Pumpkin Delight: Cinque Terre

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!