Cinque Terre Madness…

A few hundred years ago the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre were uninhabitable… because Pirates.

The villagers couldn’t live near the sea, it seems, because pirates were endlessly cruising the Italian coast pillaging, plundering, rifling, and looting, in search of wine and olive oil I’d guess.

Which obviously is a shame not only because getting pillaged sucks but also because this area of Italy has some drop dead gorgeous seaside real estate.

Now, quite inhabitable, the Cinque Terre is a small collection of five seaside villages. (‘cinque’ is Italian for five, ‘terre’ for lands) The villages dot the coastline of the Italian Riveria (imaging the boot shaped Italy, the riveria is where the top of the laces would be!) The villages are spaced maybe about a mile or two apart and are connected by a nice network of rocky and challenging hiking trails. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site so you know it’s some quality stuff.

The towns themselves are smallish and quite charming. They are protected from any development which helps to keep the charm locked in time. Any improvements, new building or home renovations fall under the purview of a local ‘commissioner of good taste’. We’re not exactly sure what the commissioner does but they are seemingly some kind of stuffy code official, in charge of making sure all the houses are painted the four same pastel colors.

We rented a quirky Airbnb in one of the five villages, Vernazza. (Quirky meaning there wasn’t a single wine glass in the whole house, hmmm… in Italy?)

Anyway, we used Vernazza for a homebase to explore the countryside and other four villages.

The villages in order from North to South are: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, (silent G) Manarola and Riomaggiore.

Vernazza has a natural harbor and a pleasant waterfront expanse for lounging and watching a local wedding plus there is also a decnet swimming area. We like it because it’s where Lidia and I spent a few nights on our visit to Italy in 2015 when we celebrated Lidia turning 40. (Without kids that time)

Anyway, as a family we were also digging Vernazza. You may be still wondering why the title of this post is ‘Cinque Terre Madness’

The only downside to Vernazza and the rest of the villages is that it’s super busy… Crowded like Disney World. Ferries and Trains are dumping people out into the villages all day long. Most of the villages have one Main Street. They are lined with shops, restaurants, gelato stands and knicknack and straw hat vendors. You have to visit early in the day or late in the day when the madness subsides a bit.

Still, even when the towns are jammed and seem a bit tacky it’s a fun place to be. You just have to know where to find a quiet corner. And, as is the case with many touristy places, you only need to venture one or two blocks off the main drag to find a place where locals shop or eat.

We cooked most nights in our Airbnb and I wanted to find some fish… So i started asking around and learned that there was a fish shop one block off the main drag that sold fish to all the local restaurants… The boys and were told to go there at 6pm when they open for the evening. We knocked and a man came to the door, we mimed ‘we want to buy some fish’ so he called his wife down and she asked if we wanted a grande or piccolo sea bass. She showed me a huge fish and we settled on the piccolo. In Italian with a few gestures she asked if i wanted it cleaned. Si si si ! I replied. Anyway, the fish was delicious, even the boys thought so. We went back again two nights later.

One night we at at this cute little restaurant near our place right next to the only parking lot at the top of the town. It’s owned and operated by twin brothers, Massimo and Gianluca. Massimo runs the front of the house and is a total charmer/character. We met him in 2015 when we visited. His brother is the chef. Massimo claims to have the best food in town because if the view from your place is a parking lot the food has to be good… It’s the highest Tripadvisor rated place in town we had talked about taking the boys here for months. It was a fun dinner!

As I mentioned the hiking in the Cinque Terre is great! Stunning seaside trails wind along the coast. They are rugged but well maintained and a bit crowded if you get a late start.

We hiked one day from Vernazza to Corniglia. Lidia wanted to hike on to the next village Manarola but Elliot and I were tired and we knew that the hike was pretty tough. Jonah seemed up to the challenge so he and Lidia continued on to the next town. It’s like another 3 miles with a very long downhill descent at the end. Long like 80 flights of stairs downhill. Hundreds upon hundreds of steps of rocks placed to into the hillside to get you down. My legs are shaking just thinking about it. Anyway, Jonah is proving on this trip to be quite a hiker. He enjoys it doesn’t complain and is always hiking ahead!

A few random pics from our time in the CT…

The view of Vernazza from the old lookout.

The endless stairs!

Not sure what this sign is trying to prevent? No homemaking?

One night the boys challenged some kids to foosball along the waterfront. (They got beat)