The Italian Cammino Completed

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and this vacation has been an amazing experience. This Italian trip was much different than our visit in 1977 and 1987, where we focused our time in larger cities – Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa, etc. This vacation we focused our visit to smaller villages in the province of Liguria, traveling by foot along the coast to almost 30 villages. During this visit we experienced Italy’s natural beauty. We highly recommend this trip for anyone wishing a similar Italian experience, and you can follow our blog for information (2012 September and October).

Also, the reason of the Italian visit was to attend the Abruzzo Homecoming Picnic (September 14-16). This was an opportunity for me to revisit my home town of Villa Santa Lucia, and a highlight was a visit with Saverio who bought my parent’s home. It was quite an emotional experience for me to re-enter the home I lived in from 1950-56.

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Week 6 Roma

In the six weeks in Italy we've spent most of our time in small villages and a few larger towns. Life was very tranquil; therefore we were in shock when we arrived to Rome. We expected a congested airport and train station, but we were shocked by the number of tourists on the street and popular attractions. Up to now we have been exploring Italy’s natural beauty and many remote historic sites, and therefore we were not prepared for this experience. Don’t get me wrong. Rome is a beautiful city, but somehow large crowds are a big turnoff. We were constantly worried about pick pockets and a tourist we met at the La Spezia train station described how she was picked by a team of young girl and women. It was not pleasant walking about and not trusting anyone. The second day in Rome was much better as we went to the Coloseum and Vatican before noon to avoid the larger crowds. The walk along Tiber River was very enjoyable as both sides of the river are underneath large trees that line the path. Very cool on a hot day.

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Week 6 La Spezia, Riomaggiore, Manarola and Monterosso

When leaving the train station, the first impression of La Spezia is not very flattering. It’s harbour is mainly a working port, with a small area to stroll and sit and watch fishers on the shore, often with three fishing rods going at a time. However, there is an interesting old town that comes alive in the evening with many children playing in the plaza and young adults (HS and University) in the cafes, and adults strolling the shopping district. La Spezia turned out to be a good spot to stay and still visit the Cinque Terre group of towns. By train it is minutes away from Riomaggiore, the first of the Cinque Terre villages, the accommodations in La Spezia are more plentiful and less expensive, and there are more restaurants and activities during the evening. I highly recommend staying in La Spezia for anyone wishing to explore Cinque Terre.

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We arrived to Riomaggiore by train, along with many other tourists. It’s a very popular stop for bus tours and the harbour was swarmed by a wave of tourists. Riomaggiore is set in a tiny harbour with apartment buildings covering the hillside. It’s a great place to visit for a few hours. There are walking trails linking all five villages along Cinque Terre, unfortunately the shoreline route was closed due to a rock slide and damage from the 2011 flood. Therefore to reach other villages an upper trail can be used.

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From Riomaggiore we walked to Manarola and passed many vineyards along the hillside. This area prides itself of its local wines. Along the way we met up with a mother cat that looked like was ready to deliver her babies. Manarola has a larger harbour and this time of year all boats have been pulled from the water, covered and stored on the shore. We found a spot on the rocks and enjoyed our lunch of bread, cheese and wine. What a delightful day!

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I didn’t find Monterosso as picturesque as other Cinque Terre villages. It’s attraction is mainly the beachfront, but we’ve seen better in our trek. Since the shoreline trail was closed we decided to try hiking a mountain trail, but the one we chose was not well maintained. It was a steep climb and many of the step stones were gone. After an hour of climbing we stopped and decided to return to the village. Unfortunately, with many of the steps missing, the hike down was even more difficult. Once we reached the village we found a beautiful spot on the beach and enjoyed our lunch. Fortunately that day there was someone close by playing beautiful music on his electric keyboard, which made lunch that more enjoyable.

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Week 6 Levanto

Levanto is a mirror of the last town, Moneglia, except in a larger scale and more expensive. This town is a popular point for hikers as a base for trips to Cinque Terre. When we arrived by train we were met with a mob of day-trippers were getting on the train. Regardless of the numerous announcements by train officials to let people off the train before boarding, either people don’t listen; they don’t understand Italian or they don’t care. It was a bit of a battle to get off the train. Once we found our hotel, we ventured to Bonassola a few kilometers away and accessible by an old rail line converted to a pedestrian and bicycle path. The coastline here is rugged and so beautiful. The surf is high and therefore there were many surfers enjoying the waves. On our way to Bonassola we met three of the friendliest cats, which was a highlight for Julie. In the evening many people lined the beachfront to enjoy the afternoon sun and watch the sun set. We met a couple from Germany who were enjoying their last day in Italy with a special ice cream and a glass of champagne.

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Week 5 Moneglia

Hard to believe this is our last trek making our way from town to town. We have completed our planned hikes in the province of Ligure (Italian Riviera) and will now be traveling by train and do daily hikes in the last week of our stay in Italy. Today was tough as we climbed a hill for about 3 km before it leveled off for another 3km, and then a 5.5 km decent to Moneglia. The views from the hilltop were excellent and we passed vineyards and many olive orchids with some starting to harvest by placing nets throughout the orchid to collect the falling olives. We only saw a few farmers picking their olives, but were not able to see the full process.

Along our trek we’ve seen many pictures of wedding couples posted on trees and posts along the street. We were not sure about this custom, but today we saw a series of pictures along the route and discovered when we reached a B&B that the pictures were guiding people to their ceremony. Unfortunately after the wedding no one collects the pictures and they remain on trees and posts until they fall off. We’ve seen pictures on trees dating back three months.

Moneglia is another beautiful borgo (village) with a beach and surrounded by mountains on all sides. By car it can be reached by two methods – one being the normal highway route, and the other through a series of tunnels 6km long. The tunnel road was built from an old rail line and is very narrow, with room for only one car width. Hence, there is a stop light at each end, and every 20 minutes the light changes to green, which allows cars from one direction to go through.  

It so happened that today the Italians were celebrating Octoberfest; with lots of beer and serving BBQ sausages and roasted pork, which we participated in.

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Week 5 Sestri Levante

We just learned today that all the trails linking the towns in Cinque Terre are closed due slide damage. This news was a big disappointment as this area was the highlight of our trip. Hence we decided to stay in Sestri Levante a little longer and take advantage of the local mountain hiking opportunities. S. Levante is a beautiful town with a long beachfront, but it was another beach, not visible from the town that was more interesting. The beach (Bay of Silence) is small and tucked away, but has lots of benches and a few bars/restaurants to sit and enjoy the beauty.

Our trek to Punta Manara was eventful, as Julie is squeamish when it comes to steep rocky trails. We went slowly and therefore took a little longer, but we eventually made it to our destination. On the return trip Julie did not like the trail and therefore we went a different route, which was not on my map. We were never lost, because I could see the town from the mountain top, but I didn’t know where the trail would lead us. The trail followed a tried up creek, and was equally steep and dangerous in certain areas. We came across a local hunter who helped us find our way. He was searching for wild pigeon that were migrating through Italy, but he told me that the timing was not quite right and therefore no success today. Much to Julie’s relief, we eventually found our way back to S. Levante.
The wedding crashers...yes we dropped in on a wedding ceremony and besides throwing confetti of rice and little paper cut-outs, also included were candies and fancy macaroni noodles. The candies were cleaned up quickly by all the kids.
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Week 5 Chiavari

Chiavari is not the typical small village we have seen along our trek. It is a large town with a population of over 30k and has a more modern design of their streets – that go straight as opposed to the twisted streets of medieval villages, which are challenging, but more interesting for tourists. But Chiavari does have an old town that is also very unique to other towns we have visited. The streets are straight and there is a covered walkway on both sides of the street, with many archways. The walkways go for about half a km and are covered, hence keeping it cool during the summer and protected in the rainy season. This covered walkway design has been adopted in the newer districts. It also appears that Chiavari is trying to improve its waterfront by building long and interesting walkways, and cleaning up the harbour area to attract beachgoers. With all the construction, it is not a pleasant sight but once complete it will be a great destination for beach and boat lovers.

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Week 4 St. Margherita Ligure and Portofino

Today was the most pleasant walk...we were not carrying our backpacks!! It was a great walk passing by the most beautiful landscaped homes. We realized that we entered the “crème de la crème” district, with amazing homes just meters to the sea. The trek started along the sea walk and moved inland to a trail matching the beautiful homes. When we reached Portofino it was not surprising that prices doubled for souvenirs and restaurant food.

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Week 4 Rapallo

The trek from Camogli was intense and it took us about two hours to reach the hilltop town of Ratu that was only 2 km away.  But what a view from the top! The coastline it long and clear and we could see all the way to Genova. We had reached the same height the day before when we walked to St. Rocco without any backpacks. It sure makes a difference when carrying 35 and 45 pound backpacks. The climb up seemed endless.

The remaining 8 km was relatively easy as we descended into Rapallo, another coastal town that is surrounded by mountains. It is a beautiful setting and we’ve decided to stay an extra day to explore the village of St. Maurgarita that is only a few kilometers away.

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Week 4 Camogli

There are days when we arrive in a town and we are in awe with its beauty, but somehow Camogli is different. In contrast Camogli grasped our soul. It is set on a rugged hillside and therefore is a tourist attraction, however there are many people living at the water’s edge. Many people are enjoying the water – fishers, kayakers, [serious] swimmers, little children, lovers and vacationers. And there are cafes and restaurants on the city harbour that attracts many people at night. It is hard to imagine that on October 6, 2012 we would be sitting on the beach enjoying the sunset. Dreams do come true!

We loved Camogli so much we decided to stay another day and take a day-hike on the local mountain. We were looking forward to the hike but knew it would be a difficult one - which it was. It was straight up, following stairs and passing resident homes. Hard to believe people live on this mountain, because the only access is by foot, donkey (which I didn't see any) or motorbike (which there were many). On the way up we passed a elderly women with a large bag (sack) of buns making her way slowly to her home. Unfortunately, after an hour and half the path started to get little dangerous and therefore we decided to return to Camogli. And as it turned out I didn't take any pictures because I left the camera memory card in the computer. I had to cheat and download a photo from the Internet.

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Week 4 Genova and Nervi

Genova has a boating event from October 6 to 14 and therefore I thought this would not be a good time to stay in Genova with so many people. Much to our surprise we discovered that many of the hotels in outlying areas have been booked for this event. Hence it was difficult to find accommodations in Nervi, but we eventually we did, but at a much higher price than Genova. It is not surprising, given the beauty of the area. Nervi is a town that stretches along the sea side, with a small inner harbour. The boats are all stored away and the only boats we saw were kayakers practicing in the sheltered harbour. We bought a bottle of wine and some ice cream and enjoyed the afternoon in the harbour. Nervi also has a long boardwalk that stretches for 4 km, to the next town of Bogliasco that we will pass by tomorrow. The highlight of the day was my mishap on the rocky shore. It is such a beautiful shoreline and we walked down the steps leading to the water’s edge. Julie was ready to take my picture, but as I stepped the rocks I went sliding on my butt. Two men came to help and Julie made sure she got my picture.

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Week 4 Arenzano

Hard to believe we have completed three weeks of our holiday already. How time flies when having fun. Today we found a beautiful hotel in the town of Arenzano. The room was large and clean, and with a large patio that allowed us to spend a few hours in the afternoon and evening enjoying the sights and sounds of the town.

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Week 3 Varazze

Today all of Italy’s buses were on strike for the day. As we left Savona, there was a line up of cars 2 km long crawling into the city all the way from the nearby village of Albisola. There was one taxi in the line up and I’m sure that ride was an expensive one. It would have been easier and quicker for people to walk or take their bikes, which some were, but obviously not enough. This was a day to phone in sick. The trek today was another splendid one, walking the coastline and going through an old rail line tunnel. The towns in this region are all connected with well maintained walkways, which many people today were enjoying – including one large hiking group we encountered. We arrived in Varazze and booked into Hotel Lido that is located across from the beach, and what a spectacular view from our room! The town of Varazze is small compared to Savona, but bigger than other towns we passed today. There are many places to shop and eat, but like many other sea-side towns we wondered about the crowds during the summer months. It would be amazing to experience the hustle and bustle (and possible chaos) during that time. It is very quiet now and we wonder how so many restaurants survive during the low season.

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Week 3 Savona

The one observation trekking the coastline is the number of natural grottos caused by constant pounding of the surf. From the trail it is sometimes possible to see the waves came in and then a few seconds later a burst of sea-spray comes out from a hole in the rock. There are also some grottos that have stairs leading down to the water and it’s possible to swim into the caves. Unfortunately it was a too rainy today to consider this adventure. Julie doesn’t think I would do it! If the conditions were right, I just might.

Savona is a relatively large city and therefore not as picturesque as the smaller towns along the coast. Our hotel is on the beach and with a view of the water from our room. Hotel Ariston is in a great location, but a bit outdated and therefore could use some remodeling. Regardless, we ventured around town to visit Fortress Priamar perched on top of a hill with a 360 degree view of the mountains and coastline. There are many beautiful churches to visit, and none built in the modern day would compare with those built hundreds of years ago.

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