Cinque Terre
Monday we headed to Cinque Terre which is a Unesco world heritage site. Five villages on the coast of the Liguran sea. Amazing. We took the train there which is awesome. I think the train from Massa to Cinque Terre and the train through the villages cost me something crazy cheap like seven euro. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, the whole thing was great. And we stopped in La Spezia to transfer trains. So we took a walk and Ale took some pictures:
We got to Cinque Terre and went to the first town which was Riomaggiore. Ale's father told us that we should take the walk that's there...a beautiful path on the sea. We did walk a little bit of it which was absolutely beautiful.
Ale walked up these tiny stairs on this very high ledge to take this picture of me. A kid that was about eight years old ran past him almost knocked him right off. And people wonder why I hate children. Kids these days just have no manners. ;)
I also almost had a near death experienced when I leaned on a wooden guard rail over the rocks and it gave way almost taking me with it. Oops. Good thing Ale was there. He told me that was typically Italian and now I know to be more careful. That still amuses me somehow. I think at one point he called me a child, because I require so much attention. He's right. haha. Being a stupid tourist is so much fun...
Next stop was Corniglia and we had to climb an absolute mountain of stairs to get there. It was quite amusing to listen to Ale whine the entire way and then compliment me because I was enjoying myself sans complaining. To be fair, how often does that happen? Still, I was in Italy. If I have to climb a few stairs...so what? That being said, I consider that an accomplishment.
Proof:
Corniliga was wonderful because we sat in the square on a bench with a bunch of the locals and Ale started talking with them. He gave me bits and pieces of the conversation...how they hate the tourists and where to get cheap food. They told Ale that if we buy anything that I can't purchase it because as soon as they find out I'm not Italian they will charge me more. We tested this wisdom twice. When we bought paninis we were charged 5 euro for two and it probably would have been something closer to eight euro had I done it myself. The best test came when I wanted to buy a postcard from a stand outside a shop that said 1.50 euros each. Ale said to me, give me the money I'll go in and pay. Two minutes later he came out and said it cost him 80 cents! He said "all I did was ask, 'Can I pay for this here?' and she said 'Sure, 80 cents!'" Isn't that crazy? People really hate tourists. Haha!
Vernazza was absolutely, hands down my favourite of the Cinque Terre. It's gorgeous and they have a beautiful town square. The buildings are wonderful...and there were people going about their business, having coffee, hanging laundry, and of course lots of tourists...but it wasn't overwhelming. We walked around the town and of course, had coffee. I think by this time Ale was up to three lattes per day. I used to tease him about how many times per day he has coffee. We went into a coffee bar called "The Blue Marlin" with interesting art in frames all over the walls. It was really neat. Sort of bohemian I guess you could say. It was great...I loved sitting and observing people, tourists, locals...there was so much vitality there...it was so different. Or maybe in Toronto we just experience vitality differently...I don't know. For some reason I felt as though my life was literally and figuratively in vivid colour, more so than usual at least. Maybe it was because I was just so happy to be there.
Ale took some great pictures while we were in Vernazza:
There was a pot in the middle of the street that Ale noticed full of vegetables and fruits, so we took pictures of them
It was quite a day. It's funny, after the meal at his grandparents, we didn't eat at all the next day until probably four in the afternoon. I remember him saying something about after eating at his grandmother's you don't need to eat again for a week...It was a good day though.
We also saw Monterosso which is the last town in the chain. I put my camera away because of the rain though, so I don't think I have any pictures. Anyway, it doesn't compare to Vernazza...There's more to be said about crazy Canadian tourists in Vernazza besides myself, but that's for the next day...
We got to Cinque Terre and went to the first town which was Riomaggiore. Ale's father told us that we should take the walk that's there...a beautiful path on the sea. We did walk a little bit of it which was absolutely beautiful.
Ale walked up these tiny stairs on this very high ledge to take this picture of me. A kid that was about eight years old ran past him almost knocked him right off. And people wonder why I hate children. Kids these days just have no manners. ;)
I also almost had a near death experienced when I leaned on a wooden guard rail over the rocks and it gave way almost taking me with it. Oops. Good thing Ale was there. He told me that was typically Italian and now I know to be more careful. That still amuses me somehow. I think at one point he called me a child, because I require so much attention. He's right. haha. Being a stupid tourist is so much fun...
Next stop was Corniglia and we had to climb an absolute mountain of stairs to get there. It was quite amusing to listen to Ale whine the entire way and then compliment me because I was enjoying myself sans complaining. To be fair, how often does that happen? Still, I was in Italy. If I have to climb a few stairs...so what? That being said, I consider that an accomplishment.
Proof:
Corniliga was wonderful because we sat in the square on a bench with a bunch of the locals and Ale started talking with them. He gave me bits and pieces of the conversation...how they hate the tourists and where to get cheap food. They told Ale that if we buy anything that I can't purchase it because as soon as they find out I'm not Italian they will charge me more. We tested this wisdom twice. When we bought paninis we were charged 5 euro for two and it probably would have been something closer to eight euro had I done it myself. The best test came when I wanted to buy a postcard from a stand outside a shop that said 1.50 euros each. Ale said to me, give me the money I'll go in and pay. Two minutes later he came out and said it cost him 80 cents! He said "all I did was ask, 'Can I pay for this here?' and she said 'Sure, 80 cents!'" Isn't that crazy? People really hate tourists. Haha!
Vernazza was absolutely, hands down my favourite of the Cinque Terre. It's gorgeous and they have a beautiful town square. The buildings are wonderful...and there were people going about their business, having coffee, hanging laundry, and of course lots of tourists...but it wasn't overwhelming. We walked around the town and of course, had coffee. I think by this time Ale was up to three lattes per day. I used to tease him about how many times per day he has coffee. We went into a coffee bar called "The Blue Marlin" with interesting art in frames all over the walls. It was really neat. Sort of bohemian I guess you could say. It was great...I loved sitting and observing people, tourists, locals...there was so much vitality there...it was so different. Or maybe in Toronto we just experience vitality differently...I don't know. For some reason I felt as though my life was literally and figuratively in vivid colour, more so than usual at least. Maybe it was because I was just so happy to be there.
Ale took some great pictures while we were in Vernazza:
There was a pot in the middle of the street that Ale noticed full of vegetables and fruits, so we took pictures of them
It was quite a day. It's funny, after the meal at his grandparents, we didn't eat at all the next day until probably four in the afternoon. I remember him saying something about after eating at his grandmother's you don't need to eat again for a week...It was a good day though.
We also saw Monterosso which is the last town in the chain. I put my camera away because of the rain though, so I don't think I have any pictures. Anyway, it doesn't compare to Vernazza...There's more to be said about crazy Canadian tourists in Vernazza besides myself, but that's for the next day...