Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre
Today we visited Cinque Terre from our stop at the port of Livorno. It was about an hour and a half drive from the port through the Italian countryside. Off to the side we could see mountains (the Alps), but we had a better view of the mountains on the way back. This area is well known for the Carrera marble that comes from the mountains and on our return we could see where the marble had been mined – what looked like snow was actually the marble.
Cinque Terre is actually 5 towns built on hillsides overlooking the Mediterranean sea. They were built in medieval times – many of the towns were built on hillsides as protection from intruders – during that time you never knew who was out to plunder and pillage your town! Cinque Terre is now a national park and the area is protected.
One of the first things we noticed was the terracing on the hillsides. Over the centuries, the farmers have terraced areas for growing grapes. The wine from the area is very famous in Italy. We saw little monorails that go up and down the mountain to help bring the grapes up that have been picked.
From a distance the towns look incredible. One of the small towns is perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The tall, pastel colored buildings are clustered together and are amazing to see! We were able to go to 3 of the towns. Each of them has many of the old buildings forming their own little city with hotels, restaurants, shops and apartments. We walked through the first town then took the “path of love” – this is considered to be the most scenic part of the area. It is a walkway built onto the side of the cliff connecting 2 towns. After time to explore the 2nd town, we boarded a train to take us to the next, largest town.
The one disappointment that we had was that we weren’t able to travel by ferry between any of the towns. Generally, you can go by either train or ferry but the sea was too rough to do the ferry. I’m pretty sure we would have even more pictures to have added to the 100’s we took today if we could have been able to do this!
At the largest town (Montrossori, I think) we had more time to look around and eat lunch. We had a slice of genuine Italian pizza, Lance said it was about like having Chef Boyardee! We also had a gelatto, I had chocolate of course, Lance had some Italian sounding thing that was a lot like cookies and cream. After time to explore, we boarded the train back to the beginning of the area to board the bus back to the ship.
On the way back we saw something unexpected – the leaning tower of Pisa!! It was off to one side of the highway a fairly good way back but we were still able to recognize it and take a quick picture.
We had another great day with lots to see. Tomorrow we are off to Rome – this time it will be with a smaller group instead of a large bus tour. We should see the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain and go to Vatican City.
Today we visited Cinque Terre from our stop at the port of Livorno. It was about an hour and a half drive from the port through the Italian countryside. Off to the side we could see mountains (the Alps), but we had a better view of the mountains on the way back. This area is well known for the Carrera marble that comes from the mountains and on our return we could see where the marble had been mined – what looked like snow was actually the marble.
Cinque Terre is actually 5 towns built on hillsides overlooking the Mediterranean sea. They were built in medieval times – many of the towns were built on hillsides as protection from intruders – during that time you never knew who was out to plunder and pillage your town! Cinque Terre is now a national park and the area is protected.
One of the first things we noticed was the terracing on the hillsides. Over the centuries, the farmers have terraced areas for growing grapes. The wine from the area is very famous in Italy. We saw little monorails that go up and down the mountain to help bring the grapes up that have been picked.
From a distance the towns look incredible. One of the small towns is perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The tall, pastel colored buildings are clustered together and are amazing to see! We were able to go to 3 of the towns. Each of them has many of the old buildings forming their own little city with hotels, restaurants, shops and apartments. We walked through the first town then took the “path of love” – this is considered to be the most scenic part of the area. It is a walkway built onto the side of the cliff connecting 2 towns. After time to explore the 2nd town, we boarded a train to take us to the next, largest town.
The one disappointment that we had was that we weren’t able to travel by ferry between any of the towns. Generally, you can go by either train or ferry but the sea was too rough to do the ferry. I’m pretty sure we would have even more pictures to have added to the 100’s we took today if we could have been able to do this!
At the largest town (Montrossori, I think) we had more time to look around and eat lunch. We had a slice of genuine Italian pizza, Lance said it was about like having Chef Boyardee! We also had a gelatto, I had chocolate of course, Lance had some Italian sounding thing that was a lot like cookies and cream. After time to explore, we boarded the train back to the beginning of the area to board the bus back to the ship.
On the way back we saw something unexpected – the leaning tower of Pisa!! It was off to one side of the highway a fairly good way back but we were still able to recognize it and take a quick picture.
We had another great day with lots to see. Tomorrow we are off to Rome – this time it will be with a smaller group instead of a large bus tour. We should see the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain and go to Vatican City.