Alyssa and Robin in Spain: The Cinque Terre

Well, it appears that Robin has left the big Cinque Terre blog post to me. I think Cinque Terre might be the most difficult to write about since so much of the experience involved eating and taking in all the wonderful scents. The Cinque Terre is located on the north west coast of Italy in the region known as Liguria. Besides being known for the best pesto anywhere which I have already stated on here millions of times, the Ligurian area is also known for its abundance of lemon trees and vineyards. Combine this with the great variety of flowers in bloom, and you have yourself quite a delightful mountain hike. The five villages of the Cinque Terre are basically carved out of the mountains. There are many trails that allow you to walk from city to city and escape into breathtaking nature where the ocean meets wild flowers, vineyards, and cliffs. Unfortunately, there was a terrible flood in this region back in 2011 and many of the trails are still closed due to landslides. At first we were a little bummed, but after hiking two of the more serious trails, our feet and legs were thankful for a rest.

Are we in Galicia? Sure looks like it!

Encouragement on the hike! We spy the next town of Corniglia!

The sore legs and tired feet are worth it for these views!

For our Italy travels, we decided to take advantage of the website Air B n B that allows people to post their spare rooms for tourists to rent out. A few of our trustworthy friends had nothing but great experiences using the website. We also had unique and memorable experiences staying with real Italian families. In Florence, we stayed in the apartment of a graduate student and his sister. They were very helpful with suggesting great, local eats and with avoiding tourist traps. In the Cinque Terre region, we stayed with the sweetest and most thoughtful Italian family. We had such a memorable experience there! We cannot speak highly enough of this family. They even prepared us breakfast in the morning, and their entire house smelled just lovely! Perhaps this is because the father takes great pride in his garden. I would’ve been perfectly content spending the entire day in the garden. It smells like paradise with the lemon trees and great variety of flowers. They even had tortoises in the garden. Their cat, Yuvi, surely appreciates it, too!

La Spezia is an important military base in Italy.

Top Cinque of the Cinque Terre (Top 5 of the Five Lands)

1. Seafood in a Cone

Ok. This one is not for me but for Robin of course. All the seafood is fresh since the Cinque Terre is right on the ocean. Everybody was walking around with their seafood in a cone, and Robin had to get one. I even admit that the smells coming out of the food stand were enticing. I almost wanted to try the calamari. Next time, Cinque Terre. Next time.

2. Easter Mass in Riomaggiore

We went to Easter mass in one of the villages. Mass was in Italian of course; however, I think Italian and Spanish are pretty similar. We were able to catch a few words, and we even attempted to sing in Italian. Good times. Fun fact: the very young priest happened to be the doppelganger (look-alike) of a St. Norbert friend. I read that the true residents of the five villages maintain very close relationships one another, and it was fun to observe the families that probably grew up together interact. Another fun fact: little Italian kids dressed in their Easter best are adorable!

So many cute nuns in Italy

3. Friends from Around the World

Like Robin mentioned, meeting friends from around the world was a common theme during our trip and it continued in Pisa and Cinque Terre. We walked with an Indian/English couple from the train station to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We met a family from Austria. We talked for a while with a man from Hungary who was actually traveling to Galicia to meet friends. Finally, we asked a girl to take our picture and she was from none other than BURLINGTON, WISCONSIN! She was studying abroad in Milan and she says she frequently goes to Kenosha for Buffalo Wild Wings. Haha the world keeps getting smaller by the day :)

The girls who took this picture was from Burlington, Wisconsin

4. The Bike Ride

Our kind host let us use her bikes to get around the way the locals do. Italians sure do love their mopeds and bicycles. It seemed like there was at least one bicycle or moped on the road for every car. Maybe this is an exaggeration for Cinque Terre, but Florence was dominated by mopeds. We rode bikes to the nearby town of Portovenere. It is not officially a part of the Cinque Terre, but it is just as beautiful. It felt more resorty than the rustic Cinque Terre fishing villages. We don’t mind, though. We walked around the town, bought a little jar of pesto, some bread, found a bench, and then watched the boats until it was time to ride back.

5. The Culture

I know we only skimmed the surface, but there is something special about that place and those people. Perhaps, all the uphill walking and hard work builds character. I felt a lot of pride for my Italian heritage while in Italy. Robin jokingly made fun of me for telling our hosts that I was a quarter Italian, but I am very excited to learn more about this ancestry. One of my new summer goals is to grow fresh basil and try to remake some of the foods we tried. If nothing else, we will definitely keep the culture alive through food!