Train strike on the Cinque Terre

Our hotel served a nice breakfast.  Cornetti and other baked goods, all possible hot beverages, yogurt, cereal, and even eggs, soft-, medium- or hard-boiled.

We're hearing the church bells ringing throughout the day here, starting at about 7:30.

Our plan today was to do some hiking on the trails connecting the Cinque Terre.  Our host at the hotel said there might be a train strike though.  He had heard that the regional train was on strike from 9:00 p.m. last night until 9:00 p.m. tonight.  They're making a statement, but they don't want to inconvenience people for too long.  Unfortunately, since we only have one full day here, it changes our plans.

Mark, Becky and John headed out on the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza, said to be the most difficult of the trails between the villages.

Hikers Marco, Giovanni and Becky on the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza 

Flood damage along the trail

The view of Vernazza from the trail

Another view of Vernazza, from farther up the hill

The rest of us decided to take the boat over to meet them.  For 4 euros each we had a short ride, on calm seas, and got a view of Vernazza from the water.  The weather today is overcast, and a little rainy.

Seeing Vernazza like the pirates saw it

Vernazza from the boat dock

The non-hikers wandered through the streets of Vernazza up to the top of town.  Rick and I had previously stayed in a room rented from the two Sicilian brothers who own Il Pirata restaurant.  We wanted to see what had happened to our building in the horrible flood of 2011.  The building was still standing, but obviously condemned.  Very sad.

Our B&B, after the flash flood of 2011

We sent a scout to meet the hikers down at the waterfront and they walked up to Il Pirata to have a beverage too.  They said the hike had been somewhat difficult, but not too bad, and the trail wasn't crowded.

We all had a snack at Il Pirata, and some of us tried the cannoli, which is their specialty.  It was very good, indeed.

Famous cannoli at Il Pirata in Vernazza

The whole group took the boat back to Monterosso, and we had a nice Sunday lunch at Ciak.  We could see the cooks through an open window as we walked by on the street, and it looked like a great place.

We ordered 3 servings of spaghetti with seafood and 3 servings of risotto with seafood to share, and the waiter nicely portioned and served each dish to all 8 of us.

Today is Palm Sunday.   We saw people walking by with olive branches.  We wondered if they call Palm Sunday something else in Italy?

The afternoon was spent shopping in our little town,  the train strike putting a damper on further exploration of the coast.  The weather wasn't that great, so a boat ride down the coast didn't entice us.

We all walked up the road, to the new part of Monterosso, and up to the edge of town.  The statue of Poseidon, on the edge of the cliff, was imposing, although it seems to be crumbling away.

Statue of Poseidon on the edge of the cliff in Monterosso

We checked out the menu at Miky, one of the nicest places in town, and decided it might be a bit pricey. On the way back through town we had drinks on the terrace at the Cantina di Miky, which is run by Miky's son Manuel.  It seemed like a great option for our last dinner together.

Dinner was great.  One of the specialties of this area is the fresh anchovies, and we've tried them a few different ways - marinated in lemon, or preserved with sea salt.  They're nice and fresh here, as is all of the seafood.

  Notice how the spoon is bent to sit on the edge of the glass?

After dinner we walked by the train station and stopped to buy our tickets for tomorrow, when we leave for Milan (Becky and John) and Varenna on Lake Como (the other 6 of us).  We all agreed we'd like a few more days here.

The church bells heralded bedtime.

Leaving Tuscany

We're leaving our villa today, and we're all pretty sad about it.  It was a great house for us, and we've had a wonderful time here.  Our landlady and her husband, Roberto, came by at 8:15 to check us out.  We didn't break more than a wine glass, but that's expected, I guess, since they told us they had extra glasses for just that very situation.  We had used the heat in the house, and knew we'd be charged for it  - one euro per cubic meter.  For the week it added up to almost 100 euros, but was well worth it.

Our hostess gave each couple a hand-painted coffee mug with a picture of our villa, La Scarpellino, on it.  (This is the family's name for the house, which is different from the name that RentVillas uses - Podere della Fraternita.)  We'll treasure this little memento of our visit.

We were on the road by 8:30, and stopped to fill the cars up with gas.  Amazingly, this was the first time we had to buy gas all week.  It cost about 75 euros per car, or nearly $100 to fill each tank.

Our destination was La Spezia, where we'd turn in the cars.  The drive was mostly on the main highways, and we had to pay a few tolls along the way.  We missed the correct exit once, but that didn't slow us down too much.

Our drivers are Emmett and John.  Emmett's always in the lead, since he has Rick, as navigator, riding in his car.  Both drivers did a great job all week.  Emmett would smile and shake his head, after some tricky unexpected turn, when John would be right behind us, impossible to shake.  Emmett was always cool and calm, even when a secondary navigator, in the back seat, would argue with the official navigator (the one with the map!)  The driving was sometimes stressful, but both Emmett and John seemed to enjoy the challenge.  Rick, the navigator, gets high marks for his map skills.

We stopped at an Autogrill before getting to LaSpezia, just to use the nice, clean restrooms.  Autogrills have great food too, and good coffee, of course.

It was time for coffee at the Autogrill

We got to LaSpezia with some time to spare.  The office closed at 12:30 for the day on Saturdays, which added a certain amount of stress for us.   It took quite a while for us to check the cars in.  The guys had tried to top off the gas at the station down the street, but they couldn't figure out how to get their credit cards to work.   I remember this being a problem on a past trip too - our American credit card wouldn't work in the gas pump.  And there was no attendant, so no way to get gas.

While some of us were in the office checking the cars in, the others had popped open a beer and were enjoying it in the alley next to the office.  Thirst is a terrible thing!

Baggage and beverages.  Sometimes that's the only way.

We finally got everything sorted, and the agent called two taxis for us.  We were catching the train to the Cinque Terre town of Monterosso al Mare.  The Europcar office was far from the train station, which meant we really had to take a cab - an extra expense it would have been nice to avoid.

The train ride along the coast afforded us some nice views of the water, but there are a few long tunnels too. We reached Monterosso in good shape, and set out to find our hotel, Locanda il Maestrale.  I directed the group, lugging all of our bags, in the wrong direction, even though Rick and I had been here before!  We finally asked a local gentleman if he knew where our hotel was, and he pointed in the opposite direction. Arghh!  We hailed a cab to take our luggage, and a few of our people, up to the hotel, and the rest would go on foot.

The old part of Monterosso.  Still some piles of sand and silt from the flash floods of 2011.

The Locanda il Maestrale is a charming, small B&B - only 6 rooms - on the second floor of a building in the old part of town.  A great covered terrace overlooked the cobblestone street below.

Enjoying a drink on the terrace with our host, Giovanni

Giovanni and his wife Stefania welcomed us, and showed us to our rooms.  Two of the rooms were actually suites, with the bedroom in a loft overlooking a sitting area and the bathroom.  We would have used these rooms for happy hour if not for the great terrace, which was available throughout our stay.   Coffee, tea and fresh-squeezed orange juice were always available on the terrace for us, and the proprietors provided wine and beer glasses for us to use with beverages we brought in ourselves.  Coffee was also available earlier than the breakfast in the morning, which was unique in our hotel stays on this trip.

 The sun is shining in Monterosso as we have a late lunch at the Belvedere

Travel days are more tiring, and we all enjoyed some time on the terrace.  There might have even been a nap or two taken before dinner by some, and a hike taken by others.  We're a diverse group!

Giovanni and Il Padrino testing the waters in the Mediterranean

We had a great recommendation for dinner from our hosts.  L'ancora della Tortuga (no website, but you can find them on tripadvisor.com) was built into the side of a rock cliff on the waterfront.  It was too cool to sit outside, but the interior was charming, and we had a great dinner.  One nice thing for our group of 8 is that, since it's a bit early in the season, we have managed to get a table anywhere we've tried.

 

Cliffside tables at L'ancora della Tortuga

Wonderful seafood risotto at L'ancora della Tortuga

We walked back down the hill to our hotel under a full moon, enjoying the nice evening, the other people out strolling, and the kids playing ball along the water.

Watching the local kids playing ball down along the waterfront

The lights of  "old" Monterosso as we walked back to town.