Cinque Terre, Italy
- Manarola, Italy – where we stayed
Oh Cinque Terre… such a beautiful place. And thanks to that asshole Rick Steves, pretty much everyone knows it. Fortunately, our time here was largely during the off-peak days of the week, having arrived on Saturday night (which was crazy busy, however) and staying through Tuesday morning. The “five lands” sits on the northern part of Italy’s western coast as the peninsula meets the mainland. There are five towns build right into the coastal hillside, connected only by winding pathways (and speeding trains). Besides the tourist euros flying out of my pockets, the locals appear to survive on the growing of grapes for use in the production of wines specific to their region (very tasty in a well-balanced dry/sweet sort of way). Fishing also appeared to be a popular occupation and hobby. Consequently, most menus leaned heavily towards affordable fresh fish offerings. This pleased me greatly. Again, as is the theme of Italy, craft beer was clearly not high on their priority list. I didn’t find much of interest here.
Manarola fisherman... or hobbyist.
The percentage of grape vines vs. olive trees in Cinque Terre was more like I would have expected of Italy, with grapes taking priority unlike the area of Tuscany in which we stayed where olive trees were the majority. This reversal was puzzling though, as nearby Genoa is actually the birthplace of pesto and olive oil is a major component of that wonderfully tasty sauce.
The locals have adapted very well to growing grapes on the steep hills outside of each town. They have setup a mini train/roller coaster of sorts to take them up and down the slopes as they harvest grapes. Check this thing out:
Riding the rails... picking the grapes...
You can probably get the idea that Cinque Terre is a photographer’s dream destination. In fact, we actually met a photography student from St. Cloud, MN on a hike from Vernazza to Monterosso al Marre. Crazy that you can go half way across the world and bump into someone from St. Cloud.
Saw lots of retired wine presses and barrels
Our apartment was located in the second of five towns, Manarola. While in Cinque Terre, we also spent time at the beach in Monterossa al Marre, had some delicious meals in Vernazza and Riomaggiore, and caught the sunset from the best vantagepoint in the region, which also happens to be Riomaggiore. The only town we didn’t really make it into was Corniglia.
Manarola from the Northeast edge of town
Happy hour on the deck of our apartment in town
Riomaggiore, Italy
Riomaggiore sunset on the Ligurian Sea
End of the sunset. Ahhhh. All this moment could have used was an oak aged Russian Imperial Stout with vanilla bean.