We left Positano on the southbound boat to Sorrento, where we caught the fast train north to Roma, then connected out to Vernazza, one of the five villages on the Ligurian coast, just south of the Italian Riviera.
We had just a little trouble on the train. I had learned the phrase, “Questo treno va a ______?” which means, “Does this train go to ____?” which comes in handy on the smaller, regional trains. But for some reason I was pronouncing Vernazza wrong. Maybe I got too much “t” or not enough “airrrr” in it, but at any rate people would look at me a little funny, look at each other, then nod yes, or point over a few tracks.
Fortunately, I had written the town name on a paper, and once I showed this to a guy, well he smiled really big and “Si! Questo treno va a Vernazza.”
And he made sure that we made the connection when the train came to a dead stop outside of a station, the lights turned off, and we were supposed to know to get off and walk over to the train on the next track.
Cinque Terre means The Five Lands. It is a small, coastal region in northern Italy, near Genoa and Pisa, where there are five villages in five valleys, on the coast. It is pretty steep here, and no roads are in the area, so to visit you have to take the train, or take boats, or hike on paths, village to village.
The towns are (south to north) Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. The last two have pretty good beaches, all have access to the water and are the kind of stereotypical, pretty, multi-colored pastel towns you think of.
We took the train into the fourth village, Vernazza, and planned to spend a couple days hiking from town to town.
Our hosts were the Francamaria Rooms, and our room, called the Strâ de’r Mö, was a long, narrow room overlooking the ocean, cathedral, and piazza below. This turned out to be a really great thing on the third evening there.
Our first full day there we took the train down to Riomaggiore, and hiked home. This was a really fun day. It’s not like it is hard hiking along the coast, except maybe the uphill section into Corniglia, which is perched up on a hill. But we stopped there in a nice, tree-shaded café for water, wine and a light pasta lunch. Each town has its own personality, and it was fun to wander and explore, and try to figure out what was special and unique about each place.
Between the towns, the path went through vineyards, up and down along the coast, past high-rise graveyards, which kick you out after a hundred years or so to make room for the new arrivals, and past relics like WWII bunkers. The first part out of Riomaggiore is like the path of love. Via dell’ Amore is what this section is called, and it is paved and full of “love locks” and graffiti and so on. It takes you to Manarola, which is another pretty pastel town. Manarola to Corniglia is uphill, through vineyards.
From Corniglia it was a long, downhill hike back home to Vernazza.
We took the entire day just to walk this section, slowly, savoring it.
That evening we were eating dinner, and a young Italian couple sitting at the table next to us were interested that we were from California. They pulled up next to us and before long we were sharing stories over our first bottle of wine. It turns out that they would like to visit California and ride Harleys on Route 66. They were surprised to find out that Route 66 goes across much of the United States.
Well into our second bottle of wine, the waitress came round, and a really brief argument ensued between our new friends and the waitress. I caught part of it, but theyweretalkignsofastlikethisIcouldnotkeepup… soon another bottle of wine appeared along with our bill, which we paid. She locked up the restaurant, and we were let sitting alone, the four of us, at our table on the now dark street.
The next day we started in Vernazza, and hiked north to the last town in the chain, Monterosso. The best beach in the area is in Monterosso, so that was our goal. And this last section of the hike is the longest stretch between towns. It was a hot, humid morning, and by the time we arrived we were ready to get our umbrella and loungers on the spiaggia and spend the rest of the day swimming and resting. Somehow we made a little time to explore the town before taking the train back home.
We had time the next day to head north, to the Italian Riviera beach town of Sestri Levante. This was a nice little city, and the beaches were actually “clubs” of sorts, each with their own bars and regular clients who had the best places reserved. Still, we walked into one place and got an umbrella near the back, far from the beach but close to the shower and bar. The main difference was the price, much higher because of tourist season in a tourist type beach resort.
Well, that evening when we returned, we discovered we had missed the Barbershop Quartet Convention. But, the quartets were all still in Vernazza, drinking and talking in the piazza, right below our room. As we showered and dressed, they would just break into song, some of the most beautiful and heart gripping music, sung in perfect harmony by octets of quartets. We sat in the window and just took it all in: the cathedral, the bay and beach, the piazza filled with people singing along to the professionals… and soon we were down in the piazza, trying to sing along on the choruses as well.
It was a magical evening.
In October 2011 they suffered a devastating flood. It is heartbreaking to think of. Read about it here.
They have since rebuilt, and I look forward to going back one day.