Project Runaway

As I had mentioned in my previous post, this week has had a lot of action. In amongst beaches, mud baths, and hookers, we saw Dave Matthews and Lenny Kravitz. Both rockin’ concerts that we thoroughly enjoyed! We are also Tour de France central here with Dwayne using the TV and the computer, trying to get live feeds in English.

On Tuesday though, we did drive up the coast to the Cinque Terre. This is considered part of the Italian Riviera and consists of 5 small fishing villages clinging to the sides of the hills. There are hikes from each town to the next all ranging in difficulty. This is my favorite spot in Italy. I love the lush green hills, the quaint towns, and the ocean. I didn’t realise how much I like or need to be near water and have decided that in planning our next steps proximity to water needs to be high on the list.

Vernazza

As it is summer, finding an accommodation was tricky. I ended up booking a room from the owner of a small hotel in Vernazza who had no pictures of it but assured me it was nice. Risky, I know, but I thought what the hell as these people came recommended and reviews on line for their hotel were excellent. After climbing some steep windy stairs we get to the room. It is under the ancient stone tower and appears to be built right into the rock of the hill.Well, I have stayed in plenty of hotel and vacation rooms and this room was without a doubt one of the coolest and nicest of them all. We were blown away. You enter on the level which is the main bedroom. Everything is modern, white, and crisp. The floors were a beautiful rich warm hardwood and a spiral staircase made of granite and wrought iron winds upwards and downwards. Downwards led to a hip bathroom with one whole wall the rock of the cliff. Upwards led to another room with a bed and eating area, and then another set of narrow wood stairs led to the ‘Pi√®ce de r√©sistance’, the rooftop terrace overlooking the ocean and town.

View at night from our terrace

The food in Vernazza revolves around what the region is famous for: seafood, pesto, focaccia, and crisp white wines. Here the fish is Acciughe, or anchovies. But not how we are used to it in the tin. It is caught fresh in the evening by shining a light into the water, then scooping them up. The anchovies are baked with potatoes, tomatoes, white wine, and fresh herbs. We had dinner at the restaurant where I had said 4 years earlier I had my best meal in Italy, Trattoria Gianni Franzi. Again, I ordered the trofie di pesto and was not disappointed. Luc had a pasta with clams that was the best I had ever tasted, and Dwayne had his baked acciughe. I still stand by my claim, best meal in Italy!

For dessert, and for breakfast, it is a must that you go to Il Pirata which is run by 2 Sicilian brothers. They are an interesting pair who complain and moan a lot and who love people from Calgary, hate people from Toronto, French Canadians, New Yorkers, and Bostonians. As they are very insulted by people who ask for bacon and eggs for breakfast, I have a feeling that this is an offense that these particular groups made. The specialty here is Sicilian pastry, great caffe, and fresh squeezed orange juice. I had the panzerotti which is like a sugared doughnut stuffed with ricotta cream and is shaped like a calzone. All elements that make me ‘jitzed’ for the day on sugar and caffeine.

Above Vernazza, at the start of the hike. The white building to the right of the tower is our terrace

We decided to hike from Vernazza, which is town #4, backwards to town #1, Riomaggiore. The hike from Vernazza to Corniglia is about 90 minutes and is rugged and a lot of climbing up but was very beautiful and rewarding.The hikes from Corniglia to Manarola, and from Manarola to Riomaggiore were very easy and took about an hour combined. Then we took the local train back to Vernazza, but not after waiting around a bit as in true Italian form the train did not show up, then when one finally did and we all packed on, it then stopped after the 2nd town and decided no, it was not to be our train and we all had to get off and pack onto another already packed train.

Hiking to Corniglia

Wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for all the damn tourists on it. Oh wait, we are damn tourists also. Funny after 7 weeks here I do not consider myself one of ‘those people’. In fact we now do everything we can to not look like a tourist. No obvious carrying of maps, no travel guides. If I need to check I duck into doorways andsurreptitiously take a peek. The Cinque Terre was a bit overrun in the towns with tourists and we heard more English spoken than we have all our time here, but blessedly most of them were only there for the day and in the evenings the town was left to the locals and 3 Canadians trying to look like locals.

AcciugheHunter