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.