on to cinque terre

we left genoa early saturday morning, not realizing we would be part of the great migration to part of the "italian riviera"...we sat across from a german family with papa, mama, and boy with his snail hand puppets...they were excited to be escaping the gloom of springtime germany...

we reached riomaggiore, the eastern most city of the cinque terre...we were met by mama maristella who drove us up to la baia di rio, a b&b rated high by tripadvisor...we had the marco polo room with its view of "downtown" riomaggiore and the "beach"...we settled in and decided to head to vernazza and lunch...

we had lunch at trattoria sandro...i ordered spaghetti pomodoro e basilico...it is amazing how simple yet delicious the italian concept of spaghetti is...we then walked down to the beach where the tourists were basking in the sun...the beach was protected by a groin which we walked to get a better view of the city...

from vernazza, we headed to manarola and dinner...we were being followed by a student group with approximately 40 kids and 7 chaperones...god bless them for the courage to travel together...we walked around the town and then headed to aristide upon recommendation our hostess at la baia...we walked up to the local piazza where the kids were wheeling on bikes and skateboards while the oldsters watched and talked...the open-air restaurant was a perfect setting for dinner...i started with spaghetti vongole, scallopini ai limoni, and tiramisu...eventually i learned to cut my meals to two selections...

we decided not to walk back to riomaggiore and caught the train back, deciding to walk via dell'amore on sunday...

the local parish church was up the path from our b&b so i went in search of mass, hearing the pealing bells; however, mass was at an inconvenient time...we passed the municipal mural about life and the sacrifices of the workers of the town, a mural painted by argentinian silvio benedetto...after breakfast in the marco polo room, we went in search of via dell'amore, the easiest walk of the trail connecting the five towns of cinque terre...we paid our entry fee and started the leisurely walk to manarola...

it was an easy walk and we were quickly overcrowded with a group heading toward riomaggiore...lovers making this walk leave padlocks with their names inscribed in paint, magic marker, engravings, and then locked on ropes or chains along the walk...the theme of the walk with resting places along the way is the great homeric epic the odyssey...the first resting place heading away from riomaggiore is penelope...even though the title has become synonymous with long travels, a subtheme of the epic is penelope's steadfast love...

once in manarola, we caught the train to monterosso to see the "big" city of cinque terre...or, as a kid yelled as we were de-training, "miami, yeah"...it has a marvelous beach with cabanas, umbrellas, and lots of sunbathers...we stopped for a drink and then headed for gigante at the end of the beachwalk...

we had lunch at cantina di miki where i had a slice of pizza and a local beer...i wanted to try one of those sweet italian wines so i ordered straciatella which was served with a cookie...a good digestif...

we headed back to riomaggiore and did the climb back up to the b&b...didn't think i'd be doing any more walking for the day but we headed down to the town of riomaggiore...after a walk around and checking out all the trattorias and cucinas, we decided to order takeout pizzas, a respite from all the evenings of pasta dining...we got the pizza from a couple who works the summer season from 7 in the morning to 9 at night, home to la spezia, and then back 7 days a week...the gal who ran the pizzeria with her husband has adopted the street "urchins" and feeds them left over pizza...several pictures attest to this on the pizzeria's wall...and, of course, it was margarita pizza, thin crusted and yummy...we bought a red wine to go with our meal...

tomorrow we're off to bologna and the reason we came to northern italy...the food basket of italy....