Cinque Terre: Five Towns in Eight Hours

On our second day, we made our way to the Lucca train station and headed to La Spezia, the stop where we would purchase our tickets for Cinque Terre National Park. However, our trip got off to a rough start because were confused about which bin number our train would arrive. We brazenly asked the woman next to us for help; who confirmed our correct location and provided us with some pertinent advice. She explained we needed to change trains at Viareggio, imperative information given the tickets provided no such detail (nor does the automated machine from which they were purchased). We made the appropriate transfer and the remainder of the ride was uneventful. Interestingly, we did pass through the town of Carrara, renowned for their marble quarries (Cocktail information: most famous of all Carrara marble, Michelangelo's David was sculpted and honed form a one solid block, statue is 5.17 meters tall (17 ft.)). Later, our arrival to La Spezia was a foreshadowing to the masses of tourist who would descend upon the small Italian Riviera towns.

Monterosso al Mare

Capuchin Monastery

Inside Chiesa di San Francesco

It was as if Rick Steves was holding a book signing at the train station, although; this may not be the best analogy because I think his autograph is about as useful as his travel tips (regardless, it was very crowded at 9:15). When we purchased the park passes twenty minutes later, the attendant informed us of closures for all hiking paths with exception to one. The unfortunate news didn't linger too long, we were only in Cinque Terre for a day and wouldn't have had enough time for to complete the trails. With blind optimism operating as logic, we decided to start in Monterosso al Mare and proceed south through the remaining cities - assuming the lot would do the opposite.

Cemetery on Salita San Cristoforo

Fresh flowers at memorial

Caio Monterosso al Mare

Our plan proved to be somewhat fruitful, the herd thinned out with each passing city. Exiting the last station, we proceeded south along the coastline and headed towards a path to Chiesa di San Francesco - location of the Capuchin Monastery. Along the same trail is a cemetery atop Salita San Cristoforo, beautifully kept and freshly cut flowers adorned the memorials. To end our visit of Monterosso al Mare, we walked through old town en route to the dock.

Entering Vernazza

Hooray, got someone to take our picture

Streets of Vernazza

Lunch with a view

Rock beach

Train tracks and tunnel towards Monterosso al Mare

From the harbor we boarded the boat and set sail for the next city, Vernazza. The ride is short, but accessing Vernazza's harbor by sea was indeed the most serene way to enter the fishing village. We briefly toured Santa Margherita di Antiochia and continued along a path up a hill to get a panoramic view of the town. When we returned to sea level, it was early afternoon and we could either rush to make the next train or leisurely walk through town for the next ninety minutes. We decided the later was a more prudent decision, grabbing a slice of pizza and some fried calamari from Batti Friggitoria. Opposite the fryer was a path to a rock beach (Julie's rock throwing ban is still in effect), a perfect area to enjoy our meal while we enjoyed our remaining time in Vernazza. Later, we boarded the train to Corniglia, our least favorite of the five cities, This was our most transient visit, but the town offered a great view of Manarola.

Largo Terragio (Corniglia)

Oratory of Santa Catarenia (Corniglia)

View of Manarola from Corniglia

We reached Manarola mid-afternoon, but having toured for five hours - followed by a satiating lunch with beverages, greatly increased our lethargy. The "postcard" town of the Cinque Terre is chock-full of hills and switchbacks which depleted most of our remaining energy. Following a visit to the San Lorenzo and the cemetery, we found a cafe which offered an impressive view of the colorful homes on the Manarola cliffside. With one more city to go, we had garnered just enough motivation to complete the Cinque Terre in a day.

Path around Manarola

View of the Harbor (Manarola)

Cemetery (Manarola)

Due to our time constraints, we had to curtail our visit to Riomaggiore with our scheduled departure from La Spezia. We followed a path parallel the coastline and enjoyed the sweeping views of the blue water contrasted against the grey sky. The sun eventually made its first appearance of the day, however, it was almost time for us to leave. We enjoyed our visit to Riomaggiore, albeit ephemeral, but we were utterly exhausted after a full day of sightseeing. The extra time spent in Vernazza limited our scope of the remaining towns, but it was our favorite of the Italian Riviera - thus, it was time well spent.