Italian Riviera

Lugging suitcases in the rain to the station, Oh Boy! Lugging suitcases up and down stairs in the station to the right platform… serious insult to all the muscle groups!

We had a 1-hour reprieve from baggage handling during the trip from Nice to Ventimiglia

before a repeat performance of the luggage/stairs ordeal.

There was no shortage of storage space from Ventimiglia to Milano until …. let’s just call him Stinky….. Stinky joined us in our cabin. He struggled in with his oversized case and his equally overwhelming body odor. The one redeeming factor was that he hadn’t collided his BO with an obnoxious cologne as some of the Europeans seem to do. That’s messed up!

Milano to La Spezia….uneventful but arriving at dusk and in a torrential downpour = not too pleasant. Thankfully, our hotel was only 50 metres from the station. Just as the reviews insisted, it was not a noisy night.

Winston thought we should maximize the few remaining hours of the evening and “quickly bus out to Porto Venere”. Assuming the Italian bus system operated as the French system, we jumped on the bus and tried to buy tickets from the driver. Our 1 euro per person immediately jumped to 4 euros per person given the fines….one way! Apparently, tickets can only be purchased from a tobacco shop and validated on the bus! Who knew…. go figure? An hour later, we are told we’ve arrived in Porto Venere. We jump off the bus…. a wee little man drags us to a kiosk and gets us return tickets. After looking both directions and seeing a hunking load of nothing, we jump back on the bus for the hour ride to the hotel. Consequently, we turned the tickets into an “L” shape and made WT wear the “Loser” mark slapped on his forehead ~ penance for the most unfun adventure! All was forgiven over a bowl of freshly homemade, spinach/ricotta stuffed raviolis with browned butter! Now we’re talkin’!

Train ticket good for a day and we’re off to Cinque Terre (pronounced Chink-way Tay-reh - and means five lands). We made a new friend over breakfast… April from Melbourne and together we set off on an explore. I could hardly wait. Bruce, whom Winston met on a flight last spring had long since whet my appetite with his writings of visits to far away places including Cinque Terre. Through his eyes, I had been transported… today the sights, smells, tastes and glory would be all my own.

Toting brollies for the drizzle, we set our sights on Riomaggiore, the first village. Brightly coloured homes greeted us as well as a steep incline main street into the town. These lovely hamlets are etched into the cliffs of the Italian Riviera coastline. Though visually similar, each has its own unique difference. In spite of the mist and rain, we were able to capture snippets of splendor although digital vignettes cannot possibly do justice to this other world.

An 8-minute walk along the “easy” path (AKA “the walkway of love” where couples before left locks along the railings or unique places signifying their undying love for each other) yielded fantastic vistas of the Mediterranean and sneak peeks of the town ahead. The azure blue below slapped at the massive slabs of granite and my soul was fed. Next stop = picturesque Manarola. Much the same as Riomaggiore, Manarola just appeared more quaint and stand-out gorgeous. We hopped the train to Vernazza skipping the little town of Corniglia and its 400 steps leading up into the main street. Vernazza has been etched in my mind from paintings created by Cao Yong… a must-have piece one of these days particularly now that it’s become a part of us. Its perfect cove and brightly coloured houses studded into the cliffside just took my breath away and I was lost in time. There really aren’t words descriptive enough.. or rather I’m just limited in my vocabulary to aptly describe the wonder of this area. Winston had to pry my fingers off the railing to leave for the last town Monterosso. This is the largest and more touristy of all the towns and though lovely, seemed unmatched to Vernazza.

We arrived in La Spezia early enough for Winston to give Porto Venere another chance. We were so glad we did. Just around the corner from where the bus had dropped us off the night before, was a beautiful marina village. We camped out at a little coffee shop and basically watched the Italian world go by.

After such a wonderful day, we took April for dinner at cute little Pepe’s restaurant…. where again, the pasta is on-the-spot homemade. Spinach and ricotta raviolis in a light walnut butter sauce had me in heaven for the duration of the meal! I forgot to mention that this Ligurian region is best known for being the “birth place” to pesto and fococcia. Bellies stuffed with awesome goodness and spirits on overload with God’s incredible creation, we slept peacefully and enriched.