Discovering the Cinque Terre
Trip Start
Apr 22, 2012
1
9
10
Trip End
May 04, 2012
Monterosso, Italian Riviera, Italy
Monday, April 30, 2012
A gorgeous spread of fresh salamis, hams, breads, eggs and blood orange juice, is really enjoyed.
We are feeling a bit happier as Andrew had to reboot his phone and then gets a SMS from the hotel in Switzerland saying they have his wallet and they will post it home. We were just at the stage of calling the bank to cancel the cards, so the timing was perfect. Drew had been carrying cash in his shirt pockets, rather than have a wallet in his back pocket and risk it being pickpocketed, hence why he hadn't noticed that he no longer had it.
We now have a spring in our step and hop on the train to explore the 5 towns of the area.
First stop is Vernazza, which was badly damaged and still not recovered from the floods. It used to have a pretty fishing port but this area is now filled with all the rubble that washed through the town. All the shops and Cafes are still gutted. We visit the church which wasn't damaged due to it being up high.
The locals do their shopping from the back of a van for things like loo paper and other essentials.
Next town we head to is Corniglia and we have a choice to climb the 365 stairs or take the shuttle to reach the village. The shuttle wins.
The rain has started and we wander through the lanes and then head back to take the shuttle to the station so we can explore Manarola. Now the rain is bucketing down and there are umbrellas and soggy tourists everywhere.
We decide that we should find somewhere to get out of the rain and eat but it looks like everyone has the exact same idea.
We eventually find a restaurant with great ocean views, so after waiting for 20 minutes for a table, we are seated and decide to make the most of it and settle down and taste our way through the courses, which keeps us from having to leave and face the rain again.
*a caprese salad - fresh mozzarella & ripe tomatoes. Then I have the tastiest ravioli with walnut sauce. Drew has a spaghetti bolognaise.
Then some grilled prawns and I have beef dish with lemon sauce, which was just ok. Deserts were Tiramisu @ chocolate cake. Poor effort for the Tiramisu as it was that vanilla pudding mix and a soggy coffee biscuit down the bottom - boo to you.
*at least we had a fun waiter and it kept us dry for a bit but we will be skipping dinner tonight I am sure (well maybe a pizza to share)
We take a walk around as the rain has finally stopped and we are amazed by this village, as it is perched high on the cliff face. Totally unbelievable and stunning.
We have one town left to explore but decide to see Riomaggiore tomorrow, so we hop on a packed train. Trying to find seats, I spot a group of four towards the end of the carriage. When we goto sit down we noticed a large backpack on one of the seats and the other 3 seats have scrap sheets of paper on them. The train starts to pull out of the station and there isn't anyone that belongs to the bag, so I move the papers off two of the seats and wonder in this day and age, who in their right mind would leave a bag unattended, one as it could be a bomb and two it could be stolen.
About 10 minutes and 1 station later, a ticket inspector comes up to us an starts yelling at us. It's obviously her bag and she put the papers there so no one would sit near her friggin bag. She is carrying on in Italian and we tell her "We speak English" and she then manages to yell that we are uneducated, to which we give her a mouthful back as she marches off. how on earth on a busy train can she expect us to be mind readers and know that the scrap paper was a reserved seat? Why did she not put her bag on the luggage rack? We decide that Italian ticket inspectors are wanna be mafia or think their crappy little uniform gives them some power (get over yourselves and stop picking on tourists).
We decide that when we get off at the next station that we will pick up her paperwork and stomp on it on the wet muddy floor but before we get a chance, two Japanese girls board and we toss the paperwork in a pile for them to sit down and motion for them to move the bag as we don't know whose it is. So the girls toss it on the floor and I give it a kick. We hop off and I just hope Attila doesn't come back and lay into these two girls for moving her bag.
Comments
Oh the devastation, poor people, looks beautiful though
"We hop off and I just hope Attila doesn't come back..." - I actually cackled out loud when I read that.