Cinque Terre Part II

Yesterday morning, we hiked the Cinque Terre. After a solid week of eating too much food and wandering at a snail's pace around the towns, it was about time we got some exercise. Due to heavy rain a few weeks ago, unfortunately the trail leading out of Monterosso to the next town Vernazza, had been washed out. I was (and am) admittedly disappointed about that because I've heard that that particular stretch of the trail offered the best views and photo ops. That being said, we decided to take the boat (rather than train) to the next town to start our hike, which gave us a good opportunity to see the villages from the water.

The boat arrived around 10:30 (I say around, because in Italy, a departure time is a loose concept). The water was extremely choppy, and I found it particularly amusing thinking about how we were actually going to climb aboard. The boat nosed in to the tip of a breakwater, threw out an unanchored ramp (really more like a plank on a pirate ship) to the breakwater, and while bobbing up and down in what I would call stormy waters, people were staggering aboard. I get nauseous on the BC Ferries - I knew I was in for a rough ride. We managed to get on the boat without falling in, and were dropped off at the next town. We slowly walked through the town and then stopped for espresso while I waited for the ground to stop moving. Once I felt like I was on solid ground again, we climbed a mini-Grouse grind flight of stairs to the top of the town and started on the path leading us to Corniglia.

The path was suprisingly rugged, but it felt somehow authentic for connecting two old fishing villages along the coast of Italy. One wrong step, and you were tumbling down a cliff into the water - no protective barriers, no warning signs. The path lead us through olive groves, vineyards, and lemon orchards, and was lined with wild poppies, and other flowers (purple and yellow ones - not sure what kind they were). All along the way to Corniglia, there were stunning views of the sea, and you could look backwards to Monterosso and Vernazza and forward to Corniglia, perched on top of a cliff.

It's either funny or sad, but I remember all the towns by what I ate in each one. In Corniglia, we stopped for paninis. I had a grilled pomodoro flatbread panini, with mozzarella, basil, tomato and olive. I think the best panini I've ever had (so far). Dan had an ungrilled (because what if it had cheese? There would be no opportunity to pull it off it was melted) foccacia panini with ham, lettuce, tomato, and of course, no cheese. While sitting on the steps outside the snack shop eating our paninis, we were asked by a German tourist to watch his hiking poles while he stepped inside to buy a drink, which brings me to say: wow, are there a lot of German tourists in Cinque Terre! And how do you spot a German tourist? Because undoubtedly, there are carrying fancy-pants hiking poles. Every single last one of them! There must be something magic about those poles. I've never seen so many in my life. And they are super high-tech Jame Bond type poles - made of light weight material, they extend, they collapse, they have cool graphics on them.

We then hiked from Corniglia to Manarolo, where I had a very refreshing lemon gelato, and then from Manarolo to Riomaggiore, where I had a tasty strawberry gelato. Each town had its own charm, with Corniglia, Manarolo and Riomaggiore having a more authentic, non-touristy feel, and Vernazza and Monterosso being the tourist hot-spots. We took the train back from Riomaggiore to Monterosso, and then had a nice siesta (one of my favourite things about being in Italy is napping in the afternoon without feeling guilty). After dinner, we went to the little cafe in the courtyard below our apartment for a dessert and espresso, while the cafe owner sang his heart out to Franco Battiato (I only know this because I asked him to write down the name of the singer he was blaring on the stereo).

This morning, we were up bright and early to leave for Florence. We ran into Angela on our way out of town and we managed to utter a heartfelt "grazie" for her apartment (over and over again because we didn't know how to say anything else).

It took us only three hours to get to Florence, and having learned our lesson in Cinque Terre, we had reserved a hotel the night before online. We are staying in a nice little hotel that used to be convent in the 15th century. It has a beautiful little courtyard with tables and umbrellas, and even a jacuzzi. We are within a ten minute walk to the Duomo, and five minutes to the train station.

We spent a few hours in the afternoon exploring the city, and managed to track down the two restaurants that came suggested to us - one by Tracy (at C2) whose friend from Vancouver has moved to Florence for six months. Her boyfriend is a professional server at a restaurant in the heart of town. The other came recommended by Marg (also at C2), and while I had misplaced the paper with the name of the restaurant, I remembered her telling me it was right near the statue of the wild boar, and I remember it was an Osteria starting with a P. Believe it or not, we found it using only that information! We went to Osteria Porcellino for dinner tonight, and it was a wonderful experience. Although I did have my own little food adventure, similar to Dan's in Cinque Terre. To give a quick little background, I have been vegetarian for over ten years now. I do eat fish, but I have not had any chicken, turkey, pork or beef for over a decade, with the exception of the occasional small piece I've had in error. Tonight, we ordered the mixed bruschetta to start, which came with one piece of bread topped with the traditional tomatoes, one piece of bread topped with olives, and two pieces of bread topped with pureed eggplant (or at least that's what I thought it was). There was so much pureed eggplant piled on top of the bread, that I took a spoon (a big one) and scooped a heaping amount into my mouth. I knew within seconds that it was some sort of animal. I wasn't sure what kind, but it took a huge effort to swallow and not react. Dan did this at the same time I did, and although Dan is not a vegetarian, he is the type of guy who likes meats he can recognize. He had no idea what it was, and it was all he could do to swallow too. We both felt pretty badly not eating it, especially when the owner walked up to us and asked if we didn't like chicken liver. Once I explained that I was vegetarian, he brought a plate of tomatoe bruschetta out for us on the house. How nice!

I then had salmon with a lemon and caper sauce, and Dan had beef with a thick balsamic glaze. We shared the panacotta and strawberries for dessert. We both enjoyed our food, and enjoyed the atmosphere equally as much. We were sitting on a sidewalk table in a little alley, under a canopy with white twinkle lights, and a gentleman playing accordian.

Tomorrow we're off to climb the Duomo, to see Michelangelo's David, and to the Uffizi!

K&D