Saturday 25 May 2013

Five Lands pt 1

Boring writing, cool pictures.

Cinque Terre is the region of the Italian Riviera of five"ish" towns (5 or 6 or 7 depending on which ones you count) that live on the North West Coast of Italy.

 

 

Zoe made this for me

 

 

 

The towns of Cinque Terre are from North to South

  • Monterosso - where we are staying at the very Italian sounding Hotel Suisse Bellevue
  • Vernazza
  • Corniglia
  • Manarola
  • Riomaggiore

 

 

 

 

They each have their own vibe and cater to different kinda crowds in the same way that a trip to Bali is different if you go to Seminyak or stay in Kuta.

 

The towns are pretty much famous for being where they are and for setting up a tourist industry based on traveling between the towns and then consuming (food, drinks, trinkets) on arrival and then moving on to the next town.

There is little to no historical significance to the towns although that being said, the towns and region have been known about since Medievil times where they got the name of "five lands". Until 100 years ago the towns were completely isolated with no mixing and still have their own dialects.

In the 1930s a trail between the first two towns (Riomaggiore and Manorola) was built which lead to the young (and not so young) meeting and "mingling" with other villages villagers. It became the "blueberry hill" of the region and known as the Via dell' Amore aka "The Pathway of Love" and over time, a tourist destination as an alternative to the snazzier riviera towns like Portafino.

 

 

Monterosso - where we stayed.

Said to be a beach town or "the most beachy" of the 5 towns, we once again marvel at the "quality" of beach. Other than a tiny segment of beach near the old town or a small segment of pebbly beach right by the train station, the beaches all charge you for your tiny bit of space - about 20€ per day.

Still, its very picturesque, quaint, and a different pace from the bustle of the big cities.

 

 

Travelers leaving the train station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are pictures of Monterosso 50 years ago with a much larger beach, but there is a terrible sand erosion problem and even with the recently built breakwater, beach sand now gets trucked in (seriously) each year before tourist season.

The town is really two towns - old and new connected by a tunnel (was a path but currently unsafe due to recent "earth turbulence". It's all quant and pretty and has a good vibe. Very few cars but felt a bit like a Sunday morning around the Cottesloe promenade minus horns and plus folk with walking sticks and excellent hiking gear.

 

 

The Tunnel

 

 

 

 

 

Nice jogging trail

 

 

 

Monterosso is also known for a 45 foot Statue called Il Gigante that juts out from a cliff toward the ocean). Even this Romanesque edifice is not much to talk about - especially when it turns out that it is actually made of concrete and was built in the 1920s.

 

 

Il Gigante

 

 

 

 

The Hotel Suisse Bellevue

The hotel is located on the top of a "hill" about 1 km from the town. The "hill" is VERY steep and took us about 15 minutes to walk up. The hotel offers free shuttle up and down the hill every half hour which was essentially the local taxi guys who drive up and down the hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pretty much got the last room available in Monterosso so couldn't really complain that our room was probably the only one without a view. Wi-fi issues were offset by a super shower - consistent hot water and pressure. For the first time on our trip, no bidet!

 

We have found that we much prefer places a little out of town. To escape the masses of tourists is a blessing at the end of each day. A walk after dinner aka "the evening constitutional" should become, as should the afternoon siesta, enshrined within the constitution.

 

 

View from the hotel

 

 

 

 

Although we had 3 days in Monterosso, we arrived from Florence late Sunday afternoon and leave Tuesday am so most of the action happened Monday aka the day of hiking. We had been warned that there were lots of steps so after a fantastic meal overlooking the ocean in the old town which was delayed a bit because Drew climbed an embankment, enjoyed it so didn't want to stop. Finally we hit the sack early hoping our good weather luck would continue.

 

 

Steep embankment and the start of the trail to Vernazza

 

 

 

 

 

Monterosso sunset

 

Enough

 

No comments:

Post a Comment