Europe on a Shoestring: A whole week in Cinque Terre!

Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre

We awoke to a lovely breakfast of mushrooms, tomatoes and eggs cooked by Kiryn and Stacey, then off to the Laundromat. What fun! Four large 8kg washing machines and huge dryers, only one of which was operational. We had a coffee while we were waiting for the wash to finish, and had the rudest woman in the whole village serve us, if that’s what you could call it! I am not going back there to have a coffee no matter how much I am craving one.

The we headed off along the pretty cliff walk to Manarola where we had lunch at the Bar del’Amore on Lover’s Lane where there were hundreds of locks hanging from every possible point of attachment, even electrical cables. I ordered bruschetta with tomatoes and anchovies, which were the most delicious anchovies I’ve ever tasted…another superlative!

We tried to walk to Corniglia, but the path was closed due to the recent landslides so we hopped on a train to Monterossa passing through Vernazza which was completely devastated by the recent floods and mudslides. Monterossa did not fare much better, and the clean up was still in full swing with trucks carting dirt and debris down to the harbour and dumping it on an ever-enlarging spit. We had a lovely latte at the one coffee shop that was still open and headed back to Riomaggiore. We were hoping to have dinner out, but since it was only about 4.30, nothing was open so we went to the supermarket, bought some supplies and went back to our apartment for a delicious dinner of pasta which Kiryn had cooked and some bruschetta and gorgonzola washed down with yet another bottle of red.

Planning to catch the early train to Florence tomorrow.

Florence

For some unknown reason, Florence is called Firenze here. Why did the English decide to Anglicize Italian names? Tuscany is Toscano, Genoa is Genova, Rome is Roma, Milan is Milano, Turin is Torino, Venice is Venezia, and Naples is Napoli to name a few. Surely they are not too difficult to pronounce? Unlike San Gimignano (Giminyano) which I have only just managed to get my tongue around, but which we have affectionately called San Jim.

Elizabeth and I woke up at the crack of dawn (actually way before dawn- it was still pitch black walking down to the station), had a quick cuppa and headed off to Florence. Changing trains at La Spezia and Pisa, we arrived in Florence just after 9.30am. Just as well we had an early start. We grabbed a ham and egg mcmuffin and a cappuccino shake which were delicious. Elizabeth had researched what she wanted to see in Florence so I encouraged her to take the lead so she wasn’t just doing what I wanted to do, which people always tend to do. Being the person that I am, it was very difficult for me to hand over but I managed it for a couple of hours including a forty minute walk over the Pont Vecchio which was just a string of gold jewellery shops in whose windows I wasn’t keen to look as I am not a good window-shopper. It’s just encouragement for me to spend thousands, which I really don’t want to do, nor do I have for that matter.

My back just cannot manage standing very well anymore, and very soon I was in so much pain, I could barely stand- the worst back pain I’ve had this trip, but I managed to soldier on with lots of complaining of course, and walk through the Museum of Costumes, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Silver Museum for 10 euro. Well, maybe my opinion was tinged by my pain, but they were the crappiest museums I have ever seen- no plan, guards in every room, who picked me up every time I leaned on the wall to straighten my back, dead end rooms, and very little explanation of anything. I thought maybe it was a collection of precious but extremely ugly objets d’art that had been given to the museum by Florentine families because the younger generation could not stand looking at them in their house any longer! The best thing about all of these museums was the building itself- the ceilings were truly beautiful, but no one was allowed to take photos so I don’t have any images to show you.

Another plus was the ticket also gave us entry to the Boboli Gardens which were a lovely open space with statues and trees lining the pathways. I could walk no longer so collapsed on a bench seat overlooking Florence and the Duomo . I wanted to lie down to straighten my back but thought if I did, I wouldn’t be able to move from that position. I did want to see the grottoes though, but only managed one. It was closed but we could see in and take photos- very pretty.

We headed back to the station to McDonalds as we know they take credit card. I thought food might be the cure, so I ordered a chicken wrap, a salad, chips and a cappuccino shake. The salad turned out to be a Caesar salad with a huge breast of chicken so to say I was full would be an understatement. The train home was longer than the train there, or maybe it just felt like that, but we arrived home to a lovely meal of gnocci that Stacey had cooked. And of course, more red wine!

Planning to catch the early train (again) to San Gimignano.

San Gimignano/ Siena

Yep! We did it again, this time accompanied by Stacey who was energized from her rest day. In to La Spezia, and then caught the Rome Eurostar hopping off at Pisa. About half the time of the trip yesterday, but were questioned by the conductor as you are actually supposed to book a seat ( and pay a reservation fee) for this train, but since we were getting off at Pisa, he let us be.

Our third train then took us to Empoli where we had a connection to Poggibonsi with a bus connection to San Gimignano. Four trains and a bus to get there! It had better be good! And it was, except that everyone and his dog thought so too as it was overrun by busloads of American and Japanese tourists. The tall tower was closed so we had to be content to scale the smaller tower which still gave an panoramic view of the beautiful Tuscan countryside. Stacey even managed to find a Christmas present for Max- an apron embroidered with Ristoranti da Max- a perfect gift! I think Elizabeth might have bought one for a Christmas present for Samantha, but she’s keeping it secret from me and Stacey won’t tell. Apparently, I can’t keep secrets which may be true if we are to face facts although I do have a collection of secrets in my secret box which will go to the grave with me. But I digress.

Stacey paid 4 euro each for us to go into the museum which would explain the existence of San Gimignano in English, but this was not the case. It did not explain the history very well, but Stacey and I together managed to read the Italian descriptions of what was being shown. Pity I can’t understand the spoken word as well, although I am trying to immerse myself in Italian TV to improve my grasp of the language. I think of all the languages I’ve heard so far, Italian is the one I would most like to learn although Greece is the country I’d most like to return to.

After San Gimignano, we decided to head on to Siena as this was one of the houses at the school that Elizabeth’s girls attended. We had a kebab for lunch, and headed off to explore the very hilly town of Siena which seemed to have almost as many churches as houses! Stacey and I ventured into San Domenica’s for a look, which had beautiful stained glass windows and wasn’t overrun by tourists and was free! The new headed up to Siena’s Duomo- Saint Catherine’s I think it was also called. They wanted 10 euro to enter! I refuse to pay to enter a church so sat outside with the pigeons while Stacey did the full tourist thing- the church, the wall, the museum and the baptistery all within an hour! The pigeons gave me two gifts- a really disgusting one and then to make amends, a beautiful feather which I stuck in my hat!

We raced back to the bus stop grabbing a gelati on the way to meet Elizabeth at 3.30pm. We arrived right on the dot! Amid a slight amount of confusion, we managed to get onto a bus without paying and arrived back at the train station for the long trip home. We couldn’t seem to get good connections and didn’t arrive home until after 8 where we met lorelle and Kiryn just finishing their dinner at La Lampara Restaurant. Stacey ordered the whole sea bass and I ordered the rissotto marinara which I could barely eat! All I could taste was salt, and we had to wait more than an hour for our meal to be served! Luckily Elizabeth had opted to go straight home to bed. Stacey and I had finished a whole bottle of wine well before our meals arrived! No wonder the next village has been recommended for eating out! By the time we got home, Elizabeth was fast asleep and didn’t stir for the next 12 hours. Even I can’t sleep that long!

Swimming/Boat trip

Today is the day we are hoping to do a boat trip of the whole 5 villages of Cinque Terre, but we are going to sleep in first! It dawned bright and sunny and HOT so we decided we’d go for a swim in the little cove as Andrea the boat owner wasn’t to collect us until 2.15pm. I was first in the water (of necessity) but since I had sent my togs home with Keeley not thinking I will need them, I went in in my undies although I could have borrowed Elizabeth’s togs (if I could fit into them!) as she didn’t go in. I just found out she can’t swim. I always thought she just didn’t like swimming! The only thing that could have been better would have been to swim with nothing on. The water was clear and cool and just glorious. I think I should have been a mermaid! I had the best time. Lorelle and Stacey soon joined me and we frolicked around in the water taking photos with Stacey’s underwater camera. I love swimming in the ocean. We swam over to a rock that had soft sea lichen growing from it, and it was like sitting on a soft rock in the water. I didn’t want to leave, but when I pushed off to swim back to shore, my leg got caught and I hurt my knee. I made it back to shore hoping I hadn’t done any permanent damage. I am particularly wary of my knees! Fortunately I managed to hobble up the rocky shore and stretch out on a flat rock and soak up the warmth of the sun, listening to the sounds of the waves on the rocks, for an hour or so. It was just magic. I drifted off and only woke up in time to get dressed and head for the harbour to meet the boat.

We watched the boat pull in and I wondered how the hell I was going to get on it. The waves were going up and down, up and down, as was the boat. It wasn’t tied to the shore or anything. I tried not to panic, but in the end just jumped and fell face first, spread eagled, flat on the deck. Luckily it was a flat deck! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or both, but quickly ascertained I had done no damage, so lay there laughing hysterically.

Andrea took us right up to Monterossa which was one of the villages devastated by the recent floods/mudslides/landslides. He explained that there were two main causes: 500 mm of rain in 3 hours (almost 2 feet! unheard of in these parts) and the negligence of the Cinque Terra National Park in not up-keeping the terraces on the hillsides. The other village was Vernazza which was swamped by so much mud it still hasn’t recovered. The small population had been evacuated and still has not returned. He said there was something like 110 landslides that surrounded Vernazza. 11 people lost their lives and just yesterday another 4 in Sicily in a similar natural disaster. The last time this happened here was in Manarola in 1948! So, not a common occurrence. Fortunately for us, we had booked in Riomaggiore and not one of the devastated villages.

After sailing (motoring) up the coast, Andrea dropped us back to his village of Manarola-much easier to get out of the boat- and we sat and watched the sunset. Not often we get to see the sun sink into the sea but that’s exactly what it did. Very special for us Queenslanders! Stacey bought us a beer, God only knows what it was, I was too tired to be bothered looking, and we headed for dinner at La Pi . Pretty hungry by this time, I ordered spaghetti with mussels for primi (the most delicious mussels I have EVER tasted!- another superlative!) and for secondi, baked prawns. I don’t know how they cooked them but they were absolutely delicious. I want to go back there again! After dinner, I had the choice of walking back to Riomaggiore along Lover’s Lane in the pitch dark, or waiting 45 minutes to catch the train. Stacey walked with me but neither of us could see anything so tired to use my iphone as a torch. I used to have the torch app but in my panic, could not find it. By some miracle, we arrived home safely and I went straight to bed. Tomorrow is my rest day (and washing day)!