Bonjourno!
We are just back in Prague for 2 nights after a week in Italy. Mum and I set off on Monday afternoon for the Cinque Terre, while Jase headed to Switzerland for work. We flew to Milan, and then caught a bus to Milano Centrale (the main train station), and then caught a train which took us to Levanto, at the gateway to the Cinque Terre (pronounced chink kwi terra - with a rolled 'r'). We based ourselves in Levanto, and tackled the walk from there.
The end of May/start of June is the perfect time to walk the Cinque Terre. The weather is still warm (12 degree low, and up to 25 degrees during the day), and the crowds are fewer. I can't imagine doing the walk with the crowds of July and August. There would be so much waiting on the narrow tracks, and to fit on the trains would be near impossible! As it was, Mum got shouldered out of the way getting onto both a train and a ferry - it is every man for himself over here!!
To walk in the National park, you need a daily walking pass. This pass includes unlimited use of the rail system between the villages also. We opted for a 2 day pass (19 euros), so we would be able to enjoy the walk, rather than racing from village to village. Two of the villages (Corneglia and Vernazza) were badly damaged in the floods of October 2011, and the tracks between these two villages had been destroyed, so we could not walk this section. We also had to take the inland route from Manorola to Corneglia as the coastal track had been damaged and was under repair. Some of the houses in Vernazza looked like the houses tetering on the hill above Sumner after the EQ back home.
On Tuesday we decided to start our walk from Levanto. This section 2hrs-2.5hrs is not part of the Cinque Terre, but the woman in the information centre had recommended we do it and we are so glad we did - amazing views, and we must have been well over 400m above sea level. I actually found the descent into Monterosso (the first village) tougher on the legs than the climb - my legs are not used to long periods of eccentric loading! The first photo above shows the view of Monterosso as we were descending.
As soon as we reached Monterosso, we took our shoes off and waded in the water - it certainly wasn't overly warm - maybe because it gets deep fairly quickly. Not long after arriving on the beach we were greeted by a Thai woman who was very keen to give us a massage. I must have shown some interest because she kept doing her best to persuade me to have one. In the end I thought I may as well give it a go, because my shoulder was pretty sore after the jarring of walking downhill for so long. Bliss! Mum even decided to have one too. Then it was lunch on the beach (photo above) before a cruise around Monterosso village and stage 2 of our walk for the day (Monterosso to Vernazza).
This section of the walk was pretty tough - the climb out of Monterosso was long and steep and made up of rocky stairs. It was pretty hot at Vernazza so I went for a dip in the sea, and then we sunbathed on a rock down by the water's edge - no real sand at this village. We caught the train back to Levanto and dined on calamari and fries - yum!
Day 2 of our walk (Wednesday) started in Levanto with the 10am ferry to the furthest village (Riomaggiore). It was pretty chilly on the ferry as the sun had not yet appeared, but the views were awesome. We both really liked Riomaggiore - a village full of life, and my first coffee of the week! (see photo above - Mum had an English Breakfast tea, and me, my standard Americano - as you can see we were pretty happy about it!).
The walk from Riomaggiore to Manorola is the only flat section of the Cinque Terre - and only about 20mins. It was pretty cool though. We had lunch at Manorola and then tackled the inland route to Corneglia. This was my favourite walk. The views were spectacular. The initial climb was about 30-40mins long and made up of rocky stairs. Mum amused all the Americans with her new bright orange Nike frees (see photo above - they are cool!). The number of older people doing the Cinque Terre absolutely impressed me. It is not an easy walk, and there were people well into their 70's doing it! I think the average age of people walking the track would have easily been in the 50's.
Day 3 was a relaxing day at the beach in Monterosso. We sunbathed and swam and cruised around the village. A nice way to end our time down there.
On Friday we were up with the sparrows as we had to catch the 7am train to Milan and then bus to Malpensa Airport (50mins) where we met Jase. We hired a car and drove up to Domaso on the shores of Lake Como (where the last 5 photos above are taken). Lake Como is beautiful! I had done well with the accommodation this time too (not like my efforts in Liberec last weekend!). The girls running the apartment complex where we stayed were great. Both very tall and very thin and would not let us carry our bags up the stairs, much to Jase's horror! They were pretty heavy, and when he kept insisting he would carry them, they would not have a bar of it!! It was pretty funny, and quite tough to watch them struggle as we walked up empty handed!
I asked them if they knew where George Clooney's house was - next minute they were showing me on a map and writing down the name of his house!! Of course we did go and check it out - and it is a very nice area - although we only saw his gate. It is very private with surveillance cameras surrounding the property - hmmmm I am sure they will have some good footage of Mum and I taking photos and us driving backwards and forwards slowly past about 5 times! Stalkers! I do actually feel bad about it, because it would suck if everyone did this! I am not going to tell anyone where his house is!
The weather on Saturday at the lake was just beautiful. We drove to a village called Menaggio and left our car there for the day. First stop was for coffee on the lakefront, before catching a ferry over to Varenna on the other side of the lake. We had lunch here and walked around the village, and then caught the ferry over to Bellagio (photo above especially for you Dean and Sara!). Bellagio was pretty cool, with nice little boutique shops on small cobbled streets.
Sunday was a wet day, but still nice for a drive around to see the views. We flew back to Prague last night and today have been catching up on all the washing, and even went for my first run in about 7 months (!) while mum went for a walk.
Jase flies back to Swizerland tonight for work, and Mum and I fly to Menorca tomorrow afternoon...
Ciao for now
Jeanette
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