Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ahh, the Food (and the Wine) Part 6

The Italian Riviera was so amazing that I needed two posts to fit it all in. On our third day, we took the train a bit south to explore the Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a trail of 5 villages that over look the water. Next to Portofino, Cinque Terre is most often what you see in pictures of Italy on the water.

We took the train to the village the farthest south and then worked our way north.We got off the train in Riomaggiore, the southern-most village.

The trail from Riomaggiore to the next village is called the Via dell' Amore. It is the easiest of the trails.

Here's the trail with its beautiful views.

Before arriving at the next village, you pass the lovers statue. Here you can add a lock to the railing to symbolize your love.



The next village is Manarola....more beautiful views.

We loved the counters at the little markets. All the meats and cheeses and olives were so delicious!

We stopped for pizza and beer while in Manarola. As I have mentioned, this region is where pesto was "invented". This is a pesto pizza. It doesn't look terribly appetizing, but it was goooood.
So good, we ate all but one piece.
We then took the 2nd part of the trail to the third village. Holy Smokes, that kicked our butt. Please notice that we started way down at the bottom of that arrow. Yah, that's right. We arrived at Corniglia and then had to take a bus to the village as it sits at the top of an even higher mountain. It is a very small town and none of my pictures came out.

After that we took the train to the last two villages.

Vernazza was our 4th village. It was my favorite; Beautiful colors and a cute little harbor.

Our last stop was Monterosso. It was very different than the other ones. Much more resorty. After a very busy day, we were pooped. We took the train back to Zoagli and rested up for awhile. The Duke was wandering around that evening and he showed me some of his other houses on his property. What an amazing place!

Before we turned in for the night we headed to dinner at this cute little bar in town. Our last chance for pesto and I didn't waste that opportunity.
Pesto Gnocchi!!!

Spaghetti and Fresh Tomato Sauce!!!

Caprese Salad!!!! Nom, nom, nom.
Next stop...Venice!

10 comments:

  1. I cannot even begin to tell you how jealous I am!

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  2. OMG! Your trip looks incredible. And I have to disagree with you - that pesto pizza looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Since I love pesto anything, it all looks fantastic to me.

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  4. All of this beautiful scenery and yummy food is beginning to blur all together. How come you get to have all the fun?

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  5. Pesto is not really the most photogenic of sauces is it?

    That said I can smell the flavours and am now dying for a pesto pizza and a little 40-room palazzo on the Italian Riviera.

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  6. Your pics are beautiful. How did you plan your trip? How did you know where to go, what towns to go to, where to stay? I would love to go to Italy but have no idea how to plan a trip like that!

    Thanks!

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  7. Oh, wow. This post made me really hungry. And given that it's the middle of the night, I live in suburbia (where everything closes at 9p.m.) and don't know how to make anything remotely resembling anything you've photographed here... I have a serious problem.

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  8. I've always wanted to go to Cinque Terre: you have just reinforced my desire!

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  9. My friend who is getting married this Friday got engaged last summer at the love locks. It was really cool to see your pictures.

    Lisa

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