**highlights**: (going to be all mixed up in this post)
- hiking between all the villages, kayaking, swimming in the Mediterranean
-bonding with fellow travelers
- staying at hostel Mar-Mar - Oliver the painter, French night and concert
--> my favorite photo - a magical moment while walking up to the Madonna di Montenero church.
What can I say about this place? I had read about it in The Rickster's guide book, heard about it from friends Linda and Jen, and seen pictures of it, but did I really know what I was about to experience? Not in a million years! I thought I would arrive in Riomaggiore and kick back, catch up on some sleep, do some writing, but when I got there, those thoughts quickly were pushed out of the picture! Cinque Terre is made up of five towns all along the Meditteranean coast, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso.
Now Linda, I know you recommended I stay in Manarola (pictured on left), but I went with the first town to, Riomaggiore, do hostel prices and reviews, and I'm going to have to say that it was absolutely 100% my town! Kind of like a personality test - which Cinque Terre town are you? Well I am Riomaggiore - not so touristy, still retaining a local feel, but also has that exciting atmosphere of people coming in and discovering something new with swimming access, kayaking rentals, and an out of this world hostel experience at Hostel Mar-Mar.DAY ONE
When I arrived I said goodbye to the Australian couple (read about in Torino post), but then quickly met other travelers I would see again through the next couple days. Actually, after my immersion experience in Torino, Riomaggiore was a bit of a shock! It was like 'welcome to English speaking Italy.' Oh yes, a good bit of German and French thrown in. Oh yeah, and Italian too! Most Americans could be seen toting what we would call our bible, Rick's guide book, but it served as a good conversation starter. "Oh I see you have THE book!" "Ah yes, where have you been?" We would all see each other the next few days, our new names being the state where we were from. "Hello Montana!" "Hello Iowa! Hello Massachusetts!"
Barry and Robyn from Australia
Anyway, back to when I got there. The Mar-Mar office was closed for Siesta - mustn't forget about this here in Italy. There is usually a good two hours in the afternoon where things will be closed. And as my couchsurfing host here in Florence explained to me, banks will close from 1-3 and then only open up again for an hour and close for the evening at 4! So waiting for them to open back up at 2:00, I went down to the water, taking in the scenery, meeting a couple who just got back from kayaking, and that officially did in me wanting any sort of rest. As soon as I could check in I went, put down my things and got myself a kayak!
Me out on the kayak with
Riomaggiore in the background
Now here is a classic example of a culture difference. The kayak was only five euro, there were
no papers to sign, a life vest was not even offered, no time limit, and when I asked where I could go, the guy kind of looked at me funny and then said I could go anywhere I wanted. Ha! And so I did. And so I did, paddling down to the next town and back, taking in SUMMER. Because, frankly, this year it didn't really happen. Long underwear through June, pants in California, rain and/or cold in Washington. So being in Cinque Terre (and Italy up to this point for that matter) was two days of soaking up summer!Then, when I was done there, I went back to the room and met Oliver - my Croatian dormmate who has been living in Cinque Terre off and on since the '90's, working as a painter along the first section of the walk. (got two nice paintings to take home with me!). He told me about a great hike up to the top of the hill where there was an old church, Madonna di Montenero. Got there just as sunset was happening. Just me and the view. I just sat up there and took it all in.
View from the top
Got back from the soul-filling hike up to the church, to find
Oliver had made this huge tomato, better than mozzerlla cheese, balsamic, salad with bread and frech pesto (supposed to be the best in the world here in this region!) and since he had so much invited me to eat some. SSSoooo good! Then, being late, after a little stroll around (or should I say up and down, there is no such thing as flat here), it was time for bed.DAY TWO
Woke up to a rooster crowing and the sounds of the town slowly waking up and getting ready for another day of tourist-haven! Got myself to get going on the walk (although it was a pretty darn good hike in some sections!). I'm not going to write much about walking, except that it was an amazing day full of beautiful sea views; vineyards, wonderful different smells of rosemary, flowers, the sea, vineyards, moments of being overheated, moments of being in perfect happiness, bonding momentarily as you walked for a bit with different people from all over, and then finishing in Monterosso - where I immediately caught the train as it was a bit too much like a resort for me and I was ready to get back "home" to soak in the water and take a shower! I'll let the pictures tell the story.
Vinyards, vegetation, houses, sun, and sea
Lift to transport grape harvest....
....going down, down, down...
random siting on the trail
There was a cute little kitty that was
quite the beggar when I sat down to
eat my sandwich
Grapes!
That night a girl from France and another couple from France were in the dorm, so, along with our other New Zealand roommates, we stopped English and turned on French (which it turns out Oliver speaks that as well as Croatian, German, English, and Spanish!), put on some Edith Piaf on our beautiful balcony, ate dinner, sipped some wine, and watched the sun go down.
View from our balcony.
That little white spot on top of the hill is
where I hiked to the first day.
And that would have been the conclusion of a perfect stay, but then music started wafting up from the harbor, so Oliver and I went down to check it out. And awesome Italian band playing all the hits, English and Italian. I went to bed content and full - what a place!
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