Then Gelato

It’s been a couple days since our Tuscan gravel adventure ended. It will be hard to beat that experience and the people we met. After we said “ciao” to Max and Julien, the 12 guests loaded a bus and headed back to the bustle and hustle of Florence. The bus driver was unable to park at the motel, but we all insisted he could just drop us off at the train station. Several of us had connections to make and after more goodbyes Rhonda and I boarded a train for La Spezia on the outskirts of Cinque Terre. We are on our own! We are becoming experienced travelers and upon arriving we navigated our way to our hotel, La 5 Terre. It is a unique setup. Five rooms, each named after on of the five Terre, in two separate locations. More like renting a one room flat than a hotel room. Not much bigger than a cruise ship cabin. But it is so perfect. The clerk at the desk was so excited to tell us all about what her town had to offer, where we should eat our first dinner, how easy it was to walk the town. For being so close to the train station it is very quiet. Probably due to the 2’ thick stone walls? After our pizzeria dinner we meandered back to our room and slept . 

La 5 Terre offers coupons to eat at a couple options for breakfast. We chose the Italian option. Just perfect. Then off to the train station that was quiet at 8 in the morning. We bought a two day cinque Terre train pass that gave us unlimited rides on the regional train between the 5 Terre and access to the walking path between them. We travelled to the furthest village of Monterosso and found it just waking up. It has a beautiful beach front. The water is clear and inviting and there is a couple folks already out swimming. We found a cafe overlooking the water and I had my cappuccino while Rhonda contemplated buying a swim suit. 

After a quick tour of town we started the walk or hike up stairs after stairs, climbing nearly 800’ before topping off, traversing over cliffs before descending down to the village of Vernazza. Vernazza is considered the prettiest of the villages with its pastel buildings meeting the marina and water. We arrived just as several water taxis dropped off their passengers. It was getting busy. There are water fountains scattered around and we filled our water bottles for the next leg up and over to Corniglia. The humidity made me perspire something fierce. I’m glad we found those water fountains.  The climb starts in the village, marked by red and white trail markers painted on buildings. Through the village we are climbing stairs. As we climb above the buildings, the trail becomes, well a trail, rock steps, loose dirt, yet still pretty steep. Then it is reversed as you climb down, this time not as low as Corniglia is the only Terre without boat access as it sits a few hundred feet above the water. After 6 1/2 miles and 1700’ of climbing we are tuckered out. We find a restaurant tucked in a narrow hole in the wall and ravage a focaccia sandwich and caprice salad. Rhonda bought an 8 euro bottle of water, her last(it’s free around the corner with your own bottle) and I bought a 3.50 Euro Bierra Moeritti, my first…

After lunch we boarded the train back to La Spezia, took a nap and then a shower. Then as evening began we took the train to the first of the villages, Riomaggiore where we joined the weekend crowd vying for a spot to view the sun set. Typical in Italy, few restaurants are open before 7pm. But we found a pizzeria and had a single slice outside on a bench. 

There is a trail, Via dell’Amore, ‘path of love’, recently reopened after a landslide a few years ago. That seemed like our best bet to view the western sky. Unfortunately many others had the same idea and our trail pass did not include any love. You really got to love someone to pay the additional 17 euro each to walk on a flat surface. Yet we found another walkway with equal viewing and we planted our stake. It was well worth the wait as we watched people and the sun slowly dip below the water. 

The train ride back to town was standing room only. The next morning we got up early and decided we liked Monterosso so much we would find breakfast there, in the same spot as yesterday’s coffee. We had the place to ourselves. After our yogurt, muesli, croissant and coffee we explored more of the village before we boarded the train for our final of the five villages, Manarola. By mid morning it was already getting crowded. After a little exploring we topped off our water bottles and found the trail to Riomaggiore. The map said it was less than a mile away, with only 700’ of climbing. This trail was the hardest. I think it required more energy climbing out of Manarola than it did climbing the “cleaver” towards the summit of Rainier. In less than a 1/4 mile we gained those 700’. The path is narrow and interesting when meeting folks coming down. The view at top was literally breathtaking. We could look straight down and see the flat “trail of love” and decided there is more love in climbing a hard path together than paying for the easy way. The path down seemed to go by fast and soon we were back in Riomaggiore and another Bierra Moretti. One last train ride and we are in La Spezia by early afternoon. Another nap and another shower and we found a restaurant that was actually open by 5pm for some pasta. The streets were quiet as we strolled towards the marina. There was some sort of carnival going on and we wondered what we got ourselves into. As it approached evening the streets filled up. We ended our time in La Spezia by finding a gelato stand and sat by a fountain enjoying our ice cream.