Arrivederci Italia

My last full day in Manarola was an odd-numbered day, which meant more physical activity and hiking! This time I decided to go Manarola-Riomaggiore, but since the easy section of the Sentierro Azzurro between the two towns, famously known as the Via dell'Amore or Path of Love, is still closed for repairs, the only way was up - literally. Stopping in at the trattoria I found the day before to make a reservation for that evening, I hit the steep steps leading to the mountain trail over the ridge between Manarola and Riomaggiore. I wish I could convey how steep it was. It was just up, and up, and up some more. The views were sufficient compensation, however - well, almost.

As I began the quick, steep descent into Riomaggiore, I could hear some kind of loud noise, like a drum corp, coming from the town. It started up again as I entered the main village, so I hurried through the back streets until I found the source of the noise. The culprits are in some of the photos below - a Catalunyan drumming group from Barcelona called Papaya Jam, which was playing and busking in the streets of Riomaggiore. After watching them for a while, I bought a ticket for the next ferry northbound and wandered back into town for lunch. I decided to try a local dish I keep seeing, deep-fried vegetables (usually served with mixed calamari) - suffice to say there's a reason why battered artichoke is not cordon bleu!

When it arrived I jumped on the ferry from Riomaggiore to take the boat trip to Monterosso that I'd hoped to do two days before. It took about half an hour, but there were nice views of the towns and it was pleasant out on the water. Once I reached Monterosso I headed straight for the station and the next train - the best way I can describe Monterosso is 'resort town', so it's not somewhere that I ever plan to pass much time! I ran into an English guy from my hostel on the train, so at least I had company when I discovered that, after all the ticketing problems, we'd hopped on an express train to Riomaggiore! We jumped on a train north, and I returned to Manarola, but Callum stayed on as he had a hankering to see Corniglia.

Getting back to the hostel, I checked my emails and had time for a hasty shower before heading out to my dinner reservation. The restaurant was nice - definitely classier than the ones in the main street, and very romantic/couple-y - but the real draw was the view over Manarola and the harbour. I watched the sunset over the water while I ate dessert and then headed back to my hostel, where I persuaded the two American girls and the German girl in my dorm, plus two English guys and an Aussie that we'd met, to come for a late-night swim around the point with me. We floated in the Mediterranean and watched a meteor shower in the sky above us - a magical way to finish my time in Italy.

Thursday was a travel day - after performing some amateur surgery on German Daria, who'd stepped on a sea urchin while swimming, she and the Americans walked me down to the station to catch the noon train. I have no idea what the ticket machines were doing, but my itinerary ultimately involved a lot of changes and a lot of waiting. I finally arrived at Bergamo at 7pm, but after some confusion with the buses it was 9pm before I reached the hostel, grateful for a shower, and repacked my bag for an early flight on Friday.

More of Manarola

I started my first full week in Europe with another day of hiking. This time I tackled the Sentierro Azzurro from Monterosso, the fourth and northernmost section of the trail. My original plan was to take the ferry from Manarola to Monterosso and then a train from Vernazza back to Manarola after the hike, but with a thunderstorm overhead and rough seas the boats were cancelled, so instead I took the train three stations north, befriending a Bermudan family doing the same thing along my way.

On arriving in Monterosso I headed straight for the old town, filled up my water bottles and set off for the trail head. It was much more pleasant weather for hiking than my first day, with no blazing sun overhead and the storm clouds keeping the temperature down. The trail was lovely, full of groves and grottos, and of course the usual views of Monterosso over my shoulder as I ascended the first hill. The rain hit about two-thirds of the way to Vernazza, and I decided not to wait it out, since it wasn't too heavy. I arrived in Vernazza as everyone was literally battening down the hatches against the increasing wind, so I grabbed a slice of pesto pizza to go and legged it for the next train.

Tuesday, in keeping with my dispersion of active and sedentary days, was quiet. I had it pegged as my Manarola exploration day. Clad in my favourite pretty summer dress, since the storm had blown over and it was back to full summer, I headed first north up the hill from the hostel, stumbling along some nice views of Manarola and a well-recommended trattoria along the way. I then headed back down the hill, detouring via any little street or alley that took my fancy. One such alley, Via Belvedere, led me up above Manarola's main street to stunning views from the headland (each town of the Cinque Terre is essentially nestled between two high ridges jutting into the sea).

From there I wandered through Manarola to the other ridge, walking past Punta Buonfiglio and the Manarola cemetery and scoping out a likely swimming spot around the other side. Later in the afternoon I persuaded my Aussie roommate Steph and new arrival Adam to join me down at the harbour for a swim, where I met my Bermudan friends again and decided to join the local boys in climbing the large rock in the middle of the harbour and jumping five or six metres into the clear blue Mediterranean. Worth it!

Day Cinque - Cinque Terre

So yesterday was my first full day in Manarola, and after arriving late the night before, my plan was to get up early and have a swim before breakfast. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t happen. Instead I got up late-ish at 8.30 and headed downstairs for a hostel breakfast. The plan for the day was to tackle the first of the two open sections of the Sentierro Azzuro walking trail in the Cinque Terre, so I headed down the hill to the train station and caught a train to the next town over, Corniglia. Since it sits on top of a cliff, it’s the only town of the Cinque Terre that’s inaccessible by sea, so from the station I took the bus up to the city centre and had a look around before filling my water bottle and starting towards the trail.

(Before I forget, I had a beautiful ‘moment’ in Corniglia. I got talking to a Dutch au pair working in La Spezia, and when she commented that she should go, as she had to be in Riomaggiore in an hour, I suggested we check when the next train was first. We then headed into a bar, where I asked the bartender in Italian when the next train was, translated the answer into English, and then posed her follow-up question regarding buses, again in Italian. Afterwards she looked at me wide-eyed. “Do you speak Italian too?” No...I really don’t...but I’m getting jolly good at pretending!)

Anyway, I was a little surprised at being the only person headed for the trail to Vernazza, town no. 4, but I quickly fell into company with an American woman called Joan at the head of the trail. An equally slow walker, we both justified all our rest stops and motivated each other in equal measure, laughing at the impractically-dressed people climbing in bikinis or just plain shirtless. It was hard climbing to begin with, and very hot work as the sun blazed overhead, but we were rewarded for our efforts. We had some stunning views of Corniglia on the cliff behind us, and then beautiful vistas out to sea as we approached Vernazza from behind.

Descending into the centre of town, I plonked down at a harbourside restaurant and made short work of a Caprese salad and a cold Fanta. Of course I managed to befriend the Dutch family next to me, and the wife wound up writing me directions for her favourite bar in Granada, because of course she used to live there! A quick change of clothes in the restaurant toilet and I hit the pebbly beach of Vernazza, ready to wash off the sweat of my climb. The water was lovely and cool, a welcome change from high-30s temperatures, and when I was done I pulled on my shorts and joined the queue for the ferry back to Manarola, where a quiet dinner at an old favourite restaurant awaited me.

Today I had a quiet day, after the frenetic energy of yesterday. It’s hard getting out of bed in these humid temperatures, so I rose late, had breakfast in town and caught the train to Riomaggiore. I ambled around for a while in the town – which is pretty similar to Manarola, in most respects - and along the harbour, watching the locals swimming and splashing around, before grabbing some lunch and following it up with gelato by the water. I jumped on the boat back to Manarola again, but high winds meant that the boat couldn’t pull in at Manarola harbour,  and instead I got a free ride all the way to Vernazza again! A train was imminent, though, so I bought a ticket and then walked back to the hostel from Manarola station.