We left Bologna early in the morning, grabbed a couple of those fancy muffins we were addicted to, and boarded the train.
Ten minutes later a woman showed up and started pitching a fit that we are in her seat. She was speaking French, refused to speak English, and also refused to provide her ticket so we can verify where everyone was supposed to be sitting.
We were getting embarrassed at the entire production. We were fairly certain we were in the correct seats, but mistakes do happen. The woman proceeded to try to pull in other passengers to corroborate the fact that these seats are hers. She put her jacket on the seat hooks and had been sitting there before we got on, so the seats are hers. There is no way she made a mistake.
Once the woman finally got her ticket out, she realized that she had been wrong the entire time. Instead of apologizing like a decent human, she asked for her jacket and sat on the other side of the isle, where she was supposed to be the entire time. And then she commenced to complain about us to the new person sitting next to her.
As we left the train, she was talking to her husband in near perfect English.
The train to the five cities from La Spezia did not include rude guests, and it made up for the awkward experience with the views. The train hugs the mountainside and occasionally there are windows in the tunnels that provide a glimpse of the sea and its vastness. It’s really cool to be barreling down the tracks to look out and see the ocean and no land. A bit terrifying, but beautiful.
Once we arrived in Manarola, we settled in with our usual routine: groceries, snacks, a bit of takeaway pizza. To top it all off we watched the sun set.
The next day was highly anticipated for weeks. Rachele arrived and joined us for our Cinque Terre adventure.
Since the Camino, we had been keeping in touch with our two friends of the Camino, Candice and Rachele. Candice had been in Italy with us, but four or five days ahead and we were never able to meet up again.
Rachele had headed back to Sardinia after the Camino, but she had made plans to visit us if she could. Luckily, she was able to join us and we had some of our team back.
It was great to see her again. We hugged and laughed, happy as could be that someone met us silly Americans on the Camino and decided we were OK people.
We grabbed lunch across the bay from Manarola. We caught up with each other, although it was only about a month since we had last played together.
After lunch we decided to get a head start on hiking between the cities. One of the main reasons people visit Cinque Terre is to hike between the five cities. Our first hike was between Manarola and Riomaggiore. It was a little tiring, but it was nice to be a little active. Up until then, we had been spending a lot of our time eating and drinking.
After hiking to Riomaggiore we rewarded ourselves with our daily allotment of gelato. After dessert, we grabbed tickets for the train back to Manarola. When we arrived at the train station we were surprised to learn the Italian railway workers were on strike and no trains were traveling. Of all places to be stuck, a mountain town an hours’ walk from our apartment was not ideal. Thankfully, our native Italian came in handy, and we learned the strike was to end at 6 PM, so we only needed to kill a couple of hours.
Post a few drinks at the nearest bar, the train finally showed up, and we were allowed to take the one minute train ride back to Manarola.
At this point, we would have had an average dinner and gone to bed.
Instead, we were bombarded with delicacies from a far away land, Sardinia. Rachele’s father owns a food store back in Sardinia and she brought over just about everything the country produces. Eight different cuts of cured pig meat, two cheeses, olive oil, a liqueur call Mirto, a special type of pasta made on the island, bread, and tomatoes. She said these tomatoes were the best tomatoes and better than any other Italian tomato.
All of these were produced in Sardinia. How she managed to get all this food through the airport amazed us.
Something that also appeared at our apartment was a cheese called casu marzu. It is just pecorino cheese. But it has been left out in the sun to develop another flavor thanks to the help of maggots that grow in the cheese. It is a popular cheese produced on an island in the Mediterranean. It is not entirely legal to have/sell the cheese.
How it made it to our apartment is unknown. I’m guessing a cheese fairy.
We enjoyed trying all of the delights Rachele brought over to us. We also enjoyed trying the maggot cheese even though it had been refrigerated and no longer contained living maggots. And we don’t know how it got to our apartment.
We are certain that it did not come from anywhere in Sardinia. So drop it.
Cinque Terre is known for its beautiful cities and the enjoyable hikes between each. The next morning, Rachele and I were more excited to visit Monterosso and enjoy the only beach in the five cities.
Elizabeth, ever the task master, informed us that we would be walking between each of the cities, and could not stay too long at the beach. We had views and hikes ahead of us. We (Rachele and I) only agreed to this plan because the water was only a few degrees warmer than freezing.
From Monterosso to Vernazza, the trail was packed with cruiseshippers. It was a bit treacherous, especially when it was too narrow for two people to walk past each other. The trails are well traveled, but not well maintained. For all the money they charge tourists to torture themselves along the trails, they should be in much better condition.
Vernazza was a lovely little town, perhaps the prettiest of the bunch. We enjoyed some delicious focaccia and a wedding party. The town was packed to the gills though, and we departed for Corniglia.
The “sea” trail between Vernazza and Corniglia was still open, as others have been landslided out of commission. These sea trails though do not exactly live next to the sea. They are not boardwalks. They don’t allow you to gently walk next to the rolling waves. The trail is still halfway up the mountainside and not for the faint of heart. Thankfully each trail contains less people, as each continued to be difficult.
The views of Corniglia from the sea trail and the trail leaving town are breathtaking. I don’t know if it is worth it to most people for the views, but they are almost worth the hiking.
Leaving Corniglia and heading to Manarola, we had to take a trail back up to the mountaintop since the sea trail was gone. This hike was extremely strenuous. Rachele and I made our displeasure known, as we thought it would be much more of a leisurely day and less of a military type march through the jungles of western Italy.
I think the views on this section to Manarola were my favorite though. You get to walk through the vineyards on the mountainside with views of the sea and Manarola. This part was difficult, but rewarding.
Needless to say we crashed after our strenuous day on the trails. Having slept soundly after our exhausting day, we were excited to visit each city in another way. We decided that it would be nice to see the towns from the sea. We also wanted to ride the ferry to the hidden sixth city that was the best city of our coastal exploration.
Portovenere is a sixth city on the coast. It reminded me of a miniature Porto. A great riverwalk with hills behind the entire city, making walking a pain. But the town was cute, the church was interesting, and the fortress looked imposing.
The three of us walked around town, grabbed lunch, and just enjoyed each other’s company. If was fun to not have much to do other than walk around an adorable town. We also caught another ferry around a couple of islands and got to see where marble used to be quarried.
Rachele treated us to another dinner of Sardinian delights as we prepared to head out to Florence the next day.
cornetravel 
Again, beautiful, amazing, delicious. One question… how did they get that copper statue of me sitting on the beach in Italy? : ) Love you. Hurry home!
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Don’t tell mom that I overnighted the statue. Great job setting it up on the beach. Also, you may need to bring Rachele back with y’all. The views are breathtaking and the food looks great.
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Good morning from Gardendale😎! The Vinwur Terra is probably my favorite place I have ever visited . It is truly beautiful . The pictures brought back many fond memories . Thank you for the post card ! Dad had already sent us a picture of your Scotland home . It is lovely! I couldn’t help but envy you. I am so proud of you both and your embracing of life. Be careful the rest of the trip. I know God is protecting you because those were two angels in Morroco that helped you find your hotel ! Love you and miss you! Aunt Jackie and Uncle Gary
Sent from my iPhone
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