Cinque Terre Revisited

Top view of Vernazza

We are, as you can see, devoted to the SIL. Visiting Cinque Terre in the middle of winter, can you believe it? When we left the house it was -4ºC. I really expected the worst on our way there and guess what? They were not joking in my old Geography textbooks when they blabbed about maritime climates and how they never get too hot or cold. Nearly 10ºC it was at La Spezia when we arrived and at some point during our trek between the villages I nearly stripped down to my push-up bra. In the middle of winter.

The Ladies in Hub's Family

We parked at La Spezia on this trip. Not easy finding parking near the train station but if you managed it, you can park for 0,76 cents an hour. The train to the Cinque Terre comes through more or less every hour and you can buy the tourist tickets in the station itself. We paid more than 40 euros for 4 adults and 3 children and some may be interested in knowing that unlike on our last trip last summer, nobody controlled our tickets in the National Park area on this trip. Maybe nobody works between Christmas and the New Year, maybe they just don't work during winter.

If you need the WC or a quick bite, there's a McDonalds and Chef Express in the train station and the sandwiches looked quite good in the latter.

We took the train to Coniglia. At the train station, you would want to take the shuttle bus that brings you up to the village on top. The trek to the next village Vernazza starts from there. It usually takes about 1,5 to 2 hours and be prepared to work the thighs during this trek. There are parts of the trek that just keep going uphill. The Babies walked really well, in fact Baby Boy led the way most of the time, making me pretty nervous as there are stretches of the path that plunge down into the sea from the side - if you are not careful.

Coniglia-Vernazza

Room with a view

Vernazza

We lunched at the Gambero Rosso in Vernazza. Michelin didn't recommend any restaurants in the region. But I think Le Guide du Routard mentioned this one. In any case it looked pretty good from the outside and we didn't want to eat pizza or Foccacia so it had to do.

Gambero Rosso

The cover charge was 3 euros pax. Pasta dishes 10-15 euros and mains 15-21 euros. I had Spaghetti ai frutti di mare to start and had to send it back because the pasta wasn't cooked enough! I like pasta al dente but not cooked? But the guy had good service sense, later on he would offer us a bottle of white wine to make up for it. The house wine was good, by the way. In the region, the different vineyards usually send their small harvests to the cooperative that will then make the wine for everyone.

Grilled Catch of the Day

The adults all had the Mixed Grill of the day. Una Dorada, one scampi and one prawn per portion. This restaurant I must say is good but expensive.

After lunch we had ice cream in our favourite gelateria just in front of the marina. Then we visited the church and it was really quite charming with stone walls and a wooden ceiling. And we noticed that there were rooms to rent everywhere in the village - but no hotel which explained why we couldn't find any on the Net.

Lover's Path Manarola-Riomaggiore

Sunset

Took the train to Manarola and walked to Riomaggiore, watching the sun set along the way. A truly lovely day. Felice Anno Nuovo!