Europe 2018 Day 12 - Cinque Terre

Rested from our long day of travel, we set out to explore the Cinque Terre properly, using the local train to hop the short distance from village to village. While the scenic hikes would have been preferrable, several of the main trails were still closed from landslides, regardless of Jane's mobility challenges.

From south to north, the five villages of the Cinque Terre ("five lands") are not far apart at all, though separated by sheer cliffs and rugged hills, terraced with trails and vineyards.....and of course train tunnels. We ook the train right to the top, Monterosso, where we looked around and had some breakfast. This is the least rugged and most beach resort-ish town of the five....and not surprisingly the least to our liking!

Hopping the train back south to Manarola, we explored the town and had a nice lunch overlooking the sea. We skipped stopping in Vernazza and Corniglia, since we would be moving to Vernazza tomorrow anyway for a third night.

Given Jane's lack of shore excursions during the cruise, we opted to splurge on a scenic boat tour of the Cinque Terre, in what turned out to be a very small and intimate experience. With six passengers, our guide took us and an endless supply of wine from Riomaggiore, up past each town to Monterosso, and back down again at sunset to Riomaggiore.

Seeing each town from the waterline gave yet another breath-taking view of things. We also met a nice couple from Finland on the tour....but more on that tomorrow!

Back in Riomaggiore, we did a takeout dinner of focaccia and pizza from just up the hill, and I made another "grocery run" for beer and wine. Nearing the apartment, we met an 84-year old local cat lady, and had quite the discussion in our broken Italian and English!

Quick coffee in Riomaggiore

Setting out from our base camp in Town #1

Arriving at the top of the Cinque Terre in Town #5

Monterosso al Mare

Breakfast in Monterosso - focaccia con cipolle (onion)

Manarola's main drag

Part of the trail between Manarola and Corniglia

Manarola - Jane is sitting in the middle at our lunch table!

Returning to Riomaggiore

The Via dell'Amore from Riomaggiore to Manarola - still closed

Riomaggiore from the top of the hill

Castle on the hilltop

Leaving Riomaggiore (village #1) on our boat tour

Manarola (village #2)

Corniglia (village #3)

Intimate tour of the coastline!

Train follows us between Corniglia and Vernazza

Cool caves in the hillside

Vernazza (village #4)

Monterosso al Mare (village #5)

Polishing off a few bottles of local wine on the tour!

Gorgeous sunset over the Ligurian Sea

Returning to Riomaggiore!