Cinque Terre

We weren’t sure whether we wanted to go to the Cinque Terre. Sounds crazy, right? Who wouldn’t want to visit that string of five gorgeous, little villages clinging like jewels to the cliffs of the Ligurian coast?

It had been more than a decade since we were last there; a time before the world had gone completely mad for the Cinque Terre.

These days are different. Friends had told us how crowded the villages were this year. We’d seen the length of the queue at the special ‘Cinque Terre’ window at La Spezia train station. And on the news, pictures showing masses of people funnelling out of Vernazza station into the village’s narrow streets. Did we want to get involved in all that? Apparently we did.

With a plan to go with the flow and take what comes, we headed off on the lunchtime ferry from Porto Venere. We did, indeed, find plenty of people, but it wasn’t as crowded as we’d anticipated and, in the end, we were very pleased to have re-visited this beautiful part of the world.

Riomaggiore is the first, or southern-most, of the five villages

This is Manarola; the Cinque Terre villages are famous for their colourful houses surrounded by steep, vine-covered slopes and tiny, sheltered harbours

On hot summer days like this one, there are hundreds of boats on the water

And thousands of people in and beside it

Probably the best-known Cinque Terre village, Vernazza - pretty from the water and spectacular when viewed from the walking trail above

On the ferry arriving into Vernazza - it's a scene of tranquil beauty

But a little to the left it's a slightly different picture; crowds of people waiting for the ferry

Vernazza harbour

Colourful umbrellas - from below

And above

The brightly-coloured umbrellas contrast with the faded beauty of the houses

These villages might be hugely popular with visitors

But for their residents, daily life goes on

Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore - the Cinque Terre

But these aren't the only villages along this coast

If you lived here, it wouldn't be an easy thing to slip out and pick up the milk

Monterosso, at the northern end of the Cinque Terre

Where we stayed for a few days on our last visit

It was fun to wander around and remember things we'd done here

Of course Monterosso has changed but it's still lovely

 

 

This little bar had been our go-to aperitivo place - now it's almost hidden by the shop next door

And the other side of the tiny piazza where locals would gather in the evenings, catching up on the news of the day; it looks a bit different now

We wandered around Monterosso's little streets looking for a restaurant we'd loved

And there it was

Ristorante al Carugio, still serving great food; fortunately some things don't change

In this part of the world it's all about the anchovies - delicious!

When we mentioned we'd last eaten here a decade ago, the owner came out to chat - 'You see I am so much older now', she said, 'it's time for me to retire!'

Fortunately, she hasn't yet; it seems that in the Cinque Terre the more things change, the more they stay the same - and that's lucky for all of us