BACK TO ITALY PART 1: CINQUE TERRE

Mary Ann: We decided some really relaxing seaside time was in order so we headed to Vernazza where we spent four wonderful days and nights. The girls and I had been there in 2002 on the recommendation of a friend (and Rick Steves) and I was anxious to share it with Don. It was very crowded when we arrived on Tuesday since it was the end of a 4 day weekend. April 25 is Liberation Day in Italy, the anniversary of the end of World War II there. By the next morning the crowds had all cleared out and the rest of the time we shared the town with only a few hardy hikers, some “day trippers” and the locals.

Vernazza, a town of about 500 people, is on the northwest coast of Italy, along the Ligurian Sea, and traditionally was a fishing village and grape-growing region. It’s also the home of pesto, that yummy mixture of basil, olive oil and pine nuts. It sits right on the water, with a harbor hugging the coast and the colorful stuccoed houses making there way up the hillside from there. We stayed, except for one night, in a camere (room) owned by Francamaria which was up 83 stone steps which wound through alleys and around buildings right off the main street. It was a lovely room, with large green shutters which could be opened during the day to catch the sea breeze, and the clothesline hanging beneath the window where we could hand our towels to dry. A very Italian thing to do, we found.

We spent two of our days hiking. The first day we climbed a high hill which overlooked the town and which led to the cemetery. Along the way, we were able to view some of the area’s 300 million cubic feet of unmortared stone walls that define the terraces filled with the grape vines and gardens. The terraces are still used today and we marveled at the difficulty of climbing up and down the hillsides to get to the vineyards and gardens.

On the second day we hiked between three local towns. Cinque Terre is composed of 5 villages which make up a national park with a trail spanning the total distance of about 9 miles. We took the train to the southernmost village of Riomaggiore, then an elevator to the top of the town where we began our hike. We walked along a seaside cliff, far above the water, at times barely a couple of inches from the edge. It was breathtaking, and we were awed by the color of the Mediterranean and by the villages which glimmered on the shore. Manarola was the second village which is the smallest, and we stopped there for our lunch during a brief rainstorm. Each of the towns has a number of restaurants and tratorias serving typical northern Italian fare of fish, pasta, mozzarella and tomato dishes. We finished our hike that day at Corniglia, an ancient and isolated village high above the water.

During our evenings in Vernazza, we strolled, ate gelato, drank wine, sat by the sea and listened to the sound of the waves slapping the rocks. Not a bad life at all!!!