Off to Cinque Terre......
This morning we left about 10am for another long drive in the hills, and another made even longer by the lack of signage!!!! This time we were ready for the signs too late and the changes of the route numbers, but no problems at all with that! They had plenty of signs all the way! BUT....we didn't account for the road closures!!! First one was after travelling down a very winding narrow road for about 8 km we suddenly come to a road block... No prior warning...because they are felling some trees. No other way out of there so back we go up the winding road. Then on the way home the same thing happened at a bridge closure...get to the bridge and it is chiuso (closed). Consult the map to find another bridge, as we have to cross the river to get where we are going! The nearest bridge is miles away back in the direction we have come from! And then one more time... The road was closed with no warning when almost home! Back and find another road and cross our fingers that we can get home eventually! Which we finally did at 10.30pm!!!! So, Italia, can you please think about putting a warning of "strada chiuso" a few km before you actually get there!!!
We again took the scenic roads to La Spezia and Cinque Terre. And they were spectacular! The scenery was just beautiful; mountains, hills, forests and all so green. La Spezia is a large port city and quite industrial. But just beyond the hills you find Cinque Terre, with the amazing five villages clinging to the cliff tops. Surrounded by terraced vineyards on the hills behind and the sea to the front. Amazing sight! There was a lot of damage done to the area in floods of October 2011, and they are still working on the walking tracks and some roads in.
We drove to the first village, Riomaggiore, where we found that to park your car there was about an hours wait! You can park there and then take a train or boat to the other villages, but to waste an hour in the car waiting for a car park when we were only there for the day was going to be a bit pointless. We were told that we could try the next village for a car park, which we did. So we went to the little village of Manarola, where we found a carpark quite easily. It was still quite a walk down into the village. Very touristy village though, with heaps of shops and people everywhere. The houses are all very brightly coloured and clinging to the cliff top. There are huge rocks at the bottom of the village where it meets the ocean, including one where a few boys were jumping into the sea. A lot of people were also swimming there but near the village it really wasn't so clean, so don't think I would be jumping in there! Further out it looked quite clean though.
We then went on to the fourth village which we really loved. Vernazza....very quaint and has a little harbour with fishing boats. A lot more laid back feel to it there. And not nearly as busy. Also, a lot of the original village was made of stone. We wandered around with a gelato...very relaxing!
The fifth village, Monterosso, is not accessible by car. Apparently it is the busiest as it is the only one with a beach. You can only reach it by boat or train. We did not have time to see them all in one afternoon. So we also missed seeing Corniglia, but had heard that Vernazza was the best. Then again everyone sees things differently and have differing opinions and favourites.
We then started on our journey home, which was on another much easier (straighter) road. And as I had already mentioned the road dramas continued. So we arrived home after more than 12 hours and rather tired, but well worth the drive!