Cinque Terre!

We're in Cinque Terre! I heard about Cinque Terre about seven years ago while on exchange in Vienna, and I've wanted to visit it ever since. Cinque Terre ("the Five Lands") are five little, brightly coloured villages perched on cliffs overlooking the Ligurian Sea (just off the Mediterranean). They are traffic-free, and home to just over a thousand residents each. We are staying in Monterosso al Mare, the first of the five villages.

Our journey to Cinque Terre started off by missing our train out of Antibes. We had packed up super early yesterday morning (by vacation standards) and made the trek up to the station to catch the 7:21 train to Ventimiglia. We're still not entirely sure what happened, but there we were standing on the platform, wondering whether the train that had just stopped and left without us was the one we were supposed to be on. So back in the ticket office we went, with reservation in hand. I felt rather silly explaining that no, we were not late for the train, but yes, we did just miss the train while standing on the platform looking at it. The ticket person thankfully reissued a reservation for a later train and it was only a half hour wait for the next one. The new route we had to take stopped in Monaco (albeit for only two minutes while we ran for the next connection). At least I can count Monaco as one more country I've been to! Take that Bob! Lol...

The train ride going along Nice and Monaco, to Ventimiglia was beautiful. So many grand villas perched atop cliffs, overlooking the Mediterranean. And lemon trees! And orange trees! One of the little train stations our train stopped at along the way actually had an orange tree growing right in the middle of the platform!

We arrived in Cinque Terre rather exhausted from our travels. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon, and beautifully warm and sunny. Sunburnt from the day before, I needed to wear a hoodie so that the shoulder straps on my heavy packpack didn't rub my sunburn raw. Yes, a T-shirt probably would have done the trick too, but after packing the kitchen sink in my
backpack along with many tank tops and sundresses, apparently I didn't think to pack a simple T-shirt!! So, we trekked into town, with our huge backpacks, me about to pass out in my sweatshirt. We started with hiking to the top of town, and hit pretty much all hotels going down to the water. Every single one was booked solid for the next three nights. We hit the final hotel with fingers crossed, and of course it was booked as well. The person at reception kindly started to call other hotels for us to see if she could find us accommodation. No luck. Then she asked us if we would be interested in renting an apartment. Thinking that it would be way out of our price range, we almost said no. Last minute, I decided to ask her how much more expensive it would be to rent an apartment. The last thing we wanted to do was get back on the train. To our surprise, she said it would only be about 90 Euro a night. Sold! The hotels here were going for up to 160 Euro a night, and being that there was no vacancy anywhere, we were expecting to have to pay more money to get accommodation rather than less. Uh-oh - was this going to be some super scary place? As Dan and I like to call it, a "scary-bary" place? She called her friend Angela, and warned us that Angela spoke no English, but that she would show us the apartment, and if we liked it, all we had to do was nod our heads yes, pay the cash and be out by Friday at 10 o'clock. Angela showed up just minutes later, and she really, honestly, did not speak one word of English. Not even "hello". Although we spoke no Italian, and she not a lick of English, she seemed like a very friendly person. She walked us to the heart of town, and I found it SO cool how she knew every local she passed and would shout out a greeting in passing. For all I know she could have been making fun of us the whole way, but I'm convinced she was saying things like "Good afternoon Pasquale - how is you wife doing?" or "Hello Daniella, nice day today, isn't it?" I counted at least five people in a less than two minute walk to the apartment that she knew and greeted on the street. SO cool!

So, let me preface this next part with this: we were tired and did not want to get back on the train and probably would have been happy with a cot stuffed in some utility closet for 90 Euro a night. We got, hands down, the COOLEST apartment ever for 90 euro a night. The front door of the apartment building is off a small courtyard, up a steep flight of marble stairs, which after the first few steps, goes into pure blackness. Then, through the blackness, you arrive at the front door of the apartment (the only door on the second floor). The apartment spans from one side of the building to the next and then some, and has just been fully renovated with all the modern conveniences. We have two decks - one looking into the small courtyard, and the other - get this - spans the main street. Our deck and bathroom actually bridges the main street to the next building, meaning we can sit on our deck, eat our breakfast, and people watch as they pass underneath! All the decks and windows have those fancy shutter doors that do a million different thing (open, close, tilt, lock etc. etc. - I'm pretty sure I would need to take a course to fully understand how to operate them). The shutters are painted green, and the building is a bright yellow. I love it! We have a kitchen, and dining room table, a spacious bathroom, laundry. Needless to say, we nodded our heads yes vigorously to Angela, and then she talked at us in Italian for the next 10 minutes explaining how to work the shutters, wait for the hot water, lock the door etc. She then handed over the keys, and emphasized that we needed to be out by 10 o'clock on Friday because a bride-to-be had rented it to get ready for her wedding in the town church (at least I think that's what she was saying after making wild hand gestures to indicate a big dress and veil, at which point I pointed to my ring finger and she happily yelled "Si! Si!")

After Angela left, we took a short nap, and then headed out to find a bite to eat. On our way out, we stumbled on a small interent cafe in the square below us, and we were able to buy a card that gave us access with our laptop. It turns out that the signal reaches all the way to our apartment! Bonus! We had just been saying that the only thing our apartment didn't have was internet! We took Rick Steves' suggestion and found a small restaurant named Via Venti in a small alley just a few steps away from our place (Monterosso is a very, very small town). To start, we shared a plate of gnochetti tossed with crab meat, parsley, basil, tomato and olive oil. It was delicious! Then, I had an incredible pasta dish. I had stuffed pasat - stuffed with pear and cheese! So, so good. But Dan - well, this is a good story.

To give a little preamble for those who may not be familiar with Dan's eating habits, Dan is truly a meat and potatoes type man. He likes steak, potatoes, bread, and any combination thereof. He will occasionally branch out and take risks, only to discover that he really, really likes his steak, potatoes and bread. Every night we've stayed in Europe, he's eaten beef of some kind, potatoes, and bread. Now, Monterosso is truly a little fishing village. I encouraged Dan to try something knew, but really, I was expecting that he would order...you guessed it...beef, potatoes, and bread. To my surprise, he ordered the fried fish! Wow!

So, I'm guessing that the fried fish was a loose translation for fried seafood of any and every kind. Everything on his plate still had eyes, fins, tales, tentacles and antannae, and there was a not a vegetable or garnish in sight. It was quite literally a plate heaped with lightly fried sea critters that were probably still alive earlier in the day. You should have seen Dan's expression! Priceless! I felt very badly for him though - he was quite hungry, and unfortunately, I couldn't even offer him some of my dinner as it had cheese (for those of you wondering about that, Dan has a HUGE dislike for cheese). Poor Dan!

But here is thing though - he ate every last thing on his plate! He also drank a lot of water, but after all was said and done, he said it wasn't too bad! Well done Dan! I know that I couldn't have done it, and I usually eat way more seafood than he does.

Today we got up, and went downstairs for espresso and a slice of focaccia (the region of Liguria is the birthplace of focaccia and pesto, two things I love very much), and then went to the fruit stand just under our patio and bought a small basket of strawberries. We brought them upstairs, and sat on our little deck over the main street, and people watched as we ate them. We then went to the beach, as even Rick Steves said that going to the beach here is a cultural experience! We rented two lounge chairs and an umbrella, and lazed the afternoon away just napping, reading, and people watching. The water is turquoise here, and very clear, but also very cold. I dipped my toes in the water just to say that I've been in the Mediterranean, but there were many people swimming and splashing around in the water (I guess I'm a wimp).

On the way back from the beach, we found a small little grocery store, and bought Muesli and milk for breakfast tomorrow morning. We then got ready for dinner and went to a gorgeous restaurant perched on a bluff, with the waves crashing 60 some-odd feet against the rocks below. Our table was right on the edge, and Dan's chair was actually the retaining wall of the patio. I think we both had the best dinners yet! We started with a salmon roll, which actually looked like giant pieces of sushi rolls, but Italian-style. Dan then had a steak (yes, believe it or not, yesterday's litte adventure led him back to ordering steak), but it it did have a twist - it was smothered in orange glaze, with baked apple wedges and whole almonds. He said it was the best meal he's had so far. I had incredible vegetable stuffed ravioli, smothered in two sauces - the first layer was pesto, then it was covered with a roasted nut sauce. Roasted whole almonds and walnuts were sprinkled on top, along with parmesan. It was so, so tasty! The best meal I've had so far!

Tomorrow, we're going to do the famous Cinque Terre hike - the path that connects the five villages. It will take approximately five hours, and then we'll take the train back. Will post again soon!

K&D