cinque terra

Day 14 was one of my favorites of the entire trip. I was up early and wanted to explore an idea that Michelle had mentioned “wouldn’t it be great to rent a boat and cruise around to the different villages?”. After my morning cash withdrawal and coffee I inquired about boat rentals from the guys in harbor. He had an open bow, 5 person motor boat available for a four hour cruise for 80 Euros plus gas – done!

We left the harbor around 11:30am after grabbing lunch items, swimsuits and cameras for a four hour cruise. There is no motoring in the harbor so the guy who rented us the boat had to row us out. When his partner came to pick him up, he rammed the motor of our boat and put a big gash in the casing! How italian! Anyhow, no harm and we were off cruising South towards Corniglia, Mannarolo and Riomaggiore. These towns were all built high off the water into the cliffs so there was no opportunity to land for wine (poor Michelle). We found a cove past Riomaggiore and pulled in for some swimming and lunch. Afterwards, we headed North past Vernazza to Monterosso and then all the way to Levanto. Levanto seemed like a nice large town with a big beach that was part sand and part gravel. We cruised back in style by punching the gas and doing some ocean donuts – the kids loved it.

One of my favorite moments of the trip was cruising back to Vernazza with one hand on the boat wheel, one hand around Michelle’s shoulders, the kids on the bow bouncing up and down to the waves and Shirey chill-axing in the back seat. Great day.

Another early morning for me for cash and coffee. Michelle came with me and we checked out a cafe I saw the day before called Il Pirata – a Sicilian bakery/cafe with incredible ricotta pastries and smoothies. We made reservations to come for dinner later.

We went to Monterosso and spent the day at the beach there. The beach was made of small, but annoying stones and was hot to the feet. The water was beautifully clear and a wonderful temperature but the people managing the first set of chairs we went to were a pain in the ass. We didn’t get what we wanted, got our money back and went to a different set of chairs which was much more to our liking.

At the end of the day, Michelle and I hiked the ~2 miles or so back to Vernazza along the Cinque Terra trail. It was still very hot and a major climb up stairs to reach altitude. I guess we gained 1,500 – 2,000 feet in a pretty short time (see the pictures). This was the hardest stretch of the trail between the five towns on the coast due to length and vertical climb. However, it was also the most beautiful with incredible vistas, structures and a lemonade stand in the middle run by the grower of the lemons – Fantastic!

Dinner was as Il Pirata and was magnificent in it’s simplicity and flavor. Another winner!

Italy Day 14 – Cruising the Coast of Cinque Terra

Italy Day 13 – A Day in Monterosso