Chillin' in the Cinque Terre
Posted by Christina | | Posted On Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 2:57 PM
It’s not surprising that the Cinque Terre would be on the west coast of Italy. Much like the west coast of America, the attitude here is that of your typical laid back beach town full of kids in swimsuits, fun shops and restaurants, and oodles of charm. Far from the hip, fast-paced, smoke-filled lifestyle in Rome, when we arrived in Vernazza (cinque means five, so it’s one of the five towns in the Cinque Terre) it was a breath of fresh, sea-filled air. Our comfort with the beach lifestyle made us feel right at home, and we slipped on our flip flops and shades for an evening of soaking in the sun and surf.
After a much-needed morning sleeping in, we ventured out to the weekly market. If you’ve ever wondered how people in tiny towns get things, we witnessed the Italian version of it. Trucks with everything from produce, eggs, cheese and meat to toiletpaper and laundry detergent rolled into town and set up shop for the locals (mostly cute little old Italian ladies) to buy their wares. Not to be excluded from the fun, Matt and I picked up our own treats for breakfast including some of the most beautifully ripe fruit we’ve tasted and focaccia bread, which is a local specialty. Also not to be outdone by the locals, who all know eachother, I managed to run into a coworker from PSE. Yes, it really is a small world when you can run into a co-worker from a company of only 2,700 employees and you’re a third of the way around the world. We had a good laugh about the crazy coincidence and briefly traded our Europe stories. Matt and I still can’t believe we ran into someone we knew.
With breakfast down, we packed on our hiking gear and psyched ourselves up for the 7 mile trek through the hills of the Cinque Terre. Seven miles in and of itself isn’t too bad, but 7 miles of up and down over steep cliffs and treacherously narrow paths as Germans with walking sticks plow you down is another story. Despite the 4 hours or so of rugged hiking and another 1 hour that was more like walking, not hiking, we were amazed at how far our bodies would take us for the reward of incredible ocean and mountain views, and a chance to visit the other four towns in the Cinque Terre. Even folks at least twice our age were out there hoofing it. Most weren’t American (go figure), but it was impressive seeing the oldies out there keeping pace with us young bucks. Go grannies! I’ll admit, even for being in decent shape, the trail was challenging. If it weren’t for Matt cheering me on and dreams of a big slushy granita when I finished, I might have opted to skip the last leg. But we made it! With tired feet, sore butts and shaky legs, we arrived back in town and headed for the first gelateria we could find and sucked down our victory granitas. I plan to head back for a couple scoops of gelato later tonight. Hey, I deserve it. I walked off my meals for the next two days!
Tomorrow we plan to do what we do best – lay on the beach! We’ll also take in the local festivities for an annual celebration of St. John the Baptist, complete with bonfire and various events. After all, nothing quite says saint of Christianity like raging fires and excuses to party.
Due to a slower than desireable internet connection here in the Cinque Terre, we were unable to upload our photos from today. We'll post them as soon as we're able.
After a much-needed morning sleeping in, we ventured out to the weekly market. If you’ve ever wondered how people in tiny towns get things, we witnessed the Italian version of it. Trucks with everything from produce, eggs, cheese and meat to toiletpaper and laundry detergent rolled into town and set up shop for the locals (mostly cute little old Italian ladies) to buy their wares. Not to be excluded from the fun, Matt and I picked up our own treats for breakfast including some of the most beautifully ripe fruit we’ve tasted and focaccia bread, which is a local specialty. Also not to be outdone by the locals, who all know eachother, I managed to run into a coworker from PSE. Yes, it really is a small world when you can run into a co-worker from a company of only 2,700 employees and you’re a third of the way around the world. We had a good laugh about the crazy coincidence and briefly traded our Europe stories. Matt and I still can’t believe we ran into someone we knew.
With breakfast down, we packed on our hiking gear and psyched ourselves up for the 7 mile trek through the hills of the Cinque Terre. Seven miles in and of itself isn’t too bad, but 7 miles of up and down over steep cliffs and treacherously narrow paths as Germans with walking sticks plow you down is another story. Despite the 4 hours or so of rugged hiking and another 1 hour that was more like walking, not hiking, we were amazed at how far our bodies would take us for the reward of incredible ocean and mountain views, and a chance to visit the other four towns in the Cinque Terre. Even folks at least twice our age were out there hoofing it. Most weren’t American (go figure), but it was impressive seeing the oldies out there keeping pace with us young bucks. Go grannies! I’ll admit, even for being in decent shape, the trail was challenging. If it weren’t for Matt cheering me on and dreams of a big slushy granita when I finished, I might have opted to skip the last leg. But we made it! With tired feet, sore butts and shaky legs, we arrived back in town and headed for the first gelateria we could find and sucked down our victory granitas. I plan to head back for a couple scoops of gelato later tonight. Hey, I deserve it. I walked off my meals for the next two days!
Tomorrow we plan to do what we do best – lay on the beach! We’ll also take in the local festivities for an annual celebration of St. John the Baptist, complete with bonfire and various events. After all, nothing quite says saint of Christianity like raging fires and excuses to party.
Due to a slower than desireable internet connection here in the Cinque Terre, we were unable to upload our photos from today. We'll post them as soon as we're able.
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