Cinque Terre

Wednesday, May 29

(Pronounce that "chinque terre")

Today we go down to the Mediterranean coast.  The towns of the Cinque Terre are built on cliffs overlooking the sea, originally fishing villages, but now tourist attractions.  We got up early to catch our first train ride from the Stazione Centrale.  We had bought the tickets the prior evening.

It was raining when we left the hotel after breakfast, taking a taxi to the stazione, but it cleared up a few minutes into the trip.  The train had 6-person cabins, like the trains in the past, and we shared the cabin with three other passengers. We would take the train past the little towns and debark in La Spezia, from which we would take a round-trip train back to the coast. 

We walked through a pedestrian street from the train station to find our hotel.  when we got to the address, there was nobody there.  We had promised ourselves to buy a cellphone chip when we arrived in Milan, but we procrastinated.  And now we needed a phone.  The management of many B&Bs might not be on site at all times, and a phone is needed to alert them that you have arrived.  We walked down the street to a small store and asked the proprietress for the favor of calling the landlord to advise him that we need him.  A few minutes later he showed up and registered us into his establishment.

We ate a picnic of bread, cheese, hard-boiled egg, and tomato waiting for the train.  The train through the Cinque Terre goes through several tunnels, as it skirts the cliffs overlooking he Mediterranean.  Monterossa was our first stop.  As we stood on the terrace overlooking the sea, a couple our age asked if we would like them to take our photo.  Since they were speaking with a Spanish accent, we asked where they were from.  Argentina, they responded, and we mentioned that our son-in-law is Argentinian.  What's his name, they asked.  When we told them, they replied, of course they know his family well; their children went to school together.  After a pleasant conversation, we went our separate ways.

There are paths between and among these 5 villages, all set in a national park.  I had hoped to stroll some of the paths, but excessive rain had closed all of them.  But the town was fun to explore, and it was cool enough so that climbing the hills didn't cause us to break a sweat.  We went to a cafe overlooking the sea while we waited to go to the train station for the next train.

We went next to Riomaggiore, another picturesque village, where we climbed up and down hills and long stairways, appreciating the vistas and the ancient buildings and winding alleys.  Caught the train back to La Spezia, arriving at 5:30, in time to rest for a while at the B&B.  When we finally went our to dinner, we were so tired that we shared a small dish of manicotti at a cafe.

Thursday, May 30

Breakfast was at a little cafe at the corner, after which we collected our baggage and prepared for the trip through Pisa to Siena.  A "regionale" train allows you to ride for up to 6 hours, as long as you are proceeding in the same general direction.  So we bought a ticket to Siena and took off.

We got to Pisa at 11:30 and took a bus to the Piazza di Miracoli, where the Duomo, Battistero, and Campanile are located.  After taking the obligatory photo holding up the tower, we visited the buildings.  (Please read the tour books or history books for details)  The piazza and the town were both impressive and charming.

After a gelato, we bought fixings for lunch and caught the 2:30 train.  We had to change trains in Empoli, but I had miscalculated the 6-hours just enough that we had to buy a new ticket from Empoli to Siena.  We had enough time to eat lunch on the platform, waiting for our connection.

In the meantime, we were taken with the amount of graffiti everywhere.  People have no respect for public property.  Some (apparently German) graffiti writer managed the following: "The train is schitt."  His/her Germanic spelling notwithstanding, the irony was that the on-board restrooms were in fact either out of order or locked.

We got to Siena in the late afternoon, and it took forever to find the bus terminal at the stazione.  The B&B had sent instructions to take the #3 bus to the end of the line and walk a few hundred meters to the hotel.  I thought the ride would be a few minutes; in stead, the bus wound around town, eventually leaving the city and driving through the countryside crossing a few autostrade, and eventually -- 45 minutes later -- reaching the end of the line.  It seemed as if we were at the next village, but a fellow passenger confirmed we were at the Porta Tufi.  We asked her if she would call us a taxi.  The taxi took us up and down a few one-way streets until we arrived at the B&B, practically within sight of the city gate (porta) -- and practically walking distance from the train station (without luggage).  We had made a circle around Siena, since almost no motorized traffic is allowed within the city center.

The hotel, Il Casato, was in a renovated renaissance building as charming as you would hope such an accommodation would be.  The narrow stairway was a challenge, but we settled into our room, with vaulted ceiling, and went out to explore the quaint, historic neighborhood, eventually having dinner at a ristorante surrounded by medieval and renaissance buildings in one of the market squares near the hotel.