Well, the travel gods decided to take a day off. Our trip today was by train from Milan to one of the villages of the Cinque Terre. We our departure from Milan was delayed. We knew we had a very short transfer time in the main station in Genoa, but because we were late arriving we missed our train to the second station in Genoa. It’s pretty confusing figuring out what to do. The announcements are all in Italian. If there were announcements in English you can’t hear them because of all the noise in these very busy train stations. And the worst part for us was all the steep stairs going down and up when transferring from one platform to another. There were no escalators and we couldn’t always find an elevator. We definitely need to learn a better way to pack and have luggage that is easier to carry. It was overwhelming, anxiety-producing, and exhausting. We finally managed to get on a train going in the right direction, but it didn’t stop at our little village, so we had to go to La Spezia and get on a local train coming back, which we did.
The Cinque Terre is primarily 5 picturesque villages along the Ligurian Sea which is an arm of the Mediterranean, and the coastline is often called the Italian Riviera. Each of the 5 main villages cling to the cliff side and 4 of the 5 have small harbors. The village we picked is Corniglia, the middle village, and it is the one without a harbor. I thought being centrally located would be good. The challenging thing is that Corniglia is perched atop the cliff and so getting up to it is difficult if you walk. However, there is a small bus that will take you up. Tourists get packed into it like sardines because there are a lot of tourists. You could walk up the 382 switchback staircase, called the Lardadina, which of course, we skipped. Getting from the train platform to the road where the bus was located was up a steep set of stairs. Fortunately, a very nice young couple offered to help carry our suitcases up, for which we were profoundly thankful for. We must have looked just like we felt, two exhausted old ladies having difficulty carrying our luggage.
We messaged our Airbnb host, who came to meet us at a little square in the lower village. She arrived and walked us to our Airbnb, which thankfully was nearby. But, more stairs up to the apartment. Finally, after a long travel day, we were in our Corniglia apartment, and it was wonderful. The host, Donatella, spoke nearly no English, and she went to great length showing us everything in the apartment and then drawing on a map and explaining how we should make the most of our time in Cinque Terre. Every sentence ended in, “okay?” and I kept saying okay. I got the gist of what she was saying because if you listened very closely, within a sentence there was an English word. She was very enthusiastic and welcoming.
After a nap and some unpacking, we went to a market just around the corner to get some supplies. We then decided to do a little exploring of the village. It was so much fun to turn a corner, go down a narrow little street, and end up at a place with drop gorgeous sea views.
After walking around for a bit, we stopped in a cafe just below our balcony for a drink. As I said in a message to our daughter Eve, Christine is Aperol Spritzing her way through Europe.
So, after a frustrating morning and early afternoon of transit dilemmas, we ended up in a cozy, comfortable Airbnb with a wonderful view. We are happy campers! Here’s what we saw this evening from our balcony.
Absolutely marvellous view ! You both look so happy (once settled)…and Christine’s fabulous blue hat makes me just a little envious.
Hi William! That blue hat is the person locator. I can keep an eye on the hat and know where Christine is at all times.