Cinque Terre (literally “five lands”) is the collective name given to 5 tiny towns along the northwest coast of Italy, not far from Genoa. Several characteristics make these towns unique. They are right on the water and surrounded by very steep hills and cliffs, making them feel isolated from the rest of the world. The steep terraced hills are covered with grape vines as well as plenty of tomatoes, lemon trees and olive trees. The buildings in each of the towns are colorfully painted making them stand out from the surrounding sea and cliffs.
Manarola, Cinque Terre
We spent our first 2 nights in Monterosso, and being the only one of the 5 towns with a beach, we spent our first full day there. The water was refreshing, calm, and a clear Mediterranean blue-green. That night we met up with Jesslyn’s friend from RPI, Mark, and his wife Lauren for dinner. It was an incredible coincidence that they were in the same tiny little town as us on the same night. It was great and a bit surreal to catch up with old friends in such a far away and different place.
We then moved on to a different hotel in the next town, Vernazza, which is built into the cliff. Our room was up a winding maze of over 100 steps from the street. We didn’t have any private outdoor space, but there was a common terrace overlooking the ocean about 50 feet above the water. It was a fantastic area to relax, read, play cards, and drink wine. A couple of nights, for a cheap dinner, we got a pizza to go and ate it on the terrace while watching the waves lap the rocky shore. On our third day in on the coast, we hiked from Vernazza to Monterosso and back. We accidentally took the long way on the way out, going up to the top of the hill and hiking through the woods. It was nice, but didn’t have a nice view of the ocean, so we took the lower, ocean route back. The following day we hiked between Corniglia and Manarola, and it was incredible. If you look at the photos, many are from this hike. It takes you high above the water, through the vineyards, and gives great views of both towns. If you ever visit Cinque Terre, you must do this hike.
We wanted to take a ferry between the towns, so we could get a view of them from the water. However, the ferries were not running because of the rough seas caused by a horrific thunderstorm on our third night night. For most of that night our room appeared to have a strobe light as it was lit by light from the lightning. The thunder was not only incredibly loud, but almost constant. The next day, Jesslyn was chatting with another couple, and the woman said, “Did you think you were going to die last night too?”. The next morning, a previously dry river was now flowing with a heavy stream of opaque brown, muddy water into the ocean. You could clearly see the ocean current as the brown water made its way along the coast and out to sea and eventually mixed with the clear aqua sea water. The rough seas also prevented us swimming at some of the popular places along the rocks.
The local food specialty in Cinque Terre is anchovies. I like most types of fish, so I try to like anchovies. I get them on a pizza every once in a while, only to remember why I don’t really like them. They are always just way too salty. Not in Cinque Terre. They serve them in a variety of ways, the most popular is the whole fish lightly breaded and fried. The fried ones are good and are kind of like eating french fries. My favorite however, are the filets marinated in wine and vinegar and served in olive oil. They are delicious on a piece of fresh bread. Believe it or not, Jesslyn tried every variation of anchovies too.
~Jake