Another beautiful, fall day greeted us this morning at Villa Margherita. The Jones' and we met for a hearty Italian breakfast in the small dining room. "Hearty" would be defined as several yummy cappuccino's with a side of pastry, a bit of yogurt and maybe a slice of ham or cheese. The seven of us gathered our things and set off on our day long adventure to hike all five towns of the Cinque Terre. This happy hiker is ready to go!
After a mad scramble at the train station, where there was only one ticket window open for a throng of anxious fellow hikers, day trippers and locals, we got on the train and rode it all the way to the eastern most Cinque Terre town of Rio Maggiore. The whole ride took only about 10-15 minutes. We didn't spend any time in this village, preferring instead to get going. The first leg of the trail is along the Via del'Amore (Lover's Lane) a 20 minute, cliff side walk.
It was only about a 30 minute walk to the next town, Manarola.
but the majority ruled and we pushed on to Vernazza with the promise of a sit down, savory pasta feast! This last leg took about 1 1/2 hours and while it was strenuous, the vistas were incredible...
We all felt lunch was well deserved when we arrived at 1:30!
The Jones' had heard so much about our meal in Vernazza the day before that we went back to the same restaurant for another go 'round. Nick spent much of the meal asking our waiters to tell him the secret to cooking the perfect pasta. He also managed to eat two plates of it in the process!
After lunch, dad's and kids stayed in Vernazza to linger over lunch, have a gelato and take the train back to Levanto. Julie and I decided we wanted to finish the entire trail. We got to Monterosso by late afternoon, wandered around that little town, sat down and had a wonderful coffee and then headed back to Levanto by train.
After our tough day of hiking, we all felt what we really needed was some more pasta! We returned to the same restaurant we'd gone to the night before, La Palme, for another delicious meal. Here, Darrin is showing off a dish of a local specialty called Pansotti; a ricotta and vegetable filled ravioli with a creamy walnut sauce. It was mouth wateringly delicious!
This region also claims to have invented pesto and we made sure we ate plenty of that as well!
Tomorrow, on our way back to Aix, we'll be visiting a few towns along the coast.
More photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/susiebates/CinqueTerreDay2?authkey=Zvn8h7eXYn4
1 comment:
The Cinque Terre is every bit as beautiful as it is described.
I just returned from the Cayman Islands which is beautiful, but nothing remotely as mesmerizing as the vista from those trails.
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