Three days in Cinque Terre

The Italian term "Cinque Terre" translates to "Five Lands". But when visiting Italy, "Cinque Terre" refers to a spectacular region of the Italian Riviera where high hills collide with the blue waters and five picturesque fishing villages cling to the surrounding cliffs and hillsides. The entire Cinque Terre region is a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site with colorful villages connected via popular and scenic hiking trails, as well as an efficient ferry boat service.

After attending a fabulous family wedding in the Tuscan hills and spending a few nights in Florence with our children, Ketty and I set out by Trenitaly train for Monterosso al Mare, the northernmost Cinque Terre town. Trenitalia, Italy's extensive national train system connects most cities. The trains are numerous, inexpensive, usually uncrowded, and comfortable. We've been warned about occasional transit strikes, but so far have been fortunate enough to miss them in our travels. On this trip, we spent the extra €5 for first class seats and ended up with our own private compartment with lots of room to stretch out and take in the Italian countryside and coastline. Definitely worth the investment.

The last part of the train ride was spectacular, traveling along a beautiful portion of the coastal railway line that was built going back to 1870s. The tracks hug the Mediterranean close to the water, cutting through a series of tunnels with stops in each of the five Cinque Terre villages. Despite the fact that the villages are built on what appears to be inaccessible terrain, this train service stops right in heart of each village making it easy to go from one to another via rail if you are not up for the hiking trails or ferry.

As beautiful as Cinque Terre is, it has become notorious for being overrun with tourists. Fortunately our early October visit was after the peak of summer crowds with the weather still warm enough to basque in the sun and enjoy wandering the villages and hiking the trails.

Upon arriving in Monterosso we met our Airbnb hosts, Anna and Maurizio, who were waiting in the town square to drive us to their villa set in high in the hills above the village. The view from the villa's terrace blew us away. We could actually see all five Cinque Terre villages! This could very well be the best spot in the world for a bottle of Italian wine, antipasto and a sunset.

Anna and Maurizio were very welcoming. Their charming house had been recently renovated. The rooms (kitchen, living/bedroom and bathroom) were spotless, comfortable and well appointed.

The walk down to the old village of Monterosso was only 10 minutes along a steep but well traveled path that passes a winery and a beautiful cemetery and monastery. Monterosso being the biggest of the five villages, has many restaurants to choose from, we picked a beautifully situated outdoor café called Il Casello overlooking the water for our first dinner and sunset in Cinque Terre.

DAY TWO

Looking at that blue water is nice, but we had to get out on it. We found the ferry service to be the perfect way to get on the water and explore the area. The boats run every hour or so in both directions and stop in every village except Corniglia. The service does depend on weather and sea conditions and on the day we arrived the service was suspended due to rough water. Fortunately seas were calm for our day number two and we spent it ferrying from village to village, stopping at each one to shop, eat and explore.

Monterosso al Mare

Vernazza

Manarola

Riomaggiore

DAY 3

For our next day we decided to stay close to home and wander around Monterosso and the nearby surroundings. The first stop just down the hill from our villa, was the Convento dei Cappuccini. This operating Capuchin monastery dates back to 1622. The monastery and chapel sit atop a cliff over the water with a fascinating cemetery along side that wraps around and inside the ruins of an ancient medieval castle. Upon entering the chapel we were treated to eerily haunting but beautiful sounds of Gregorian chants as the monks performed their morning prayers. From there we followed

walking trails that wrapped around the monastery and snaked along the cliffs to a high point where a magnificent bronze statue of St Francis of Assisi and his faithful wolf overlook the village and the sea.

After exploring the monastery, wandering through the shops and taking in the relaxed vibe of

Monterosso, we were in need of food. When looking for lunch in an unfamiliar place, the busiest place is usually a good bet. So when we happened upon the packed Pizzeria La Smorfia on a narrow side street, the crowd and the smells of fresh pizza in the ovens drew us in. We found the last table tucked in the back by the kitchen, a perfect spot to watch the cooks cranking out pie after pie of the best pizza we ever tasted.

Local wine tasting was an obvious choice for our final afternoon. Lucky for us, just below our Airbnb villa is a small family owned winery tucked away, set alongside the steeply sloping vineyards.

Buranco Winery produces small quantities of wine, grappa, olive oil, lemons and honey. Our tasting was hosted by the mother and daughter owners. The mother, Sra. Grillo, who must have been in her eighties, was very passionate about her wine. In a beaming Italian accent, she proclaimed that her little winery is famous throughout Italy for its legendary dessert wine known as Sciacchetrà (pronounced shah-keh-TRA). She proudly showed us newspaper clippings of her Sciacchetrà being served to Barack Obama at the recent G8 summit in Italy.

The hospitality, the wine, and the views were superb. And of course we had to bring a couple of bottles of Sciacchetrà home with us.