Scenes from Cinque Terre

I know I’ve said this before, but I think that I have truly just had one of the most amazing weekends of my life!

This Monday, the 25 of April, is a holiday here in Rome, so we had a four day weekend. A group of us decided to take advantage. We went to Cinque Terre, the five lands in English. The Cinque Terre is a string of five small medieval towns along the most beautiful strip of Italian coastline, on the Mediterranean side. The towns are connected by 18 kilometers of sheer craggy cliffs, terraced hills and vineyards sloping to meat the sea. The five little towns were built between the beach and the hills, they slope steeply up the rocky cliffs and at some points teeter precariously over their edges. This area is known as the Italian Riviera.

It was absolutely breathtaking, words cannot do it justice. Picture the most perfectly picturesque, small Italian sea village colored in rich terracotta, vibrant greens and burnt yellows, offset by the glittering blue green of the Mediterranean; now multiply that by 100 or so and that’s how amazing it was.

We took a midnight train out of Rome on Thursday night. We were lucky enough to get our own compartment, so we were able to get some sleep. At one point the compartment lit up as we rode by St. Peter’s dome on a bridge, very beautiful and unexpected. We switched trains, and then, about 4:30 or 5 a.m., arrived in Monterosso al Mare, the first and most northern of the Cinque Terre.

The first thing I saw and heard as soon as I set foot off the train was the sea. I always forget how much I miss it. The salty sea sprayed air smelled like home, just listening to the gurgling and crashing of the water made my heart happy. We walked a ways through town and down to the beach where some locals kept their boats. We wrapped ourselves in the blankets we brought, and slept on the sand.

I’ve never slept outside like that, it was really cold, but I felt surprisingly safe. We got up at about 9 a.m. the next morning. We went to a little café near the train station for breakfast, and washed up a bit in the bathroom there. Then we got started.

I thought that Monterosso had the best beach, light rocky sand, clear bright blue water. The pastel buildings of the town were built practically right up to the sea. This town is the most touristy: cute little shops, cafes, and restaurants. It was a beautiful day, slight breeze, warm sun, wispy clouds.

The first hike from this town to the next (working our way south) was one of the most difficult. The trail winds almost vertically up the cliffs at some points, the trails are hundreds of years old and wind about 500 to 1,000 feet above the sea, through olive groves and vineyards, orchards and chestnut woods. In some places the ledges are really narrow and hang out over the ocean. I loved it. We were all sweaty and sore, but the physical discomfort was over shadowed by the sheer beauty around us.

I stopped and sketched on this little ledge which had this amazing view of Vernazza, the next town. My pack almost fell off the side of the cliff, but I managed to save it.

Vernazza was my favorite town. It was built into the hills where they meet the sea. It was a vibrant collection of colorful buildings built haphazardly along narrow, winding and steep streets. It was like an idealic dream. Walking into town was just as you would picture it: narrow alleyways, steep staircases, laundry flapping from upper story windows and rambling vines. The whole time I felt like I was dreaming, was this actually my life? We got gelato and wandered around a bit before starting the next trail.

The next hike was hard, too. We walked strait up the cliffs, more narrow ledges, and many more stairs. We met a lot of people on the trail, Americans, Italians and people from all over Europe. We talked to everyone, except the Americans, in Italian. This hike was just as beautiful as the first: broad views of the coast, calm beaches, green vines, red flowers, blue skies – perfection.

The next town, Corniglia was built on top of a rocky cliff dropping to the sea; the views from up there were amazing. This town was also an idealic, rambling medieval town. We wandered around a bit, got panini, and then started on the next hike.

The third hike wasn’t really a hike; it was more of a nice walk through the hills. The second half of the trail was closed, so we had to walk back to Cornigilia and take the train to the next town, Manarola, which dates back to the 12th century. This town was also colorful and beautiful, but we really didn’t spend a lot of time there. The path from Manarola to Riomaggiore is called "Via dell' Amore,” roughly “lover’s lane” in English. It was sort of a tunnel, with huge windows, carved out of the sea cliffs. The whole tunnel is a mural, graffitied in love messages, poems and the names of couples, che romantica!

The last town, Riomaggiore, felt bigger to me. It worked its way almost vertically up the cliffs away from the sea. The streets were wide and steep. By this time it was about 8:30 p.m., we watched the sun set over the ocean, and then took the train back to Monterosso.

We ate dinner at this really cool little restaurant built up on stilts over the water, the area is known for its pesto so I got pesto lasagna. Then afterwards we went to a wine bar, I got a glass of Cinque Terre white wine (I have developed quite a taste for white wine in my time here). It was kinda cool to know I was drinking wine from one of the vineyards I had hiked through earlier. We stayed there until they kicked us out at closing.

We walked to where we had slept the night before, and fell asleep on the beach again. But it was so cold; we woke up in the middle of the night, and walked to the train station and slept on the floor there. We got up at 7 a.m. the next day. Went to our café, ate and cleaned up as best we could.

To get back to Roma from Cinque Terre we have to travel through Tuscany, so we decided to stop in Pisa and Florence. We spent an hour in Pisa, saw the tower, took funny pictures, and then jumped back on the train. We got into Florence at about 1 p.m. I really liked Florence; it still feels very medieval. First we hiked up this huge hill to this piazza/park which had an amazing view of the entire city. Then we went on a whirlwind tour of the city.

We walked across the Ponte Vecchio, a famous bridge now covered in jewelry stores; saw some of the famous churches, piazza, fountains, statues and the Duomo. Florence isn’t as big as Roma, but there is a lot to it. The whole city feels like it was built in stone. You can feel the reminders of the medieval and Rennissance.Secrets, stories, memories, and history lurked in every corner and hid in every shadow.

We ate dinner at this really good restaurant called La Spalda (the sword), and then got drinks in a small bar called the Art Bar. I got a very good, very strong mojito.

Then we walked to the train station. We thought that we could take a train at 1 or 2 a.m., but the next train wasn’t until 5:30 a.m., so we spent another night on a train station floor, until they closed and kicked us out. So we slept outside of the train station. Good times.

Once we finally got on our train, we couldn’t get a seat so we had to sit on the floor. We got back into Roma at about 8:30 a.m., so dirty, so tired, and so happy. Roma was a madhouse. It was Sunday morning, and the day of the Pope’s inaugural mass. So everyone and their mom had come to the city from all over Italy and Europe for it. It took forever to get home. I had to take three different metros home; it was so crowded. I got home and took a much needed shower.

It was too late to get a spot in St. Peter’s square, so we watched it live on CNN, which was kinda funny because it was happening just a block or two away. We could hear the church bells ringing all over the city.

The scene in the Square was a familiar one by now, jam packed and peppered with flags from all over the world. The atmosphere seemed to be one of hope and possibility for the future. The day felt fresh, perfectly sunny, at least while the mass was taking place. The weather seemed to reflect the feelings of newness and hope surrounding this new papal administration.

The crowd broke into applause several times throughout the service, which is an Italian sign of respect and admiration. The crowd seemed to be pleased with the messages presented by the new pope. It was a new day, and a new chapter in church history. I felt happy, and satisfied, pleased and overwhelmed with my adventure, but happy to be back in Rome, my mood fueled by the good mood permeating throughout the city.