...feast your eyes
The Cinque Terre was lovely--very touristy (tons and tons of Americans) but phenomenally beautiful. Pam and I stayed in an apartment with a giant terrace (there was also a balcony in the back). As you can see from the photos above (the sunsets and many of the other shots, which were taken from the terrace) the view was spectacular. Some of our favorite moments were drinking espresso and eating fresh bread and fruit and cheese that we'd picked up from the local market and watching the sea, the hikers, the townspeople farming on the terraced ridges in the surrounding hills. We stayed in a tiny village called Manarola--basically, each village is nestled into cliffs, with a port, surrounded by olive groves and wild flowers. There is a 12 kilometer bath connecting the five villages and Pam and I hiked every day--the trail pretty much hugged the coastline so you were looking down on crashing waves. We climbed many stairs, but the vistas were worth it. Today, we hiked to the next village over from Manarola (called Corniglia), then walked through a mile long tunnel to a "naturist" beach, as the locals call it (a nude beach) that was supposed to be very beautiful. We didn't get naked, but it was a lovely spot, the long walk through the dark tunnel not withstanding. We sampled many of the local specialties--a small pasta known as triofe with pesto, anchovies (which I've never loved and still don't) and lots of shellfish. Basically, the food was good, but I would say the area is really about the natural beauty and the hiking--in terms of cultural interest or cuisine, that's not the reason to go there.
In any case, was a wonderful, relaxing and energizing trip--there are no cars allowed in the villages, and it was great to be in a quiet environment, especially after the noisy Roman throngs (not that I'm complaining).
I will allow the photos above to do the rest of the describing....
Buona notte!!!
Paola
