Beauty and the Beach

We arose early with Fabio and enjoyed a glass of ColaCao before saying goodbye.  I ran down the street to trim a few hairs off my noggin, and upon completion we walked to the train station for our trip to Liguria.  Our first train lasted a solid three hours, which we passed playing games and sleeping.  Upon a late arrival into La Spezia, I rushed inside to find the platform number of the connecting train, and then ran back to meet Princess and make the train before its imminent departure.   The ride to Sarzana was very quick, just two stops.  From that station we walked four blocks and met our new couchsurfing host, Erica, at her house.  Both Princess and I were starving from a miniscule breakfast/lunch, so Erica made us some pasta while we relaxed on her futon.

Erica recently joined the ranks of the unemployed, albeit voluntarily, and is hopefully off to see more of the world.  I found out before our arrival that Erica had gone to Argentina in 1998 with that famous company that I had gone to Spain with, and with whom Gabi had also come to California, AFS.  She is a volunteer for the Intercultura program and regularly meets newly arriving students for their initial orientation.  I would like to contribute in a similar manner, though ideally it would be in Europe rather than back home in the US.  We shall see...

After lunch and a hot cup of tea, Erica, Princess and I headed out for a tour of the city.  Sarzana is quite small, with an unknown population, but is quite popular historically.  Throughout Italian history it has changed provincial hands various times, wavering between ownership of Tuscany and Liguria.  On a slightly broader context, the city is a crossroad of two important international roads.  The first is a holy road, linking Paris to Rome, and is similar to the Camino de Santiago, though definitely not as famous.  The second is a trade route from the coast at Genoa to the center of the Italian peninsula at Firenze.  Way back in the day there must have been a mass market at the intersection, but today there is only the Christmas market, selling artisan sausage, cheese and desserts.

We walked down the holy road, towards Rome, and then climbed up onto the wall that used to surround the entire village.  Erica told us the history and importance of the castle, which is still used sparingly today for festivals and concerts.  I initiated an impromptu game of "kick the huge pinecone," which slowly turned into a boy vs. girls game of soccer.  The game ended in a 1-1 tie, though I'm sure one could argue that the girls won, since the final goal was scored as time ran out, with an impressive shot by Princess going through my legs, narrowly missing those parts of great importance.  One must remember to never doubt the power of a woman, scorned or not.  Erica dropped us off in the center of town and went off to help a friend, and Princess and I went back home for book reading, research and pinball.  Our host arrived home a few hours later and then promptly made a scrumptious dinner of Risotto and tortilla italiana (that's new!).  We finished the night chit-chatting and culture sharing.

I arose early the next morning at 6:30 to turn off alarm clock and go back to bed.  Our original plan was to get up at the crack of dawn and head off to Monterosso to walk the entire length of the Cinque Terre hike, with the hope that we would accomplish in the recommended 5 to 6 hours.  When I awoke at 6:30 and noticed the lack of sunshine, I cancelled the early departure and promised to take a train between two of the towns to make up the time difference.  Princess and I headed out at 8:45, rushing down to the station to buy tickets.  The expected departure time was 9:01, but as we have repeatedly found out, Italian trains often run late and the train pulled into the station ten minutes late.  We had to change trains in La Spezia, and we managed the layover by buying lunch at a market across the street. A few minutes later we left and headed two stops up the line to Monterosso.

Monterosso is the fifth of the five towns, heading north from the south.  The other four are Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.  We snapped a few pictures of the town and then headed off on the trail.  There was a 5euro charge per person to walk the trail, which covered maintenance and cleanup.  Immediately after passing the train station, the trail jumps straight up with nearly 700 stone steps climbing up the hill.  It was here that Princess and I wisely agreed to share the weight of the backpack, with me taking it on the long uphills and Princess taking it downhill.  My little Princess is not in as good shape as she usually is, so all of the uphill really challenged her physically. (he-hem- Princess was not the only one sweating tho... ;])

The Cinque Terre trail is 9km long and extremely narrow at most points.  It runs along the coast, sometimes through fields and in between properties, and other times above the crashing waves of the Ligurian Sea.  The first three towns are separated by 3 and 4 km, with the last two just 1km from the preceding town.

As soon as we crested the hill and began a long descent, we could see Vernazza on the edge of the coast.  It sits on the tip of a small point, with a self-created jetty protecting the harbor from potentially large waves during storms.  There is not much to the city itself, except its absolute cuteness.  There is limited vehicle access, with the best methods of arrival feet or train.  The same is true for all of the five towns, which is part of the effect of greatness.  Not just anyone can go without a little planning, and to get the full effect you have to be interested in hiking.  During the summer months the trail is quite full, with travelers stopping off at every town, some staying the night in the widely available rooms for rent and others just passing through on a day hike.  This day, the trail was almost empty; throughout the entire day we passed 12 people.

From Vernazza we continued along, first up a steep hill and then settling out high up the cliff.  Corniglia was just around a few bends, but the most spectacular part was the sea views out and back to cities we'd previously left.  We had shared a banana on the train ride to Monterosso, but since then had not eaten much.  Along the trail Princess taught me how to savor Sour Grass.  Sour Grass is the flower of a variety of clover, and the little yellow flower is shaped like a bell.  You pull out the entire length of the stalk, tear of the final inch or so and then chew on the rest, enjoying the tangy liquid inside. (and making bitter beer faces!)  The flavor itself is more tart and bitter than sweet or filling, but the acid temporarily satiates the body until you can find food.  The juice isn't that great in large quantities, as it would eat away at your teeth, but if you could extract a sizeable amount, you could have quite the salad dressing!

In Corniglia Princess and I enjoyed our Panini on a terrace overlooking nothing but the sea.  We had purchased a pair of juice boxes to go with our lunch, though instead of juice they held cheap red wine.  We poured one of the containers into our remaining orange juice and enjoyed sangria with lunch.  Yummy!  Just after we finished lunch, a cat joined us on the terrace.  I'm not sure if it was in search of food or love, but it got love and ended up snoozing on Princess' warm jacket.  The morning hikes were quite warm, with the sun shining as we climbed and descended the hills.  After lunch the sun went away,
leaving just rays of sunlight pouring through the clouds and the occasional shiver running up our spines.
When we arrived in Corniglia, just two hours had passed from the beginning of the trail.  All of the online recommendations I had read said that the first two (the longest) would take approximately three hours.  Our mighty speed made sure that we didn't have to take a train, as the next two distances wouldn't take us more than 2 hours total.  The walk out of Corniglia ran about 200 steps down the hillside, along the beach and then climbed above the train station.  The trail to Manarola followed the coastline, hiding the town until you continue around the final bend.  We walked down to the water and skirted the cliffside and found ourselves looking directly at waves.  Fortunately, no waves crashed into us, and we enjoyed the area looking at crabs.

From Manarola to Riomaggiore, the end of the line, there is a 20-minute paved walkway that skirts the coast.  Its name is Via Dell'Amore and it climaxes with a pair of star-crossed lovers surround by locks.  Apparently, the custom is to lock your used key or combination lock on the fence, with your name on it, as your mark of attendance in Cinque Terre.  We didn't have a lock, so I guess we never made it there...

We took the train from Riomaggiore to La Spezia, walked around the town a bit and grabbed some coffees and a chocolate croissant.  We then trained back to Sarzana, got lost around town in search of the supermarket, and finally found ourselves buying groceries.  We picked some dinner stuffs and lunch stuffs, and then Princess (Yes, Princess!) made Tortellini and sautéed Curry Chicken.  The meal was wonderful and no one died, so now Princess can do more cooking, when there is an available kitchen and appropriate spices.  In the morning we packed up and headed out...first stop, Pisa!