We flew from Norfolk to Washington-Dulles, where we had a long wait for our international flight. We walked the terminal several times, to get a bit of exercise, then took refuge in the Turkish Air lounge, which was like most airport lounges - comfortable and well-appointed. A nice place to relax.
We were fortunate to be able to fly business class to Italy, on Turkish Air to Istanbul overnight, then onward to Rome. The flight to Istanbul was outstanding, with a lovely meal of several courses, prepared by the on-board chef(!) and a variety of entertainment options. It was one of the most impressive in-flight services we have ever experienced.
In Istanbul we had a wait of a couple of hours, so went to the Turkish Air lounge there, too. This was airline lounges taken to another level. It was enormous, and included not only a large buffet of food, but two different kiosks with chefs preparing a variety of foods, others serving breads and pastries, still others preparing Turkish coffees and teas, reading areas, a golf simulator, childrens' area, and more. I took a quick walk around with my phone, recording video (without narration), if you care to see a glimpse of it. Apologies for the poor quality of the video.
Then there was another nice flight to Rome, with comfortable (though less elaborate) business class service. From there, it was the Leonardo Express train to Roma Termini, then a 10 minute walk to our hotel. After all the food on the airlines, plus little sleep in the past 24 hours, we made it an early night and went to bed, for we had an early train to La Spezia in the morning.
La Spezia is not one of the "Five Lands" of the Cinque Terra, but is just south of them. It also has a port, so provides a location for cruise ships to stop, dropping thousands of visitors, who then take the train to the villages of the Cinque Terre. As a result, the La Spezia Centrale train station is very busy for much of each day.
Deb and Kenny had flown from England to Pisa, and taken the train to La Spezia, so we were waiting for them when they arrived. We walked to our apartment and checked in, left our bags, and returned to the station to spend the rest of the day in the Cinque Terre. Since it was already mid-afternoon, our plan was to go to Manarola (the second most southern village of the five, spend a bit of time exploring, and then go to Riomaggiore, the southernmost village. All the villages are fishing villages, and also grow grapes used for wine in the vineyards on the steep slopes behind the villages.
Manarola
We found our way to a shop selling paper cones of fish - shrimp, squid, octopus, calamari, and, of course, the signature fish of the region, anchovies! They could be bought as anchovies only, or mixed with the others. We had one of each. If you think you know what anchovies are like, from American usage, you are not talking about the same thing, at all. These are good sized, lightly battered and fried, and thoroughly enjoyable! We did find that one cone of fish could have been split between two people!
The town is beautiful, but was almost literally wall-to-wall people. The streets were packed, and many of the shops, as well. We walked up the path you can see in the photo above, to take the photo that is the large one above that. In the larger photo, the terrace at the left side of the photo, above the little bridge, you can get a sample of the crowding, which was much more dense as you left the terrace and went up the street behind.
Riomaggiore
We hopped on the (crowded!) train to Riomaggiore, to explore that village. The idea was that we would have a walk around to explore, then climb up the hill behind it to one of the churches (Santuario di Nostra Signora di Montenero) at the top. Our idea was to see the magnificent view from the top, and take in the sunset as well.
After exploring Riomaggiore a bit, we started up the hill beyond it. It is difficult to convey just how steep the climb is, but these four people (three senior citizens and one youngster) slowed down quickly and stopped to look at the sky. The rain clouds coming in made it clear there would be no sunset that night, so we were quickly discouraged from our plan to climb the hill, and squeezed ourselves into another busy train, and returned to our apartment in La Spezia.
Monterosso al Mare
Monterosso, the northernmost village, is the only one of the five villages with a "real" beach (there is a bit of a beach in Vernazza, but it is tiny), and the town very much centers on it.
We hiked up the hill at the southern end of Monterosso, where the views were superb, and I was able to get a photo of the other three, with the town and beach as a backdrop.
Back on the train we made our way south to the lovely village of ...
Vernazza
Vernazza has a lovely harbor, protected by a breakwater that you can walk out on, for a view back to the town. After a light lunch sitting on a "bench" along a walkway, we ventured out to the breakwater.
Corniglia
Unlike the other four villages, Corniglia is not at the level of the water, but, after disembarking from the train, you must climb a staircase cut into the rock, all the way to the top. It is a long, hot, climb, but we found it entirely worth the effort. Because of the climb, there are far fewer visitors to Corniglia than to the other villages.
We were more than ready for a break and some lunch, so were fortunate to find a restaurant with a view!
Once more in Manarola
I wanted to be in Manarola for the sunset. I know, I know... it is the "classic" Manarola photo. But it is a fantastic location, and the view is amazing. So we returned to Manarola to stake out a spot for the sunset. In actuality, the sun would not be going down behind the town, but would be casting a warm, yellow, glow on the multi-colored houses on the shore.
Many people were coming up the trail, and would stop in front of us for a quick phone photo of the changing colors, but only a few waited for the sun to set.
The sun went down in a cloudless sky, but made a lovely reflection on the water.
We came to the end of a wonderful visit to Cinque Terra. Now off to Lucca!
All photographs and content Copyright © 2022 Scott Thomas, Scott Thomas Images, unless otherwise indicated.
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All photos and content Copyright © 2022 Scott Thomas, unless otherwise noted.