Cinque Terre, Day 2

Next day, the plan was to hike from Corniglia, where we were staying, south to Manorola, take a boat to Monterosso, the northern village of the five, then take the train back to our car at the La Spezia train station.  Inventing logistic solutions on the fly, we were trying to figure out what to do with our luggage.  One of our hosts volunteered that her husband Fabrizio ran the little bar (snack shop) at Corneglia's little train station and we could leave our bags there, behind the counter.  Perfect!  We wouldn't have to schlep our bags around.  

And so we set off.  Before the floods of 2012, the trail to Manorola was an easy stroll along the coast with little elevation change.  That trail has still not been restored, so it was another, longer big climb up, over, and back down in blistering heat.  Fortunately there were wooded glades with shade along the way, and the path went along one of many terraces of vineyards on the hillside.  

... and south to Manorola

Not just grapevines; tomatoes too

Okay, full disclosure requires me to say that we got to the little village of Volastra, up the hillside, and caught a bus down to Manorola.  I mean, it was *really**hot*.  Hey it was only the downhill we didn't do!  Anyway, we had a very nice, leisurely lunch, and then we walked down to the seashore.  There is a nice little cove and lagoon at the foot of Manorola, so let's all go for a swim.  Oh no, the girls didn't bring their swimsuits!  For once, it was the boys who were prepared, and the water was too inviting.

Gary swims the Med; Kelly dips her feet; John imitates a sea otter

Our timing was good--we had lunch, we swam, and then we caught the tourist boat to Monterosso, with a stop at Vernazza.

The stop at Vernazza--the harbor and a cliffside restaurant.  The Italian flag means they are serving pasta today.

Monterosso from the water

Walking around Monterosso, we encountered a festival of street art--decorations made with flower petals, leaves, grains, and other plant pieces arranged on the street.  We guessed that it was a celebration associated with a saint as the decorations had Catholic themes.  The artists included as many kids as adults.  If anyone knows more about this, we would love to hear from you in a comment.

Our day went pretty much as planned, and we got to the Monterosso train station at 4:30, perfect timing for a leisurely ride to Corniglia to pick up our luggage, then catch a train to La Spezia.  This is where our plan ...er, went off the tracks.  There was a train strike.  You haven't experienced the real Italy unless you had to cope with a transit strike.  Mercifully (but I wonder how effectively), the workers only strike from 9am to 5pm.  So we waited, and as we waited the southbound platform got more and more crowded.  At some point after 5, a northbound came through.  We thought surely a southbound will come soon.  But we were wrong.  Five more northbound trains came and went while our platform continued to fill with Sunday beachgoers trying to go home.  Finally, at 6:30 a southbound came and we all crushed into it.  Now, remember our luggage?  It is in the bar in Corniglia, right beside the tracks.  The train would stop there for a couple of minutes and who knows when the next train might come.  So we had a plan:  we staked out standing room by the door of our train car, John was primed with a tip for Fabrizio (remember him?), and when we got there, John and I were to jump out first, run into the bar, get the luggage, slap the tip down, and then run to the train.  Meanwhile the ladies would get out and hang by the doorway and try to keep it open until the boys and luggage made it back.  Well, to not keep you in suspense, the plan was executed to perfection, and we were on our way home.

Cinque Terre, Day 1

Vernazza

Cinque Terre, literally "five lands," were not on the tourist radar 20 years ago.  Then a new travel writer, Rick Steves, gained popularity by discovering out-of-the-way, quaintly charming places for European visitors.  Cinque Terre were among his major discoveries, and the five little villages that tumble down the Ligurian cliffs to the blue Mediterranean are now one of Italy's biggest destinations.  Hiking between the villages has been a major check box for our Italy experience, so we arranged to do Cinque Terre with John and Kelly O'Neill, who we knew liked to hike.  Along the way, we checked off another box--surviving an Italian railway strike.

Following advice from an unreliable and untraceable source, we booked rooms in Corniglia, the middle village--the only one inaccessible by boat.  No worries, we came to hike, and set off the first full day for Vernazza.  It was very hot and mostly up on the first half, and of course with wonderful photo opportunities.

Home base:  Corniglia

The happy hikers.  Everyone got the memo: "Wear your Tilley hat."

Here is a montage with a blue water theme:

Then we were on the descent into Vernazza, and into the town, with its own sights.

It was quite a hike in the heat, so we felt no qualms taking the train back to Corniglia, cleaning up, going to dinner on a terazza, and enjoying a beautiful sunset.

Sant'Agnese Farm

Our next visitors, John and Kelly O'Neill, treated us to a full-course Italian pranzo (calling it lunch does it an injustice) at Sant'Agnese Farm near Castellina in Chianti.  The Farm produces wine and olive oil as most wineries do, but they also specialize in vinegar and truffle oil.  They told us the truffles are collected "by the owner and his dogs." We knew there were different vinegars, but got a real education about ageing and pairings with different foods.  

Kelly and John (another Tilley hat man) at Sant'Agnese Farm

Our hosts Carlo and (didn't capture her name:-(, the chief cook

Here is a photo journey through our meal:  First up is Antipasti

The small plate at right is a scrambled egg topped with truffle oil.  The small dark dab is the vinegar paired with the selection. 

Next was the primo piatto:  Many diners said the lasagne was the best they have had.

For the secondo piatto, beef cooked in a delicious sauce, roasted potatoes, with a flourish of the paired vinegar.

...and there is even a vinegar paired with i dolci.

We then took a tour of the vinyards, orchards, wine cellar, and shop.

Here come the olives; the wine shop had a display of old equipment like this grape press.

Here is one of Carmen's experiments with exposure settings, getting two very different moods from the same scene:

It was a wonderful meal, and we all felt like taking a nap.

Dinner at Beth's

Recently we had dinner again at our friend Paola Salvioni's home, where we met her good friend Beth Piper, who proceeded to invite all of us over to her place for a dinner a week later.  Beth is an American M.D. who still works in the U.S. most of the year, but on the side is working on her getaway plan:  restoring a large country villa and using it as a vacation rental. 

An impressive structure with three floors, eight large bedrooms, and nine bathrooms, its most distinctive feature is a a five-storey tower with the observation deck converted into a sitting room.

We ate out on the patio on a balmy late-spring evening.  

Beth served in the traditional Italian style: a salad for antipasto, a primo pasta dish, a secondo meat course, dolci, coffee, and of course wine at each.  The secondo was a big hit; we asked what they were and Beth said they were jump-in-the-mouths:  sauteed meat tidbits with a light sauce.  Carmen observed their making and cooking and we have been able to duplicate the recipe (the details of which are secret;-).  Simple--and delicious!

Before we ate we had ample time to stroll around the grounds and take some pictures.

Assisi

It was sunny when the group headed out from our place

Sharon very much wanted to visit Assisi again because it was the most memorable city from her visit to Italy in her youth.  So again braving threatening rain, we made the two-car caravan there with her, Alan, Liz and Jeremy.  I hardly have to remind you that Assisi is the home town of St. Francis, who is the patron saint of animals, and the namesake of the current Pope.

Sharon has made it back to Assisi, with Alan, who always wears his glasses on his head instead of a headband.

Medieval towns are always a challenge to navigate, requiring constant consultation with maps and phone apps:

We found a small chapel on the way to the big Basilica of St. Francis:

Forging ahead, we could see serious rainfall nearby.  Would we make it to the Basilica?

Finally we reached our destination.

Heavy rain never quite got to us, and we enjoyed more sights in the town.

I refer to this photo as the "rock band CD jacket pose."  If only they could play some music!

Roses...and Peacocks

Leaving Podere Ciona, we followed Mimma's directions to the small village of Cavriglia and the Fondazione Roseto Biologico Carla Fineschi.  You know I love to photograph flowers, and this botanical garden has 4,500 varieties of roses!  We also discovered that the place had a lot of animals--dogs, cats,  a goat (that loved to be petted), chickens...and peacocks, that put on a show for us.  Occasional sprinkles of rain did not slow us down.  I hope you enjoy my photos--look for raindrops on roses (but alas, I have no photos of whiskers on kittens;-)

I am sure you have seen this view of a peacock...

...but have you seen this view?

Liz and Jeremy enjoyed the setting.

This rooster was just as full of himself as the peacocks.

We had no idea that this beautiful place even existed until we heard about it by word-of-mouth.  It always amuses us that these wonderful destinations exist in little villages that are off the beaten path.