Up and at ‘em! We were on the free shuttle bus out of the port, on our way to explore Cinque Terre, before 9:00. [I know that doesn’t sound very early to many of you, but I prefer to see all four digits lit on my clock before arising…]
After the bus, we got a taxi to the La Spezia Centrale station where we bought a combo ticket [all-day train pass plus Trekking Card for €16 each]. We caught the next train out but it was standing room only for the 10 minutes to the first stop [Riomaggiore], where lots of people got off.
We disembarked at the second stop and took the connecting free shuttle bus up the cliff to the village of Corniglia. [Corniglia is the only Cinque Terre village that isn’t right on the water; it sits on a cliff that the train line burrows through.]
Then we headed out on the Volastra Trail. First stop, at the top of the village, was St. Peter’s Church. I had warned DW the two-hour hike would be steep at first, but I didn’t mention steps [who knew?]. DW (and her right knee) hates steps!!! On we went regardless! [I have to admit the trail was steeper than I expected.] We took a number of breaks. We hiked up the mountain and then across a ridge [where thankfully the trail leveled out]. We passed olive trees, went through vineyards, private property [there was a particularly beautiful view from someone’s back yard], ancient terraces. We just kept following the red/white trail blazes. We spotted anoles darting away from us.
We reached Volastra and visited its church, Nostra Signora della Salute. Fairly simple, as all the Italian churches have been so far. Not nearly so ornate as the Spanish! [Italy didn’t get all that gold from South America.]
We asked directions to the bus stop. Only a 15 minute wait and off we went on the free shuttle dropping us down in Manarola in 10 minutes.
We walked back up the hill to visit the Church of St. Lawrence (dating from 1338) before eating lunch in Cappun Magru. I had ravioli and DW ham/cheese focaccia. I also got a three-course tasting of wines from Cinque Terre; the wines were very good and the descriptions of them added a lot. [We just picked the place because it looked nice, but checking later I discovered it is considered the best restaurant in Manarola. And thankfully it’s not listed in Rick Steves…]
We strolled along the main street [Via Discovolo] down to Piazza Capellini and then onto the harbor. The streets were lined with boats. A crane is needed to lower/raise these small work boats into/out of the sea.
We had heard that the Cinque Terre villages are overrun with tourists, but our experience was varied. Neither Corniglia nor Volastra were crowded [maybe because we got to Corniglia early and you have to hike to get to Volastra] Manarola was crowded, but not as bad as Florence had been in 2011. But on the hiking trails, once you go above the paved part of town you are pretty much on your own.
We considered taking the train further on to Vernazza, but we still had the walk through La Spezia back to the ship so we decided to head there directly [so we could get back to the Venchi gelato bar sooner!]
We got seats on the train back to La Spezia where we did our own walking tour, starting at the Garibaldi Fountain, passing Santa Maria del Assunta, riding the free elevator to Castello di San Giorgio, and wrapping it up in the very modern Cathedral of Christ the King. 137 steps to climb to reach it! Europe doesn’t seem to worry about catering to the disabled. No ramps, elevators…
All in all a very satisfying day, with the full flavor of Cinque Terre.
Back on board around 4 pm, we headed to the Venchi on 7 and found some different flavors of gelato. Yes!
Tonight was formal night, but very few women were in long dresses and some people were still in jeans…
Dinner was very good. I had a Twice-baked blue cheese soufflé and the ‘Blackened Angus filet steak’ [much better than the ‘everyday’ menu cut, despite the strange name – I assume they meant ‘Black Angus tm’]. DW had a Williams salad (mixed greens with fruit and walnuts) and Gratinated monkfish medallion (with mussels and bouillabaisse sauce). We both enjoyed the special dessert: Crêpes suzettes [which had been poaching all evening at the entrance, perfuming the dining room with that lovely butter smell!] Delicious!
We went to the show Simply the Best, a tribute to Tina Turner. Unfortunately, the two women directly behind us thought it was karaoke night and started singing. “Don’t give up your day jobs, girls!” [I left; since they were enjoying the show more than I was anyway, what was the point of ruining their evening too?]
One thing in these countries is that no one is shy about hanging their wet laundry out their windows to dry.
Jazzbeaux Mediterranean Cruise 9-2019 