Cinque Terra

The Cinque Terre are five coastal villages in the province of La Spezia in the Liguria region of Italy. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all encapsulated in a national park by the same name.

We stayed in the town of Vernazza which is the second town in the line of five (from West to East). Our hotel was run by the best restaurant in the town so we headed there first to collect our keys. We were directed up the back streets of the town as we climbed to our rooms located above and behind the main square.

The weather was good that evening but the waves assaulting the town’s walls were mighty. I have never seen such huge waves dwarfing sea walls and flying over to crash into the bay and carry on to the main square! The locals were milling around in a safe place enjoying the show. I spotted a little alcove which was close to the action. From this alcove we could watch the waves literally fly past the opening that we were standing in!

Of course we flirted with the waves by jumping out of the alcove and jumping back in just before they crashed down on us. How old are we? Without the risk of understatement - let’s just say that we were all stunned when a massive torrent came in sideways and completely flooded the alcove. Here we were - drunk and now very wet standing in the sea water - you could hear the local’s laughter echoing round the square! We had no choice but to erupt in laughter as well. Running out of the alcove I noticed Gummy laughing at me (He had somehow evaded the wave) - I was laughing so hard that I had no way to warn him that a huge wave was about to break behind him. He also ended up soaked through. We moved back to the safe distance that the locals had chosen and enjoyed a few bottles of wine while watching the ferocious sea continue its spastic little dance.

We were greeted the next morning by fine rays of sunshine bursting through what remained of the clouds and illuminating the terracotta colours of the town. With views like this it’s not hard to see why this place is so popular. Our planned walk today would take us first to the village of Corniglia - we climbed the never ending steps to walk high above the village and along the cliffs. This leg was the most challenging of the day and would take us about 1.5 hours. With Titch 6 months pregnant we had to take it easy and make sure her heart rate did not climb to high.

The next two legs taking us through Manarola and Riomaggiore were a lot easier and just as stunning. We enjoyed the sea views and consumed some ice cream (gelato) before heading back to our town for a siesta before regrouping for dinner. We had not booked anywhere so in the end we were forced to pair off and see what we could get (as no restaurant would take 10 people). Titch and I got lucky as we managed to get the last two seats in the best restaurant in town.

The next day we woke up to find an overcast day - we met up for breakfast and I was surprised to see Gummy in just a jumper and no jacket. After a lot of convincing Gummy finally relented and went back for his jacket. Good thing too because 5 minutes into the walk the storm hit us. It started as a slight drizzle and ended up as a constant fall. Not torrential but over a period of time you got very wet. This track is the hardest of the walks and it never ceased to amaze me to see steps disappearing into the distance when ever you turned a corner.

We were very wet by the time we arrived at Monterosso - Frankie found us a very nice restaurant which specialised in vegetarian food. We attempted to dry out over lunch and then we headed to a pub to watch Man United v Liverpool and Chelsea v Arsenal - the falling rain helped to justify our decision to watch football. I guess the less said about the results the better...

After the football we had to quickly get to our base town to meet up with the non-football watchers for our pre booked dinner. We enjoyed a fantastic meal and then headed to the bar up the road where we stayed till closing. The next morning Titch and I headed off alone to Pisa while the other guys heading to Lucas instead.

Pisa isn't the greatest city in the world although the leaning tower is quite fantastic to look at (if you can ignore the huge crowds and street hawkers). We found a really nice restaurant to eat in before finally heading back to the airport to meet up with the others and head home.

Fantastic little trip which seemed longer than it was. It was also the last flight Titch and I will make before the birth of our little baby girl!

Jeepers! Not long now!

Check out the photos here...