It was our last day in Cinque Terre. We had booked an AirBnB Experience Tour of Cinque Terre with Emilia. It was a private tour just for my sister N and me.
Emilia suggested that we take the train to Vernazza, as it was one of the villages we had not visited. Afterward we would return to Monterosso (where our home-base had been at Hotel Pasquale) and see sites we might have missed.
Port of Vernazza
Learning about Cinque Terre
Being a local, Emilia had a wealth of knowledge about the Liguria region. “Cinque Terre is the smallest national park in Italy and the national rail line passes through it,” Emilia said. “Every day in the summer 200 trains traverse Cinque Terre.”
“People live off tourism here. Most people live in La Spezia and rent out their Cinque Terre apartments for $300 euro a night in season. ” she added. “The best time to visit is April, May, June and September. It’s too hot in July and August and too rainy in October.
Cinque Terre is located in northwest Italy
Emilia spoke about the terrain in Cinque Terre. “The mountains stop cold air from coming north. That’s why we have a lot of lemons and other citrus — there’s a good climate for growing citrus fruits.” BTW when we returned to Monterosso the locals were celebrating Lemon Festival with restaurants and shops adorned with lemon decorations, vendors selling lemon cake, limoncello, lemonade and other lemon treats.
Seeing the beautiful views of Vernazza
It was a quick one-stop train ride to Vernazza.
From the station, Emilia guided us down Via Roma to the harbor, stopping at various shops to recommend souvenirs such as three types of popular Ligurian pasta — dry Trofie and Croxetti and Cotto Nei Testi which is precooked and then cut up — I bought Trofie to bring home to enjoy with my Ligurian pesto. Cinque Terre is also known for olive wood utensils and cutting boards. Emilia said olive wood is very strong.
These pasta shapes are popular in the Liguria region
Our first landmark was Chiesa di Santa Margherita d’Antiochia, the gothic church that sits by the sea. “This is the only church related to a female,” Emilia said. “It was built in 1318.” According to legend, “the church was constructed after a box containing the bones of St Margaret washed up on a nearby beach.”
“During those times men worked on the sea or up in the mountains. Those in the mountains were farmers. As farmers they started to carve the mountain but only thing that worked was grapes. Thus the Cinque Terre wine,” Emilia said. “The workers and their families had to have faith and would stop in the church to pray that their loved ones are okay on the sea and on the mountains.”
Chiesa di Santa Margherita d’Antiochia in Vernazza is named after a female
Zigging and zagging Vernazza’s winding streets
We zigzagged up a very narrow street. I was glad I had my walking sticks to assist the climb. The view from high provided an expansive look at the village. Another landmark on top of the mountains is the Cemetery of Vernazza. “They say that those buried there are close to the sky overlooking the sea,” Emilia said.
From there we zagged back down the only winding street from the square into the village. “In case of pirates they could kill them with hot oil and boiling water and it would be tough for them to run away,” Emilia said. I guess if the pirates were able to escape they could jump in their pirate ships and sail away.
Narrow and steep steps of Vernazza
Caught up in the colorful houses
Down by the harbor we saw ferries coming in and out, taking passengers around by sea. Our cameras were on full click mode taking pics of the colorful houses by the port. The aquamarine waters were equally calling out “take my pic too.” Emilia told us that the coast guard works to check pollution and keep the sea clear.
View from the top
On our way back to the train station we saw the river under the city. Emilia said that all the houses and shops in Vernazza were flooded during the 2011 floods that swept through Cinque Terre. We were glad to see how things had been restored and that visitor attendance was peaking again.
One more walkabout in Monterosso
Our morning went quickly and by noon we were back in Monterosso for a final spin around the town. Emilia pointed out the German bunker along the water which is now a popular restaurant. “The Germans took over Monterosso during World War II,” Emilia said.
Torre Aurora restaurant in Monterosso is located in a former WWII German bunker
It was also fun to see the merriment at the Lemon Festival. Oh how I wish we could have stayed longer.
Lemon Festival in Monterosso
Sidebar: Ooh, ooh, ooh, Emilia said that the Disney Pixar movie “Luca” was inspired from Monterroso and Vernazza. Adding it to my watch list.
Goodbye Cinque Terre, goodbye Italy
Thankfully we were able to get an early afternoon train direct to Milan. I had been worried about making connections and getting off and on trains with our luggage. (Note: Ask for help booking trains. The nice women at Hotel Pasquale recommended we change our original return route and said that sometimes it is confusing booking Italia trains online.) Once back in Milan we took a cab from the train station to the Holiday Inn Express near the airport where we stayed overnight before our flight back to the States.
My sister N and I had a favolosa vacay to Northern Italy
N and I agreed that it had been a meravigliosa vacay and favolosa way to celebrate her 70th birthday.
Arrivederci — alla prossima,
Judi
