La Spezia, Italy……Corniglia to Vernazza hike & then train to Monterossa

September 17th, 2022

La Spezia is our base for four nights as we will be exploring the Cinque Terre…the flat is a 16-minute walk from the apartment to the La Spezia train station and a minute or three more on the way back, which is uphill. La Spezia is a bit gritty, a port city with a major Italian Navy presence. Our flat is on the 5th floor but with an elevator, it is in a local area and we certainly get a sense of how folks live here. The bonus is free parking. Our host is quite pleasant and accommodated us with an early check-in…..it is a 2 bedroom unit done up in a funky art deco style…bed is comfy, has lots of hot water, and is well equipped all is good…

 

We intend to have supper at a local Osteria but when we get there it is eerily quiet, hmm, not good, even though we checked online their website has obviously “lied”… we wander around for a bit but there is nothing open. Finally, we notice a small resto (Il Fumeto) and pop in asking if they are open. They certainly are and we quickly get a table & menu…tables are set, but we are the only ones there…taking note of the decor, our dulled minds realize that we are in a birthday party resto…sure enough in about 5 minutes kids and parents start streaming in, just what we were looking forward to >>> DEFINITELY not a tourist place. We ask for 2 glasses of wine but you can only get a bottle (oh well) in any event our pizzas arrive posthaste both are quite good and the wine soothes our nerves….in fact, it is a fun experience to be “flies on the wall’ to watch the antics of parents and kids…as an aside 2 pizzas and a bottle of wine come to 29 euros…

 

 

September 18th, 2022

We are up bright and early after an excellent night’s sleep, our game plan is simple: head to the train station and buy a 2-day Cinque Terre pass (unlimited train travel + hiking pass = 59 euros for us both), head for Corniglia (one of the 5 Cinque Terre villages) and hike to Vernazza. The ticketing agent is pleasant and efficient giving us the senior rate without even asking for any proof of age, haha! The train is on the platform and departs precisely at 08:15. Arriving in Corniglia there is a shuttle bus which takes us to the village which is in the hills (the only non-seaside village). Our walk begins in lovely sunshine and a pleasant 21C…it is rated as a moderately difficult hike about 1.5 hours (lots of up and down) but super pleasant as while not totally alone, there are long stretches where we are by ourselves…super!!

…looking back at Corniglia…

…another village high in the hills above us …

We walk through groves of olive trees, clamber up and down rock stairs, check out the site-specific machinery and enjoy the vistas…

…they even have hammocks in place, actually used to “catch” the olives, beats harvesting them by hand …

…maybe no hammocks for the tourists, but a place to rest up a bit and have a beverage…

The trail starts having more people on it all the more reason to get on the trail asap before all the “tourists” arrive but we are almost in Vernazza …the setting of this village is true to all the hype:

 

Quite a few steps to get down to sea level and as we enter the village throngs of tourists meet us…it is a very cute town in pastel hues, lots of B&B’s, etc. these folks must have been solidly hurt during the pandemic.

Folks are hungry and the cooks are hard at work…

…no easy way to get boats in and out of the water…

We now head for the train station and zip off to Monterossa another wonderful setting with a seaside resort feel to it…and a great promenade to take in the sights…

Lots of tourists and for the first time we hear North American voices, the pandemic seems to have been set aside here, although on the train we are admonished to wear a mask or face fines…most of the tourists ignore the warning and we have yet to see a conductor. In any event, we head back to La Spezia ….it has been another great day!!