Cinque Terre

Wednesday 16 June B&B Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre

Today was my birthday. Phil went to buy breakfast and came back with yummy little cakes to follow our special K, banana and yoghurt concoction. Then it was packing everything which had climbed out of its pannier over the last 4 days, so we could be out by 12pm. We had to take 3 trains to get to Cinque Terre and at each station we had to change platforms. (Bounce bikes downstairs, unload them, carry them upstairs, return for panniers, re-load onto bikes ready to race to bike compartment when train stopped, unload panniers, lift bikes then panniers onto train.) We were a bit over this by the end of the day, particularly because we missed our connection at Parma by a whisker and had to wait 2 hours for the next one. (Phil had worked out a different set of connections, but we were overruled by the computer system, which delivered an itinerary which didn't cater for trains arriving late or our laborious platform changing.)

However, nothing fazed us because it was my birthday!
On the first train to Parma we met a young chap from Kosovo who was laboring in Italy to help pay for a new house for his family. The old one was destroyed by the Serbs. It turned out he was going to La Spezia too (almost all the way). He helped us with the bikes at Parma, thereby missing the connection too. Because we had two hours to spare, and because we were already equipped with a nice picnic lunch, we invited him to join us. Mr GPS found us some pleasant gardens, we spread the picnic sarong and enjoyed lunch together. Back on the train we showed him our Northern Territory photos, which passed the time very pleasantly. Two hours later we were in La Spezia, where we connected for the 8 minute trip to here.

We arrived at about 9pm and then spent the next hour trying to find a room in gathering dusk. The town is like a 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle. There are steps leading to passageways and rooms and more steps and more passageways etc. Each inspection of a room involved step marathons. I wanted a nice-ish room because it was my BIRTHDAY, but the first seemed likely to be mosquito ridden, and the next two were laughably awful – really awful. This one is quite pleasant – though pretty dear. Our (own) tiny bathroom is down the corridor, but we have quite a nice view of the upper part of the town.
It costs 70 euros a night – the Novotel special deal averaged out to 80!

We were so exhausted with these room inspections after the nervous energy and weightlifting of train connections, that the idea of carrying everything up steps then seemed a gargantuan task. So, sweaty and sticky as we were, we went to dinner, parking the bikes across the street, and actually had a really nice meal, which revived us enough to get everything into our room by midnight. Phew! What a birthday – but we're here and madly looking forward to it.

17 June B & B Riomaggiore

This morning we woke to solid rain and the sound of either trains rolling through the tunnel at the bottom of the hill or thunder (we now think it was thunder), and reconsidered the walk. However, after we had a good breakfast (which involved walking down the many steps then up the street and some more steps to another branch of the hotel/B & B operation), the weather started clearing and we decided to walk. So, a change from the winter woollies to light clothes for walking. Off to the National Park office to buy tickets. Sorry, all but the first part of the walk (2k out of 12k) was closed because of the weather – some wishy washy explanation of heavy rain, slippery rocks, landslides and tourists falling to the sea.

Plan C = ride the bikes. We headed off on the LP Cinque Terre ride (or at least part of it). Up the long hill from Riomaggiore. Lovely sea and headland views, then joined the road which runs above the 5 towns of Cinque Terre, climbing into the hills behind and taking the turnoff to the last town, Monterosso for a big downhill and the train home.

It was a magnificent ride and we enjoyed it enormously. We alternated between forest, and terraced farmland and vineyards (with many of the properties having their own little miniature funicular railway) with sea vistas and bird's eye views of each of the 5 towns.

We ate our picnic lunch in beautiful sunshine waving to walkers who were doing the 38km walk, which we assumed must be open (it passes well uphill), and thoroughly enjoyed riding unloaded up and down the undulations (if a 300m climb is an undulation). We were back in the wildflowers, as well – pink, purple, yellow and white this time.

We reached Monterosso at about 7, just in time to pick up a train that ran express to Riomaggiore. 8 minutes later we were here. Showers, then dinner at a little restaurant by the tiny harbour where the food was pretty good and the service was offered on the basis that we should be grateful that they were prepared to feed us.

Then home to bed.

18 June B & B in Riomaggiore

Today was the other half of our exploration of Cinque Terre, intended to include the 12km coast walk from village to village. But, the elements were not on our side. We woke to, yes, the sound of rain. We thought it might clear up, which it did, but suspected that the track would remain closed. Right again, unfortunately. So, we trained it back to Monterosso (along with a squillion other tourists) to explore that village a bit more and do a little shopping for presents. (This was divided thus; Gail shopped while I read the paper and had a coffee and offered advice and opinions as and when required.) Then we did little hops back through the villages taking the train between each one, until we got to [ ], the nearest to Riomaggiore, from where the track was open. It wasn't so much a track as a series of substantial walkways, but there were lovely views of the cliffs above and the rocks and sea below, and wildflowers were out everywhere here too. It was called the Via d'amore and people had padlocked little locks onto anywhere possible, and thrown the keys into the sea presumably. You had to wonder about the combination locks though, and the large lock with two small ones attached.

The villages are all lovely – similar in many ways, but each was also distinctive. We walked down to their harbours (one doesn't have any access to the sea), and generally just pottered about having lunch and icecreams to sustain us.

We arrived back at sevenish. There's a wine-bar perched on the end of the cliff, so we stopped there for a shared glass of red from this very town. It was really lovely. Just enough time to work out trains for tomorrow and catch up on the diary before going out for dinner.

We were sorry to miss doing the 12km hike between all the villages, but very glad we'd done the ride yesterday.