Cinque Terre

We arrived in Vernazza, one of the 5 towns within the Conque Terre national park, about 4:30 on Sunday afternoon. The weather was grey and a strong wind had been blowing all day. Now that the park is world heritage listed, Unesco have banned vehicles in most of the towns other than for deliveries, waste collection, construction etc. However, most of the towns have a pay car park up the hill a short distance an then run shuttle busses down to the edge of town. Whilst the road that the shuttle buses take is not as scary as the road in, it's extremely tight between walls, parked cars, signs, pedestrians etc and it's best to close your eyes for the 2 minute journey - the drivers must have supreme confidence in their own spacial awareness. Either that or they get a bulk discount on side mirrors and touch-up paint every month!

The town of Vernazza is small, but probably the best laid out of the 5 towns. We had booked a room which was part of Gianni Franzi. I presume the restaurant came before the hotel and apartment style rooms, but these days it appears that the Gianni Franzi crew own a sizable chunk of the town. Again we were right in the thick of it with our accomm. choice but being a damp and windy Sunday night there wasn't a lot happening apart from a local wedding which sounded like it was pumping. The area where Cinque Terre is said to be the origin of Pesto and Foccacia so for dinner we opted in on the fresh homemade pasta e pesto which was incredible both in appearance (almost flourescent green) and taste. Seems most of the guide books concur with Lonely Planet in that Gianni Franzi is the best place to eat in Vernazza, as the place was full with other Australians, Canadians, Americans and Brits. Half a bottle of Chianti Classico and life is good...

On the drive from Provence to Vernazza, the back was feeling a little sore and that night I tossed and turned a bit. Next morning however, I could hardly move when I woke up. I'm sure carrying the bags up all those steps to the room didn't do much good for it either. The weather is looking great, it's our one full day on the Cinque Terre and I can hardly lift my head up for the back pain... Not good! India to the rescue with some emergency deep tissue therapy and I'm at least up and about. Still can't move my head much but i'm upright. Off down the stairs to the main part of town in search of breakfast and a Farmacia STAT. After walking around town for a bit, a (typically) great coffee and yet another crossaint, i'm already starting to loosen up a little. Finally the Farmacia opens for the day and i'm straight in for some "voltrapid"... I've decided i will not be defeated and we head towards the train station to catch a train to Riomaggiore, the southern-most and larger of the 5 towns within the park. Speaking to a few people, the trains had been on strike the previous day until 9pm so there were quite a few people who had had to stay an extra night and were trying to get out. Normale.

Riomaggiore is the town you always see in the Cinque Terre postcard shots. Is the one literally wedged in a little V with all the terraces built up either side and painted in all different colours. Quite beautiful from the cafe out on the point looking back towards the town as we sit for second coffee. Here marks the start or finish point of most of the walking trails depending on which direction you're heading. The first section is painfully touristy and very busy, but interesting nonetheless. Via dell'Amore is the name of the (reasonably serious) walkway between Riomaggiore and Manarola, the next town along. All the way along this section, the handrails, chains, posts and whatever else are covered in "love locks". The local hardware store must do a roaring trade. Lots of the cliffs, walls and walkways are also covered in graffiti "Amore".

Both unfortunately and fortunately, the easy walking trail between Manarola and Coneglia is closed due to a landslide. This means most of the lazy, larger and older tourists bail out back onto the train. At this stage the drugs have kicked in and my back is feeling pretty good so we head off on trail #6 up into the terraced cliffs. The path markings are vague at best and you need to be a detective to follow the clues. For the first km or so, it's winding steps constantly UP. At the top of the never ending stairs we reach another small town and we're schvitzen. Time to stop for a lemon soda. As soon as we crack them we realise we also need ice. One thing we've definitely taken away from this trip is that europeans NEVER seem to have their fridge's turned down cold enough for Australian tastes. I can only assume it's to save money on electricity because it certainly isn't because the drinks taste better at just below room temperature!!!

Re-hydrated, we set off again, this time along trail 6/d. Not sure what ever happened to 6/a, b or c, but hey - normale. Now the trail has flattened off and we're following the contour of the cliff-face about 340 meters up. The track is narrowing and winding through ripe and healthy vineyards planted within the man-made terracing. The views are incredible and in some sections so is the drop. Not much in the way of safety but fantastic in any case. The scariest things are the inclinators the local farmers use to transport the produce up to the roadway at the very top. Think of the dodgiest, scariest roller coaster you've ever seen and then double it... You've got to see the photos. I guess when you're doing it from a young age you gain trust in your equipment and surroundings. My professional opinion as a mechanical engineer is that they're completely NUTS!!!

Along for km or so and we're into a steep pine forest and then the trail winds back down a billion rocky steps to Coneglia. It's time for lunch and pasta is again the order of the day. The weather is looking ominous and after all those steps the legs are tiring so we hop the train back to Vernazza for a nanna nap. Before dinner we partake in the hotels "terrace". The ominous weather stayed in the distance and looking out to see from our amazing cliff-side perch, the sunset is grand. For dinner we decided that we hadn't given the menu at Gianni a good enough going over, so back it was. Tonight though, the wind had dropped so outside on the harbour front was the place to be. Sat between pairs of Canadians on each side, the conversation was flowing as was the vino and all was merry. Pesto again for primi but something different tonight for secondi. The specialty anchovies were never going to feature on my plate, but the veal was good. India's iron cravings almost back-fired when the brontosaurus sized steak appeared in front of her. Luckily it was tasty otherwise I might have been eating it as well...

Off to Firenze (Florence) tomorrow to meet David and do a little leather shopping and then on to Cortona for out final few nights before heading home.

Ciao for now.