Cinque Terre

From the moment I stepped off the train in Vernazza, I knew I would have to come back with John sometime for a longer stay.  It would be great to have John here, and 1.5 days is not nearly enough time to experience the relaxation and peace that is Cinque Terre.  Even at what for me was a relatively slow pace, I still felt like I was moving in fast forward in a place that should be experienced in slow motion.  Everything about this place says “slow down”.  It is a set of 5 towns, built deeply into the hills along a rugged coast. 

There are tourists, but is it not created for tourists.  The buildings set into the very rock of the coast are the same that have been here for hundreds of years.  The tiny paths filled with many stairs between all of the buildings are from a time before cars.  A train comes through, but they have purposely kept major roads away and the towns are car free.  There is a path where you can walk from town to town, with more and more amazing views at every turn. 

For lunch, I stopped at a restaurant with an amazing view overlooking the towns, that had an advertised “tourist menu.”  These are meals of multiple courses, all of which are typical for the region, that are selected together so you don’t have to pick, for a single price - sometimes a scam, sometimes a good deal.  This one had pesto lasagna, insalta mixta, and a word I did not recognize, all for the price of the lasagna plus the salad, so I said heck, I’ll go for it.  The lasagna was awesome.  For the second course, they brought the salad and the other thing, which turned out to be a plate full of tiny fried fish.  If I had known that was what is was, I never would have ordered it. But, I had ordered it, and so I figured, I may as well try it.  Turns out, they were actually pretty good, despite me not being a big fan of cooked fish.  Fun to try new things! 

On the way out of that town, I was trying to find the path to the next town, which was not as clearly marked as it could have been.  I asked one family if they knew the way.  Suddenly, two women, about my age, said they were looking for the same path.  Then, a guy spoke up, saying he was looking for the same thing.  So, we all took off together to find the path. 

Once we found the path, we took it together, talking the whole way.  We talked about life, travel, what we all do, philosophy, and more.  Kim, Jaime, Zach and I are all now great friends.  They were absolutely awesome people to run into, from Boston, LA, and Kentucky respectively.  Along the path, Kim and Jaime mention they were looking for a beach.  We see a sign for a free beach (funny, since none of them charge admission).  We walk down a very long and steep path, as we had been way above sea level.  When we get down, we realize that “free beach” meant free of clothing.  There were numerous old Italian men who were very tan EVERYWHERE.  There was also quite a number of other men and women, all in the buff.  When in Rome…  Anyway, we all hung out on the beach for awhile, then continued down the trail.

 

Late afternoon, we split for a couple of hours, but agreed to meet for dinner.  The four of us had a great dinner, talking and laughing the whole time. 
We had gelato on the rocks of the breakwater, and spent a long time dancing to a cheesy band on the main square.  I could not have imagined running into a more fun group of people!  I hope we keep in touch!