Riomaggiore — Rio where?
Cinque Terre sounds so Italian
When we were planning the Italian part of our trip, we had to decide whether we go north from Roma to Cinque Terre or south to the Amalfi Coast. Both are equally beautiful, so it was simply geography that helped us decide. We wanted to go to Venice and Cinque Terre was much closer. We weren’t sorry, although the Isle of Capri remains on my bucket list.
Having decided on Cinque Terre, we then had to pick one of the five towns (cinque is five in Italian) from south to north — Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterossa — in which to base ourselves. After much soul-searching, we chose La Baio di Rio in Riomaggiore — an apartment high up on the hill with magnificent views.
Our first day in Riomaggiore
I love saying Riomaggiore in an Italian accent. I think I sound like a native Italian speaker.
We awoke to a lovely breakfast of mushrooms, tomatoes and eggs cooked by Kiryn and Stacey, then off we went to the laundromat. What fun! There were four large 8kg washing machines and huge dryers, only one of which was operational. We had a coffee while we were waiting for the wash to finish, and had the rudest woman in the whole village serve us — if that’s what you could call it! I wouldn’t call it service at all. I am not going…