Cinque Terre bound today! Holly and I left at the crack of dawn from our hotel and headed to Milan Centrale to catch the train to La Spezia. The train ride was about 3 hours and as we approached the coastal area, it got prettier and prettier. The train went from the top of the 5 villages to the bottom. In order they were Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Riomaggiore, and Manarola.
From La Spezia we took a bus to our hotel. Navigating public transport in a new country is always a fun adventure. We had to buy physical paper tickets from the newsstand as they don't accept cards onboard. We checked with the bus driver numerous times just to make sure we were heading the right direction.
Our little B&B was called La Pergola and it was tucked away in the hills of La Spezia. It was a pretty cute place in what felt like the countryside. So far most places have been a walkable distance but this was for sure a good 30 minute bus ride through the country. Did I mention navigating public transport was always a fun adventure? As we caught the bus going back to La Spezia Centrale, we realized it was actually going to Sarzana in which we then had to take the train to La Spezia Centrale and then transfer.
Today, we visited the two lowest villages Riomaggiore and Manarola. Riomaggiore was our first taste of the picturesque villages. The houses were each painted a different pastel color and were so beautiful! We walked to the marina for the best view of the sloping hillside. On the water there are tons of boats and people swimming in the water down below. The water was so a pretty turquoise color and Holly and I both wished we could jump in. We were both hungry by the time we arrived so we stopped and got takeaway focaccia that we ate as we admired the view.
The main thing to do in Cinque Terre is admire the views of the hillside but in Riomaggiore there was also the ruins of a castle situated on the top of a hill. We climbed step after step to what felt like one of the highest points in Riomaggiore to the Castello Riomaggiore. All that remains of the castle now is a big tower that has been converted to a museum. We went inside and learnt all about the Cinque Terre economy and how the entire terraced structure of the city is actually man-made. Stone walls were created to terrace a hillside for the growing of grapes which was a big part of Cinque Terre economy.
The steps here were huge- almost 18 inches and it took some serious effort to climb them! We were joking about how Holly definitely had it worse since her legs are much shorter. We wandered the streets for a little more until we decided to move on to the next village. There is a walk between Riomaggiore and Manarola called Lovers Walk, however, a landslide has led to its closure for years. Therefore we hopped on the train for about 8 minutes until Manarola.
Manarola was so charming! I thought it offered even prettier views than Riomaggiore. We started by walking up to the top of the city and making our way down from there. On our way up, we passed by Nessun Dorma wine bar and decided it would be amazing if we could dine at the famous Nessun Dorma which offers the best dining views of the town. We put our names on the online wait-list and we're no. 245 in line!
I am obsessed with Manarola. The views are absolutely perfect and we wandered from viewpoint from viewpoint seeking to capture the perfect photo of the hillside. The town was significantly more crowded than Riomaggiore but had a very lovely vibe. There were many restaurants and we stopped at a little shop selling gelato for some homemade lemon Manarola flavored gelato! It was so refreshing.
We walked around for hours simply admiring the scenery and getting over the fact that we were really here. We were in Cinque Terre!!! We sat for what felt like a pretty long time just catching up after so long looking out at the sun glittering off the ocean beneath us.
For dinner we ended up getting reservations at Nessun Dorma. The restaurant is named after Puccini's famous aria Nessun Dorma from Tosca and I could hear it playing in my head the whole time. Rather than the traditional pasta and pizza, Nessun Dorma specializes in bruschetta and cheese and meat platters. On their website they even say "yes we don't serve pasta or pizza" since they strive to be different. We ordered a large platter of bruschetta, gruyere cheese, salad, bread, and vegetarian quiche. I got a piña colada with my meal as well. The restaurant has the absolute best views in the whole city. We didn't get seats right by the window but it was so magical to be able to look out and see the Cinque Terre. Dinner was absolutely perfect with a romantic charm to it. I was filled with so much happiness and felt truly relaxed sipping on my drink and eating bites from the charcuterie board.
Getting home was not as perfect as we got stressed about missing our connecting bus from La Spezia Centrale and ended up leaving our meal early. We got to La Spezia in time for the last bus but it never showed up so we took a taxi instead. As we were in the taxi we saw the bus and literally ran. Although, the bus driver then told us he was finished and with a cone of shame on our head we went back to the taxi driver to ask him to take us back to La Pergola.
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