, and Piva, the owner/chef, is out on the steps with a guitar holding court to the late eaters there – and singing "I Did it My Way" which we can barely understand through his broken English and perhaps a few drinks. Apparently, the singing is a regular occurrence, as it was mentioned by Rick Steves in his book on Italy.

Vernazza Cats (5/16/2007)

Vernazza and the surrounding trails and villages of the Cinque Terre are known for all the cats that hang around town.

The other night at dinner where we met Achille, there were two cats wandering around the restaurant. Here’s one of them:


At lunch yesterday, a cat was crying from a balcony just above where we were sitting – begging passersby for some food or scraps.

Each time we walk down from our apartment, there are always 3 or 4 cats hanging around the internet spot. While we were posting last night, there was one cat perched on top of one of the computers:



During our hike to Monterossa, we came across this little guy:



Of course, you saw in Candice’s Vernazza post, the cat that came to visit us as we were sitting on the porch overlooking the ocean. Here’s another pic of her:




They’re everywhere – and so far, they are all very friendly and like to be scratched receive attention.

I just saw a black cat with no tail - tried to take a picture, but it was too fast as it jumped into a nearby clothing store. I'll get it and post it then.

Cat's in Italy like boxes too:



5-18-07 - late yesterday, I finally found the black cat with the stub tail - see below: