Liguria ( Cinque Terre )

CINQUE TERRE [ LIGURIA ]

I signed up for the university’s excursion to Cinque Terre which means five lands in Italian. Prior to this excursion, I was contemplating to take a train from Perugia to La Spezia and enroute to Cinque Terre. However, the tourist office in Perugia advised that it would be difficult to find accommodation especially during the peak of the August vacation season.

Cinque Terre is a stretch of coastal area which spans around five small towns which begins with Riomaggiore and ends at Monterosso Al Mare. Hiking is possible but requires great determination due to the various degrees of steep slopes but will be rewarded with breathtaking views. The trains will pass by each of these small towns and one can decide to spend more time in his/her favourite town.

Following the excursion, we took a mini cruise departing from La Spezia, an important naval base. La Spezia resembles a lot like Cannes or Antibes in the French Riviera. With lots of palm trees along the harbour, it excludes a warm tropical feeling. Leaving La Spezia, we spotted some naval ships along the way and began our journey to the more well-known towns in Cinque Terre.



As we passed by Riomaggiore, the first of the five towns, we were overwhelmed by the colourful houses built on steep slopes. Along the way, the view is simply breathtaking and the sea is deep blue which provided contrast to the clear sky.. The steep mountains are dotted with small colourful houses and there were vineyards and olive trees in sight. One can imagine harvesting grapes would be a difficult task. Indeed, grape harvesting is aided by special machinery and human labour is limited.


Along the way, we passed by Portovenere , Port of Venus which is gorgeous too which houses painted in various pastel colours. We were pacified and told that we will get the chance to visit her on our way back.

The sea was rather choppy and most of us felt like throwing up when we finally arrived at Monterosso. During the cruise, we passed by Riomaggiore, Manorola, Corniglia and
Vernazza. My favourite is Vernazza. We were supposed to alight here but due to the strong waves, we have to dock at Monterosso instead.

Monterosso is so packed with swimmers and folks sun tanning. I was with my Czech roommate and we walk further along the beach to search for a tiny space to lay our beach towels. There are ladies cladded with bikinis of various colours. Most of the Italians will bring their beach umbrella and reaching their newspaper ( giornale ) on the beach.

I have a swim in Mar Liguria ( Liguria Sea ) and the experience is unforgettable. The water is extremely salty but definitely nice to soak in the cool water. The beach is layered with black volcanic sands After a good swim, it was nice to get a good tan. However, I think I overdo it and ended up like a red lobster.

After the swim, we were eating prosciutto cotto (ham) sandwich with mozzarella cheese. As I wet my lips, the dried salt on my lips seemed to have added some savoury taste to my panino (sandwich). While we still felt hungry, we entered one pasticerria and were enchanted by the freshly baked foccacia bread. The bread comes with various ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, green and purple olives and tossed with olive oil and fresh herbs. Liguria is also famous for Pesto di Genovese, a pasta sauce made with basil leaves and pine nuts.


On the way back, we dropped by at Portovenere as were promised. We had a scenic
view of Il Golfo dei Poeti ( Gulf of Poets ). There is a grotto ( Grotta Bryon ) where the ragazzi ( Italian boys) were diving into the sea. I felt like I was in Acapulco in Mexico watching them with their brave dives.

I have always wanted to visit Cinque Terre especially after watching Amazing Race
in Singapore. Also the cruise is only available in the summer month which makes it a must for me. I am glad we had forsaken our initial plan to tour Cinque Terre by train. There would be less to see and most of the time, one can only see the beautiful waters of Mare Liquria. There is also a 5 hours trail from the Riomaggiore to Monterosso. We certainly have the willpower to walk the trail but certainly lack the luxury of time.

We reached our apartment at 11pm at night and turned to bed around 12pm. After 4 hours of sleep, we had to embark on another trip to Isola d'Elba (IE) with the university’s excursion.

Sogni d’Oro (Sweet dreams)