Italy - Cinque Terre

My cousin suggested I not go here. “Too crowded with too many tourists.” “There are too many better places.” “People only go there because of Rick Steves.” You know what, she’s absofuckinglutely right. And you MUST go. You have to go. You may find better places. You may be snobby about coastal villages. But it doesn’t matter, these are some of the best towns you will ever experience. I’m not saying they are the best, and I’m definitely not suggesting that you should stay there for a week. But man, you have got to see this place. It’s one of those unusual places on earth that does not actually disappoint. It’s cool.

The closest town, Riomaggiore is about an 8 minute train ride (2 euros) from La Spezia. It’s possibly the easiest transportation system I’ve ever seen in a remote, or seemingly remote area. The trains stop literally in each town, and they come all the time. It was remarkably simple and convenient and cheap (not that we ever had our tickets checked anyhow, not once…on 6 or 7 rides in the area). Riomaggiore is sick by the way. Easily the sickest from an architectural standpoint. Way steeper and overbuilt (like in a cool, how the hell did you do that sort of way) than the other towns. We had an amazing lunch overlooking a cliff after walking all around the area. Perfectly quaint.

Our favorite was the farthest town, Montorroso. The architectural style is the same throughout the cinque terre, but this town is much more of a beach town. It has a long promenade of shops with patios right on the street, looking over onto the beach. This stretch goes on for quite a while and then you end up going under a bridge and then into the old town portion, which is cool as well. Hilly of course (you can’t get away from that) but lots of style and pretty straightforward retail area wise. We sat along the beach and had an amazing lunch with plenty of wine (after searching forever for an ATM because nobody took credit and the major bank in Italy wouldn’t take our debit cards! But we found a different bank in this town and it worked). This was also a great town for buying souvenir type shit. By the way, this place had some of the best “people” watching I saw on this trip. And by “people”, I mean very toned women in very small cloth like items that are meant to resemble bathing suits. I would add though, that this area seemed particularly young. Younger than the other towns visitor wise.

We also went to the Vernazza on the way back. It’s the smallest of all of them but still very nice. They have one of the best beach side rocky lounging areas that you’re ever going to get. They built like a jetty and tidal wall out into the sea and you can walk and swim all around it. Perfect for a nice lunch or a bottle of wine. They also had some cool restaurants built into sea walls and stuff.

Notes to self:

-I would stay in any of these towns for a few nights…

-Our first visit we stayed in La Spezia (separate post) and took the day train around. I would say a hotel in the actual area is far far better, but holy shit those stairs…at least stay once :)

The First Riomaggiore - Aug 2019

Well first of all they are not kidding when they talk about these stairs. They are no joke. Like even a fit person would be like holy shit. My parents did it. We wife did it with our 30 pound kid strapped to her back. You can do it, I promise. But isn’t a more important question arising? The question is, do you really want to?

The answer is no, you do not.

Of course you get a great view, but there are other views, there are easier views.

In this particular case you have to get to the Riomaggiore train station, then you’ve gotta walk through the tunnel to the start of Riomaggiore, then you’ve gotta walk down the stairs to the marina, then you gotta walk up the stairs to the marina, then you gotta walk down the hill, then you gotta walk up the hill towards the ferry, then you gotta climb 4 flights of the steepest stairs as were humanly possible to create.

God help you if you didn’t use the luggage porter. God help you my friend.

So there you have it. Every day in and out, up and down, and in and out. So you can do it, but why would you do that to yourself.

Obviously I did it to myself so here you go.

The place is modern, and you don’t find much of that in old Italian coastal villages. It had all the amenities and it was a one bedroom with a loft so the separate living spaces were nice (the bedroom has a door etc).

You get nice touches and a rad balcony looking at the town and the ocean, top notch out there for sure (cept for the Germans I had to yell at. You spray me with water again and I’m going to sprachen all of your deutches!) I guess if we are nit picking the balcony could of been bigger and much more private, but things are so stacked up here I’m not sure that’s possible.

Anyway, why didn’t they put a couch in the room you ask? Outrageous design fail is why. They went with a giant unnecessary table and chairs to make it extra uncomfortable. And only having one bathroom was also a drag.

Anyway, I liked it, but I will have to see it again in another life cause I ain’t going back!