Le Cinque Terre

The village of Manarola in the Cinque Terre

After an incredible, but exhausting, two week excursion around the world, I’m now back in Paris to finish off my final month abroad. Before I even begin to breach the subject of my final days in Paris, I need to recount the exciting adventure that was spring break.

My trip began Friday, April 10 with a full day of travel to the Cinque Terre, Italy. A cluster of 5 small villages along the northern coast of Italy, the Cinque Terre is a beautiful, serene vacation spot. My friend Jessie and I stayed in the southern most town, Riomaggiore. The other towns (Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare) stretch along the coast and are connected to one another by hiking trails and trains. 

Tired from over 12 hours of buses, planes and trains, Jessie and I spent our first night exploring Riomaggiore and eating delicious and authentic Italian food. During our walk around the town (which has only one main street leading up a steep hill) we stumbled upon a Good Friday church service. The church and the paths leading to it were ringed in candles and the congregation was mingling outside, preparing for a parade. At 9 p.m. they began to process throughout the village with the priest at their head holding a megaphone strong enough to make his voice permeate every corner of the town. Behind him people carried idols of the Virgin Mary and Jesus and a brass band dressed like sailors followed. Though fun and interesting to watch, the procession was a little eery and unlike any religious event we’d seen in connection with Easter. 

Hot and tired on our hike down into Corniglia

For our first full day, we got up early and began our hike to the other villages. To get to the next village we had to walk along the Via del Amore, an overhyped walkway that has locks symbolizing being “locked in love.” While the path itself may have been a little cheesy, the views were certainly romantic. We explored the next town, Manarola, for about a half an hour (which is all the time you really need to explore any of the 5 towns) and then started our real hike into the hills. The Cinque Terre is known for it’s Sciacchetrà wine and the vinyards were literally cut into the hills. Though the walk was straight up and strenuous, we were rewarded with beautiful views at the top before we began our decent to Corniglia, where we cooled off with a little gelato. 

For Easter Sunday we road the train into the northern part of the Cinque Terre, first Vernazza and later Monterosso. Vernazza was by far my favorite village. It had a central square built right along the water and several open-air cafés with brightly colored umbrellas. It seemed much more bustling than the other towns and I liked that it was centered around the small port. Though Monterosso was the most touristy, it had the best beach and we enjoyed soaking up all the sun Paris has been denying us. We headed back to Riomaggiore in the evening to catch an Easter service, but since it was entirely in Italian we only stayed for 30 minutes and ducked out before the sermon. Then we went back to Monterosso for another delicious Italian dinner.

Our final day was spent making sure we’d sufficiently explored each village and gotten a solid intake of sun. That night we packed a picnic of focaccia bread, cheese, salami and Sciacchetrà and ate our makeshift dinner on the rocks in the Riomaggiore harbor.

Vernazza, my favorite of the 5 villages

But one of our best memories of the trip was after dinner when we decided to check out the only bar in the town, called Bar Centrale. It had outdoor seating and we were enjoying the evening when we decided to pull out my bright pink playing cards to pass the evening. A group of Italians sitting near us were so intrigued by our game and my pink cards that they asked to join. Soon we were playing Texas Hold ‘Em with two Italian men who taught us how to say all of the card suits in Italian. It was an unexpected, fun night and a great cap to our leisurely and scenic trip to the Cinque Terre.

If I were to ever go back, I’d come more prepared to hike all day long through the lush, green hills and then cool off in the afternoon on the beach. It’s the type of place that I could probably return to hundreds of times and never become less amazed by the beautiful views and slow, leisurely way of life.

~ by jarvjarv on April 26, 2009.