Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

4:17 AM

In the initial stages of planning our Euro-trip, I spent a lot of time asking friends abroad for suggestions of places to go. One of them, my old roommate Lara who backpacked across Europe a few summers ago strongly suggested that we somehow get to the region Cinque Terre located on the western coast of Italy. After google-searching it, I immediately fell in love with little villages stacked on cliffs on the coast and began to look into the feasibility of going there giving our short timeline. It appeared that if we flew into Florence we could take a three hour train and get there. This was enough convincing for me- so we ended up booking one night's stay in Florence, a night in Cinque Terre's Vernazza, then a final night in Florence so that we could sneak in this astounding region. Arriving in Florence the day before we still didn't really know how we were getting there. Not out of the ordinary for Claire and I- we seemed to thrive in minimal planning. The day before we somehow managed to book our round-trip train tickets and hope for the best.

We were lucky- everything panned out smoothly. We woke up early yet again to make it to the train station for our 8AM departure. The tickets we had bought were confusing and not in English- so we utilized our resources per usual, and asked if we were on the right train. We also validated our ticket and made it on-board.  After this train we still had two transfers and in the nick of time made both with the help of strangers on the platforms. Finally, we were on the last train headed through the region that would be stopping in Vernazza. We were teased with small glimpses of the sea and cliffs as we went in and out through tunnels, and I found myself gasping and pointing  amongst the many other tourists. At our stop we were meeting the owner of the place we would be staying at for the night. She found us quickly at the train station and walked with us through this one road town to the apartment. It was adorable- a one bedroom studio with a little kitchen and bathroom. We loved it! We formed a quick game-plan and set out to explore this famous region in the most beautiful weather. We took a train to a neighboring village of Monterosso where we saw beaches and the most resort-like feeling of the 5 villages. We got gelato, and headed up to start a hike. In our research we read that it was highly recommended to hike from one of the villages to the other, and we were immediately pleased with that decision. It was about an hour and twenty minute long, steep hike with the most rewarding views of both Monterosso, the coast, and Vernazza. We winded through trails trying at every second to pass some older people with walking sticks that were slowing us down. It was incredible. Some of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen in my life. I was sweating profusely half way through, and was relieved whenever we hit a point of an open higher altitude. Many parts of the trail were only one person wide and narrow and partially through heavy brush. It was comical whenever we heard a rustling noise- Claire would say "I don't like the sounds of that- lets walk faster!" However, we never saw anything other than ugly stray cats. When we got closer to Vernazza we got really excited- Vernazza is known as the "crowning jewel" of the 5 villages and where we were actually staying the night.  The views were breathtaking and I absolutely loved it. At the end of our hike I desperately needed to shower, so we freshened up before continuing our tour of the the rest of the villages.

As we were waiting to start touring again at the train station, we encountered an American mother and daughter that we had briefly met on our hike. They were really cool and interesting to talk to while we waited. The daughter, Mikayla, and her mother were from San Franscico, but went to school in Nashville. We talked about our travels, and ended up exchanging information with Mikayla as she wanted to give us recommendations for when we went to Barcelona as she had studied there. At this moment I learned something great about travelling- talking to other travelers, hearing about their experiences, and hearing their recommendations was one of the most value-added parts of our trip. I loved chatting with everyone, and hearing what they suggested that did in each place. Everyone was so cool and so helpful.

We decided to start at the beginning of the villages with Riomaggiore. This village was so so so cool, and probably my favorite. It was a stacked, colored village facing the ocean. In research, we had read about a great place with the best view to get a drink. It was easy to find, and it easily lived up to its reputation. I was in love with it. Claire and I sat on top of a cliff viewing a hidden harbor area with a cave in the sunlight sipping Mojitios. I don't think any other word than perfection could adequately describe this time. We walked down to the harbor area, climbed a few rocks, had the notorious tourist photo shoot. After, we stood there taking in the view and talked briefly to a local who was in swimsuit reading a book. He asked about our travels, and upon asking about where he was from, he pointed to a yellow house directly in front of us saying he lived right there. WHAT, Must be the life. After seeing what this village had to offer we were excited to go to the next- Manarola. Manarola is the smallest of the five, and is frequently the picture you see on Google Images. We hopped on the next train and while looking out the window, quickly found that we were not on the right train. We were speeding through all villlages and Claire and I exchanged a look of panic. Luckily, the train stopped at Monterosso, and after getting off we found some Americans who helped explain to us the train system, and ended up giving us a few recommendations for places to go in Florence that we are going to try to visit. We had just been lucky thus far in choosing which train to get on. Finally, we were headed back in the direction of Manarola and were very pleased we didn't skip this town. It was stunning- another beautiful colorful village stacked on the sea. We walked around a walkway to get the best view, and tried to take mental snapshots to never forget what we had seen. We were starting to get hungry, so we headed back on the correct train to Vernazza. We walked through the little village and ended up eating a little place right on the ocean. We decided to hold off on the pizza and get Italian food. I got gnocchi with pesto, and Claire got lasagna . In research we read that you should get the Prosecco wine as it was famous in the area. We obliged and were very happy with our meal choice. After this we walked through the streets trying to explore what we could with what was still open. We stopped in a little gift shop, headed back to our apparment to change into more comfortable clothes, and went back out to find dessert and WiFi as our accommodations didn't have any. We didn't find anywhere with WiFi so we just went to the nearest gellatoria. Claire got Gelato, and I got a gelato milkshake. We were not let down, it was fabulous. After this we went back, read before bed like a little married couple, and set our alarms early to walk around Vernazza one last time before we headed back to Florence.

The alarm came too soon, and after one hit of the snooze we finally made our way out of bed and to the nearest bakery where we got breakfast to go. We ate along the harbor area in the morning sun and fresh air. I glanced around trying to, again, mentally memorize every detail. It was such a spectacular place, and I was not nearly ready to leave. I was so happy we took the opportunity to go, and was overcome with realization of how blessed I was that I had, somehow along the way been given the opportunity of a lifetime by going on this trip. We had an early train, so we didn't get to linger too long. On our walk up to grab our belongings, we saw a place that had coffee and WiFi. We took a second to enjoy this and check our messages to connect to real-life once again. We boarded the train and headed off to return to Florence for a day that was predicted to be around 85 degrees. As we're heading through the Tuscan country-side I can't stop sneaking peeks of how gorgeous this country is. I love it, and I wish we had more time go out and explore all of Tuscany. Our train is delayed (typical) and so we're set to make it back sometime within the next hour where we have a busy afternoon planned of a walking tour, pizza, tour of the statue of David, and probably more Gelato.