Kathy here-
We left the lovely Lucca this morning, and took a short but dramatic drive along the autostrada towards the west coast. Heading north at La Spezia, we began the twisty and breathtaking ascent to Cinque Terra, five villages nestled into and onto rugged cliffs that are joined only by train and a protected National Park hiking trail. The drive was hair- raising and we arrived at the first village, Riomaggiore, where we had booked a small hotel room. Rory had to park our car in some elevator kind of building where we won't see it until we leave. Still Italy but with Mediterranean sea air, unbelievable views and slow(er) pace of life. Two days ahead of us to just sun, swim, eat and climb MORE steep roads and pathways. as for food, lots of octopus on local menus, (even take out!), shrimp, crawfish,mussels ,and sea bass. This area is also the home of foccaccia,from simple with olive oil and salt,to pesto (also a local specialty), fresh anchovies and tomatoes, olives, capers.....you get the idea. For lunch we grabbed a few of those , some local white wine, beer and Fanta and walked to the sea for an amazing picnic.
After lunch we took a ferry type yacht that stopped in each village, finally dropping us at the northernmost of the five villages, Monterossa.
A true Mediterranean style resort town,with big beaches featuring entrance fees, umbrellas and chairs to rent and cabana boys. The full on experience of row upon row of sunbathers. Tomorrow we will try the free and more rugged swimming options.
There really is a regional train that tunnels crazily from village to village and is super cheap. Of course they are not totally reliable but we finally got one around 8:15 pm that took us back to Riomaggiore in about ten minutes, costing only four euros.
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