Cinque Terre’s Crayon-Coloured Houses

A new box of crayons - freshly opened.  Bright Colours.  Tall sturdy houses that look like a box of crayons.

 

Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre, a colourful jumble of houses perched on a rugged coastline in the Italian Riviera, is composed of five small villages.  The villages are accessible primarily by foot path, bridges, and thousands of stone steps. 

Until the end of the 19^th Century walkways or boat were the only routes into the area.  The national railway now has service to Vernazza, Monterosso and Riomaggiore with a change to a local train required for the other two towns of Manarola and Corniglia. 

Vernazza harbour area

Once you get off the trains there are still innumerable stairs to climb in every direction.  Steps lead to the harbour front.  Steps lead up to the City Hall.  Steps, and bridges, and pathways lead to the other villages.  The walking can be very sweaty, and the pathways very steep.  The payoff is the fabulous ocean view. 

The residents who live in the Cinque Terre are likely very fit with the amount of walking and climbing required.  It’s not a bad way to work off the calories consumed during lunch.

 

Vernazza workers restoring church

We had originally booked a hotel in the heart of Vernazza for our three-night stay in June of 2012, but on October 25^th, 2011 a flash flood devastated the centre of the town, killing nine people.  The flood completely destroyed the hotel along with a number of other businesses, and homes.  Still wanting to visit the area we instead stayed at the very pleasant Hotel Crismar in the nearby city of La Spezia.  

 

La Spezia is an easy commute to the Cinque Terre.  There are the trains that run every 30 minutes, or if you are feeling more adventurous catch one of the passenger ferry boats that leave several times a day.  The boats have drop off areas in all of the towns, except landlocked Corniglia. 

Too rough - boat ride ended in Vernazza

We opted for the boat ride.  The views were unbelievable; terraced hillsides, vineyards, hundreds of stairs climbing up the steep spines of the rocky hills, and a multi-colourful muddle of houses jammed against each other.  The downside to riding on the boat is the surf can occasionally be too rough to land the passengers.  Our captain decided it was too dangerous to stop at either Riomaggiore or Manarola.  We had to off-load at the larger dock at Vernazza.  The boat service then shut down for the remainder of the day.   Ah well, the return portion of the ride is refundable at the dock-side office in La Spezia.   

Vernazza Harbour

While we were on the boat between La Spezia and Vernazza we met a local personality, Bea Newton.  She has published several photographic books, Colours of the World, depicting her varied travels.  Bea chatted with us, filling us in on local lore, gossip, and good places to visit while in the Cinque Terre.  As soon as I spotted one of her books in Monterosso - I bought it.  

The book is stuffed with gorgeous photographs of the Cinque Terre depicting in all four seasons, including an unusually snowy winter day. 

 

Every town in the Cinque Terre has its own personality.  The thirty-minute hike along the pathway between Riomaggiore and Manarola is called the Lover’s Walk.  Back in the day when these villages were isolated the young people walked between towns in search of suitable mates: as in someone not directly related to them.  The pathway is festooned with love-locks, or padlocks, that have been attached by recent visitors to railings and posts as an expression of their undying love.  

Reading amid the construction rubble

We were particularly intrigued with the rebuilding process underway in Vernazza.  The residents are still digging out, reconstructing, and getting on with their lives.  We watched workers heft a heavy wooden statue out of their truck, and slowly crab-walk it back into the church.  A young woman sitting amid the clutter of wheel barrows, fish nets and cement mixers - absentmindedly patted her dog while she enjoyed her book and the morning sunshine.  Temporary doors blocked entrances to buildings under repair.  In all the mess people still had time to chat with one another, discussing the repairs, or other neighbours, or what was being served for lunch. 

Temporary door for house

And for our lunch, we met up with our family members at a well-known restaurant in the historical area of Monterosso.   We stuffed ourselves with crusty breads dipped in deep green olive oil, crispy pan fried fish, freshly made pasta, succulent mussels and tasty local wines. 

Now we really should go for another hike up the stairs, through the alleys and streets of crayon-coloured houses, to wear off the calories.   But in reality, we caught the train back to our hotel in La Spezia for an afternoon nap. 

Cinque Terre with its crayon-coloured doll houses is definitely worth a repeat visit.



Cat, cat-napping in Monterosso!