Like a big pizza pie, that's amore! I finally found a place that I had those strong romantic feelings for in Italy. i'll be honest. My expecations for Italy were high. Perhaps unattainable. While everything has been great (because Italy is Italy), it took me awhile to find my bearings in Italy. It for sure took me a bit to find somewhere I felt as strongly as I do about some of my other favorite travel destinations. That all changed when I reached the Cinque Terre. Surprising since, like Hoi An in Vietnam (where I also had very strong romantic feelings), it is quite touristy. Maybe it was the sea. Maybe it was the picturesque villages. Maybe it was the wine and seafood. Maybe it was hiking along the cliffs. Probably a combination of all the above. The Cinque Terre is a national park in Italy made up of five villages. Surprise! Cinque means 5 (kind of sounds like "cinco" from Spanish). The five villages (from north to south) are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. My favorite? Manarola. Why? Well, it was my first village that I visited. It has views of the other villages. And I had the loveliest first night there. Since, as I said before, Cinque mean 5, here are my top 5 suggestions if you visit the Cinque Terre: 1. Dive into the sea!I arrived to Manarola with my swimsuit in tow because I had heard you could dive right in or at least sit on a beach. I was game for whatever the coast was providing. My two pieces of advice for swimming in the Cinque Terre: (1) always bring your swimsuit and towel because you never know when you will want to take a dip, especially during the HOT summers. (2) Watch where you dive because there are sea creatures, like jelly fish, that can hurt you. Also when you're climbing the rocks be careful for creatures because there are ones that have spines. It's simple to avoid these things, but keep your eye out for them. 2. Hike between at least one of the townsWhen I was there in June 2015, the trails between Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia were closed (basically if you went south to north to the first 3 villages). However you could go from Monterosso to Corniglia via the hiking trails. Many people had warned me that the hikes were a lot more intense than the signs and locals make them out to be. They were correct. Even with the amount of hiking I have been doing in the last few months, these hikes were pretty intense. They are even more intense, if you're an idiot like me, and do them from north to south. The incline from Monterosso to Vernazza and then Vernazza to Corniglia had me wishing that I had taken the train. However people coming from the opposite direction seemed to be carrying themselves a little lighter. Lucky ducks. The reason you do the hikes is, not only to enjoy the coastal terrain, but also to see the views of the villages from a whole new angle. While you're resting at a lookout point (because you will be so exhausted), you will be able to see the entire village that you are either entering or leaving. The view is the thing of postcards and paintings...not to be cliche or anything. If you don't feel very fit, I still encourage you to hike at least one section. If anything, be like the German and French retirees that I saw and pack your walking sticks! 3. Get on a boatI took one ferry ride and rented a kayak for a couple hours. The ferry was peaceful, about 10 Euros, and gave me time to take some pictures of the villages I was leaving and entering from the water. The kayak journey is not for the faint of heart and definitely not advisable to go alone in the sea when a storm is approaching even if the guy says it will be fine. It was fine. However, if you do this then definitely be comfortable with kayaking, recruit someone to go with you, and maybe take a whistle just in case you need to flag down a nearby boat for help. 4. Eat all the seafoodOh man. Okay, the picture on the left is a fried seafood cone that was only 5 Euros and it was filled to the brim with goodness. Everything was fresh and tender. It was perfection. The picture on the right is of a seafood pasta. There were pieces of shellfish in there that I have never seen and I grew up on the West Coast and love seafood. The shellfish, octopus, and some fish are incredibly fresh in this area. It would be a crime to not splurge at least once (or twice) on a seafood meal here. 5. Last but not least, the wineThe rule in Italy is: drink all the wine. Every region is different and the flavors that you can taste mirror that. You can see the grapes growing off the hillsides and cliffs in the Cinque Terre. It is VERY necessary that you try the wines from here at least once.
While they have variations of reds and whites, the unique variety of this region is called Sciacchetra. It's basically a dessert wine. That means if you're debating between dessert and wine, choose the Sciacchetra to play the role of both. Those are my five recommendations for the Cinque Terre! If you have more questions, please feel free to leave a comment or write me an email. I'd love to help. :) [email protected]
Bobbie Allen
7/1/2015 06:00:02 am
Mmmm, I just made a photo book from our Cinque Terre pictures this week so this makes me miss it even more. This blog was great. I wish someone would have told Mike not to step on Sea Urchins in Europe (https://mikeandbobbieblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/toe-troubles-when-sea-urchins-attack/). Also, it was too cold to swim while we were there... so, obviously we need to go back. :) Comments are closed.
|