We just got back from a wonderful Easter holiday in in the Cinque Terre (Five Lands) region of Italy – man it was great: lots of hiking, good weather, great food and scenery.
We stayed in Vernazza (thanks to Rick Steves and my friend Mauro who helped line up the apartment for a very good price) and it made a beautiful base for the week.
I love the architecture and lifestyle in places like these — all the houses leaning drunkenly on one another with small passageways connecting them to the main thoroughfares, the open piazzas where everyone congregates at sunset to enjoy a drink and let the kids play… it is all on such a human scale.
I know this part of Italy is a protected area that limits automobile access and so forth, but as an American it is obvious to me we’ve lost something important in our towns and cities once you visit places like these. Most places in the US are too overrun with cars or restrictive zoning laws to let spaces/towns like these Italian towns happen. And it isn’t just the US – England is choking on cars as well. It just ruins the places.
BTW this isn’t a new lament – Alexander and many others say it much better than I ever will — but when you come here, it is tangible.
Favorite parts:
Susan: the sunsets in the piazzas
Malcolm: the ‘pistole’ (gun) that some kid gave him in the playground in Monterosso 
me: the hiking and scenery, with food a very close second!
Stuff that worked out well:
- Renting an apartment in the village (rather than a hotel etc): Much better price than a hotel. You can easily cook some of your own meals using great local ingredients.
- Flying into Genoa: Easy from CPH, then take Volabus #100 to Genoa Brignole station (3 EUR) then check trenitalia for train schedules – you’ll need to switch in Levanto or Sestri Levante to the regional train for the five towns. Ask @ the ticket counter.
- Day-trip to Porto Venere and the ‘Gulf of Poets’ (like Byron) – lovely.
- Food: Like water to a man lost in the desert after 1.5 years in Denmark (sorry Danes – you just do not live in a ‘foodie place’). Hard to go wrong here. Even the cheap stuff was fresh and bursting with flavor. I never liked anchovies until this trip.
- Timing: The hordes descend like termites on the region a couple of days before Easter (when the public holidays begin across Europe). It was reasonably uncrowded up to that point, but if you are here at the wrong time, the crowds could become irritating. Earlier or later in the season is better.
- Malcolm was great! He hiked the entire length of coastal trails with us (without a single complaint), played nicely (mostly) with Italian kids in the playground, and charmed adults, although by trip’s end he was inexplicably introducing himself as ‘Cowboy Harold’, which inspired Michaele at Ristorante Al Carugio to create a sketch of him:
(album – Cinque Terre highlights)
(all the snaps – link. sorry there are so many, couldn’t help myself)
