The Five Lands

We left Innsbruck on Saturday morning destined for what I was anticipating to be one of the best parts of our trip…Cinque Terre, Italy. Cinque Terre literally means “five lands” in Italian, and is so called because this coastal region is made up of five small towns linked together by hiking and walking trails…and lots of good ol’ Italian charm. We arrived in La Spezia, where we were hoping to park our car and then take the short train ride in to the southernmost town of Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore, to find a B&B. All the books I read, and people I talked to, said that this would be quite easy in April, since the busy season for Cinque Terre doesn’t really start until June. Well…they didn’t know about the Italian National holiday that was in full-swing by the time we reached La Spezia. For about the next 3 hours, we frantically called hotel after hotel trying to find a place to stay…in broken Italian (good thing I brushed up a bit on the ride from Austria!). Every time, the answer was “sorry, we’re full.” We tried places in La Spezia, Pisa, Genova, Levanto, and all over Cinque Terre. FINALLY, I called a guy in a town about 20 km away who spoke NO English at all but had two available rooms. So we started our drive to Castlenuovo Magra and arrived at what turned out to be another not-so-fantastic hotel. Upon seeing the rooms (basically in the basement of this place, looking out into the alleyway) we were not so sure about staying there. Explaining this to the owner led us to our first experience with the well-known Italian “pouty-face” which pretty much suckered us into taking us the rooms. It wasn’t the ideal place, but hey, it was a bed and a bathroom. Plus, it was late and we really couldn’t afford to be looking all over the place (again) for rooms. The only saving grace was that the hotel was just down the mountain from a gorgeous castle town. So we drove up there as the sun was setting, giving us a breathtaking view of the Italian countryside. We ate at a quaint little restaurant in the village, then headed back to our dungeon…I mean hotel.

Having had to give up on the Cinque Terre dream of waking up on the ocean in a cute B&B, we decided to make the best of the situation and set out early for Riomaggiore. Surprisingly, the crowds had dwindled from the day before and we were able to find a parking spot not far from town. It didn’t take long to forget about the trials of the day before. Cinque Terre is absolutely stunning. We walked into Riomaggiore, then set out on the walking trail headed for the next town up, Manarola. These very small towns are precariously built on the cliffs by the sea, with buildings that are colorful and piled on top of each other. Everywhere you go, there are windows open with clothes hanging out to dry, and the vivacious sounds of the Italian language streaming out of them. Vineyards and olive trees cling to vertical hills, leaving you to wonder how they are even tended and harvested. Church bells ring in every town and the smells of bread, olive oil and pizza abound…adding to the charm of these beautiful lands. After a quick stop for our first Italian ice cream (or gelato) we continued on by way of a more rugged hike to the next town, Corniglia.

In Corniglia, we stopped for a quick lunch and decided to try our feet at some serious mountain trails. Just how serious they would be (or how far) we didn’t realize at the time. Four hours, 6 miles and 2,000 feet up/2000 feet down later we arrived at our car…out of breath, numb from the waist down and completely drained. But it was all worth it! The views that this crazy hike offered us were second to none. And being able to get off the beaten path to escape the hub-bub below, was a real treat. Today, however, we’re paying for that 

After our adventure, we decided to head on to Tuscany a day earlier than our original plan. The hotel we had booked for two nights there had availability for a third night so we jumped on it (given our previous two experiences in room-hunting!). Unfortunately, strike number two for the GPS guy occurred on the way to the hotel (as we looked for a supermarket). It’s still too fresh to talk about it…maybe tomorrow. But alas, we are here in Tuscany in the midst of Cypress trees and vineyards. Our hotel is lovely and gives a great breakfast. And now we’re going to head to the Sea for a day of resting our legs at the beach! Ciao!