Cinque Terra Report

Cinque Terra is not too far from Carrara so it’s not surprising to me that we found doorways, lintels, and doorsteps made from……Carrara marble. Pretty sweet touch. And Cinque Terra? Sure, really nice and quaint – UNESCO treasure and all that but can you say, “Pier 39”? It reminded some of us of Mont St. Michel and other highly regarded tourist beauties.

A prize to somebody who could tell me why these pear stems should be waxed. Are they “Makers Marl” pears or what? Even the melons have it but how come the pears in the next crate didn’t rate the treatment?

Remember elegant European males who carried man-purses? That’s so 20th century. Today the dudes have haversacks like this to carry their gear and hands are free – awesome idea.

Several methods to visit the 5 towns. Duncan and Jessie took the hiking style to connect with towns – we took the sea route on this ferry boat. You load at the dock – gangplank stairway while the Captain keeps the motor pulling hard astern and the boat and gangplank constantly rising and falling with the motion of the ocean. Becky can tell you about those motions while she was inside waiting in line to get off. The boat ride does give you a different perspective from the view from the shore.

Www

So, here’s the 3rd way to get around Cinque Terra. You and hundreds of your newest, closest friends can take the train. And this is midweek before the season starts. I don’t want to think about Cinque Terra in July/August.

Did we eat in Cinque Terra? Without fail – and frequently.Some of us had stuffed anchovy for an appetizer, some of us had pasta with anchovy fillets – don’t think of anchovies packed in oil – these guys came straight from the boat that morning – some of us were contented with plain old pesto – and MANY of us finished off the afternoon with magic elixir-in-a-cup. We ran into a critical issue as soon as we got to our cabin in Viareggio – no filters for the coffee maker. And then started the great quest – “You got any coffee filters for sale here?” And a universal shrug, “No, dude – why don’t you drink espresso like other decent humans?” We finally tracked down a box and will now keep them under lock and key.