Charmelle & I went down to the station and planned to go to La Spezia and then stop at Riomaggiore and then home. However, our train was delayed 40 minutes, so we went to Corniglia, which is the next town up.
I guess I should explain Cinque Terre a little. There are 5 villages along the shore of the Ligurian Sea. The villages are connected via trains and trails. With Charmelle on crutches trains are the best option. Going from north to south the towns go in this order:
Monterosso: A big beach town and very tourist focused.
Vernazza: Slightly smaller town and has lots of shops. Just suffered huge mud slides this spring.
Corniglia: Sits high atop the hill above the train and the water. Great little restaurants and views.
Manarola: The city is build into the hill side and seems to rise up from the sea.
Riomaggiore: The least tourist focused town with murals and a little more of an outdoor focus, kayak and bike rentals, etc.
We were really happy to see there is a shuttle that will take you up the very steep hill to town from the train station. €1 each was worth every penny. I wish they had this in Manarola. It would make Charmelle's life a lot easier.
We had more great views of the sea and the vineyards. Then we wandered up into the narrow alley filled with restaurants and a few shops. What a wonderful day. We made it out to a lookout for a photo op, and then headed back in for lunch. Manarola is between our heads.
We stopped into a little place thinking we would have a starter (appetizer) there, then continue down to another for another course, but we were happy and full after our starter. We had an anchovy medley. They are caught fresh each day and prepared in ways that would make all of us that are used to really salty canned fish rethink them. These were unbelievable. We enjoyed them with fresh bread and Charmelle had an Italian beer.
The doors of Corniglia caught my eye. So for some reason, I started taking pictures of some of them. Here are a few that I just found interesting.
