Tag: cinque terre

I’m not sure we understand how radiators work. That’s how all the apartments we’ve been in so far have heated themselves and in Manarola it was cold. We twisted the little knobs on them, but they also only come on at random times and it never seemed to be at night and they never seemed to get hot enough. The bathroom was across the apartment, so if you had to relieve yourself in the night you had to decide whether you thought you could hold it or if you wanted to turn your feet into popsicles on the tile floor.

Beren didn’t sleep great because he was so cold, but in the morning getting some fresh pastries gave us all the energy and warmth we needed. We ventured out after breakfast and wound our way up the hill to the church in Manarola we had yet to see. As we walked, we saw the town getting up and get ready for the crowds. It was strange to see how much different the town was between 10:00-4:00 when everyone comes flowing off the train and out of the tunnel.

We made it to the church at the top of the village. The view was glorious and bright looking over the rooftops in the morning sun. All around the village on the steep slopes, terraces were cut into the hills and were dotted with vineyards and lemon groves. There’s a trail that climbs up onto the hills and circles the village through the vineyards starting right behind the church. We took this trail and it was incredible and sometimes treacherous, with Silas tripping and falling once much too near the edge.

It’s hard to describe the beauty that was before us. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. With the sea shining, the multi-colored town below, and the old weathered stone terraces and staircases winding through the verdant hills, it was Eden-esque. I could have stayed up there for hours, but we promised the boys the playground one last time.

For lunch, the boys were in a decent mood, so we decided to brave a real sit-down restaurant overlooking the harbor. Allison and I shared a seafood risotto and we got tagliatelle with pesto for the boys. Both were delicious. I had been hoping to get some great seafood with this proximity to the sea and this was it. The boys behaved generally well and, while he didn’t eat much, Beren spent most of the time playing with a prawn that had been in the risotto. He named it “Pucker” (I don’t know where he gets this stuff) and by the end of the meal, Beren was sad to leave him, despite his gradual dismemberment throughout the meal.

After lunch, it was naptime like always and cleanup the apartment time for Allison and I, with a small nap squeezed in. Soon enough the time came for our Cinque Terre adventure to come to a close and for us to brave the journey back to Rome and hope the picture of my Covid card would be sufficient again.

On the platform in Manarola, the regional train came to take us to the high speed train to Rome. It overshot the stop slightly, so everyone on the platform were trying to squeeze into just a couple doors. Beren and I pushed our way on and we thought Allison and Silas were right behind us, but Allison, being the kind and compassionate soul she is, let a few others go in front of her, until she realized the doors were about to close. If she missed this train, she probably wouldn’t be able to get to Rome until tomorrow and I had the bag with all the clothes.

Thankfully, she jumped on right as the doors closed, practically being pinched by them. She was sandwiched in the doorway being banged around, when people saw she had a child and made way to usher her to a seat. I was freaking out because Beren and I were in a place where we couldn’t see if she got on and she wasn’t answering my texts because, of course, the zipper on the pocket her phone was in got stuck.

My freak out ended when we arrived at our stop in Spezia and saw her on the platform. Unfortunately, I ended up having to break the zipper on her jacket to get her phone out. With crisis averted, we waited for the Rome train, while Beren sang Christmas carols on the platform, an activity that for some reason has become a favorite for him while waiting for public transit. We are often serenaded to Feliz Navidad or Bruce Springsteen’s version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town while we wait.

Beren and I played Nintendo Switch to pass the four hour ride and he ate an entire carton of crackers. No one ever checked our tickets and we made it back to Rome, found our bus, and around 9:00 PM made it back to our home base. We heated some left overs, ate quickly, and ushered the kids to bed.

Phew! It was a long day. I keep saying we’ll slow it down. Maybe tomorrow?

Buongiorno from the Italian Riviera! It’s our first weekend in Italy and today was the first day where we could spend it’s totality not having to work. We arose, got ready and walked down the main (possibly only) street in Manarola, the second town of the five that make up Cinque Terre. We found the one cafe open and had some breakfast, cappuccinos, and fresh squeezed orange juice and looked out at the morning sea. After experiencing our first night here, where essentially the entire town closes at 7:00 PM we found out not much would be open Sunday, so we made a trip to the grocery store, which is a tiny little place, and stocked up on some snacks for our stay and trip back.

After the store and various sporadic potty breaks, we decided we wanted to explore another town. Our host, Simone, who grew up in Manarola, told us his next favorite town of the five was Vernazza, so we walked 50 yards back up the street and down the long tunnel to the train station to take the 10 minute ride to Vernazza. Vernazza was a little larger than Manarola and, because it was the weekend, the streets were full of tourists coming to see the sights.

We strolled down the main drag and took in the sights, sounds, and smells. The gelaterias and gift shops were already in full force. There was a man staining a newly built deck in front of a restaurant with a full glass of wine, even though it was barely noon. You could hear the sound of the waves on the rocks and feel the salty breeze.

As we made our way along, we stopped and got some Frito Misto (mixed fried seafood, a local favorite) and fried calamari, both wrapped in cones of paper with a skewered lemon on top. The boys got some nuggets and fries. You may have noticed how I just said nuggets rather than specifying the type of meat inside. I say it this way because that is how they were advertised and the meat inside did not necessarily seem like chicken. Nevertheless, the boys gobbled them up. Allison and I joked that it was probably Pigeon meat, as those are a nuisance everywhere we go and it seems that would be a way to put them to good use.

The food was delicious, albeit a total salt bomb, and we sat eating it on the rocks looking out at the sea. Cinque Terre is known for their anchovies and, although I don’t normally prefer anchovies as much, they were the best part of the Frito Misto. After eating, we climbed the tower of an old fortress that use to protect Vernazza in the Middle Ages from pirate attacks. It’s now a restaurant, but looking out over the ramparts at the cliffs is still pretty neat. The boys liked pretending they were pirates/rock climbers and enjoyed themselves while we freaked out over their impending doom from falling off these sheer cliffs at a single misstep.

We then walked back up to the town and looked at the local church which was built in a gothic style. After the church it was gelato time (naturally) and we scarfed it down so we could make the next train. Once back in Manarola, the boys took a nap and Allison and I took turns going out and walking around before ultimately both coming back and napping too.

Once everyone was up again, we were going to take a train again to another town, but the boys hit there limit. Beren said, in an exasperated voice, “I don’t have energy for any more adventures.” After trying to push through and realizing we would have to wait a while for the train, we came to terms with the fact that we have been going pretty hard and all the walking and sight seeing is an adjustment for all of us. So we spent the evening instead in Manarola at the playground watching the sun set as the boys played. Not too bad.

It was much more crowded today and though we wanted to go the our apertivo spot we enjoyed so much the night before, we didn’t. We briefly thought about trying to go to one of the restaurants, but when we looked inside at the tables set with wine glasses and white table cloths, we imagined the boys losing their minds if we tried to force them through that, so we opted for the takeout pizza/focaccia place. It was a good choice and the boys scarfed down some focaccia with cheese and pesto.

It was finally today where I’ve started to feel the wear and tear too. My calves are on fire from carting the boys up all the hills and stairs. Now that we are finishing up the first week, we are going to have to figure out how to pace ourselves a little more. Tomorrow will probably be a day to wake up and take it easy in the morning before catching our late afternoon long train back to Rome.

The kids woke us up this morning (for anyone who was betting how long it would take for that to happen again). Thankfully, it was still past 8. We rolled out of bed and told the boys we would be going on our first big train ride. They were very excited and we spent the next hour and a half packing and trying to wrangle them into clothes. By 10:00 we were packed with our two backpacks and a duffle bag and we were out the door.

For the first time since we’ve been in Rome we were at the bus stop on time and the bus came as planned. We rode through the city and arrived at Termini station.

Termini is huge, pretty overwhelming, and notorious for pickpockets. I’ve only traveled on trains in Europe one or two other times, so we got there early to make sure we were in the right place at the right time and had ample buffer to figure everything out. We still hadn’t had a proper breakfast so we all enjoyed some cornetti stuffed with various things like sweet ricotta, apricot marmalade, and Nutella. After walking around a bit, the time then arrived to get on our train.

Beren found our carriage and we climbed in and found our seats. The train got underway and Beren was so excited to see how fast we would go. It was a high speed train, but like a plane, it never feels as fast when you’re on board. Beren kept asking when we would go faster. It was about at this moment, when we had just left the station and the intercom came on to welcome us to the train and checked for my ticket, and while I had the tickets, I no longer had my COVID Vaccine Card.

Right now in Italy, you have to show your vaccination status to do anything, including ride trains, so I had been keeping it in my front pocket for convenience rather than in my zipped inner jacket pocket where I keep the passports because you have to show it all the time. As they say, you live and you learn, and this was one of those lessons because, those notorious Termini pickpockets, they got me. Well they got my COVID card. Funny thing is, they didn’t get any of the cash also in my pocket. So now, here I was on the train without one of the most important papers to me, while the pickpocket successfully took something worthless to them. Honestly, I wish they had just stopped me after taking it and offered to sell it back to me. I would have gladly given them the money in my pocket.

I was pretty panicked. Thankfully, I remembered I have a picture of my card on my phone, without the booster, however, so still not technically what I needed, but it was something. This was all compounded because I had made another mistake and didn’t bring any copies of our important documents on our weekend jaunt. That will not happen again. But for now, I sat in anxiety hoping that my photo would work.

When the time came, and the conductor approached about 20 minutes before our stop, my phone photo did work. He glanced at the photo, didn’t ask questions, and moved on. I just hope that pattern will be the same on the way back.

This is where, I believe, even in the small things, God provides. He gave me grace and let my COVID pass picture work. Also, he orchestrated things beforehand. When we get back to Rome I have another duplicate COVID card waiting for me. I happen to have two because, many months ago, I forgot to bring my original to my second vaccine appointment, so they gave me another which I continued to fill in with duplicate information. Allison doesn’t have two, but I happen to. Once we get back to Rome, that extra pass is waiting for me and I won’t have a care in the world.

But until then, we will enjoy Manarola in Cinque Terre, which is amazing! It is like walking around in a postcard! Upon our arrival, our AirBnb host met us at the end of the tunnel exiting the train station. He walked us to the modern, and incredibly stylish, apartment with a balcony overlooking the main street. We walked from the door of our apartment about 100 yards down the main street to gaze out onto the green Ligurian Sea.

The small, brightly colored town is situated between two cliffs, almost like the houses just slid down between them. We meandered from the water up a steep path and found an outdoor restaurant, high up on the cliff to enjoy apertivo, which is essentially like a before dinner cocktail hour where you can get some heavy appetizers. We shared some incredible bruschetta with cheese, prosciutto, and grilled zucchini alongside a caprese salad. The boys also enjoyed a salad of fresh fruit.

As we ate, a storm moved offshore and the sunset came into full form, illuminating the palate of pastel houses lining the opposite cliff. Beren found a bug walking behind our outdoor table and he spent some time feeding his fruit to it while also building it a shelter out of leaves and debris. Meanwhile, Silas danced and ingratiated himself to the waitstaff. It truly was a beautiful moment in every way and one I will treasure.

After apertivo, I came back to the apartment to work while Allison and the boys hung out on a playground with the best view I’ve ever seen for a playground. Later, Allison and I were still hungry, so I went out to try to find some food around 8:30 PM, but it’s the offseason here, so nothing was open with the exception of a single restaurant for dine in only, so by circumstance and not choice, our nightly fast had begun.

I’m not sure what tomorrow will hold, but we will probably explore more of Manarola and more of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre. I’m excited to experience more of the beauty and charm on a day neither of us will have to work.