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We stayed in the first of the five towns, Riomaggiore. Our room was perfect with a view of the town and the sea, although getting to it is a challenge—a few hundred steep and narrow steps that we had to carry our luggage up. A stroll through the town, One street straight up!) Wine pesto pizza, and wine, and wine…
The first day our goal was towns 2 and 3. What a beautiful restful place! Well… Now that we’ve done the walk, maybe not so restful.
The walk between the first two towns is a flat path paved with stones, called Via Dell’Amore. The second town Manorola is a nice fishing village, very beautiful! After that the path is more challenging It gets steep and ends in a 389-step stairway to the town of Corniglia. Corniglia is the only town on a bluff. Again old and beautiful. We had lunch, Pesto Lasagna and Fruit of the Sea (Mussels, squid octopi and shrimp, here overlooking a ravine with vineyards and ending in the Ligurian Sea. After a brief tour of this city we took the train back to Riomaggiore. After a rest we strolled back to Manarola for dinner and a sample of the local sciacchetra’,a brandy like liqueur made from raisons instead of grapes. We took the train back home
The second day was spent in Monterosso al Mare, the 5 th town on the coast. This town has an old side and a new side both beautiful. Here I tried the local special, anchovies. We hiked around and through the castle at the top of the bluff. Great Views! We took the train home from here. We stopped at the local grocery store…smaller than a Plaid Pantry. We meant to get just a snack, but ended up with enough for dinner! Everything looked so good. Dinner was Ponici mushrooms con pesto, broccoli con formaggio and wine and chocolate for desert.
The third day was Tuesday, market day in Vernazza. We walked the first path and then took the train to the 4 th town ( No 396 steps for us today!) Another beautiful town but a disappointing market. The weather turned cold and cloudy. The man across the ravine from our room is putting large stones on his roof, that’s to keep the slate from blowing away in a storm, so we are preparing to leave early Wed a.m. for Venice.
