May 10 – Day 7: In The Cinque Terre

Our day started with a quick breakfast – cappucini for us both, brioche for Tom and for me – 2 giusto (scoops) gelato! Not the best gelato in the Cinque Terre, but who can complain about ice cream for breakfast? We stopped by Claudio’s house to ask about laundry and maybe an extra night’s stay at Maria #2. He asked us to step into his little garden and sit down. No huge hurry to conduct business. About laundry — we agreed to borrow a tub and soap and do it ourselves, instead of carrying it to Riomaggiore. Ummm…okay. We’ve been handwashing undies every night, but not a whole load. But whatever. We were decided.

Funny thing about Claudio. Whenever one of us starts a sentence with, “We were thinking…” or “Our plan is to…” he cuts us off immediately — “Stop thinking! You’re on vacation!”  It’s like he can see right through us — a couple who’s wound a little too tight and needs to let go a bit. Are we really that obvious? Anyway, we took some time to explore Manarola, taking in the incredible views of the town tucked into the mountainside and the terraced “fields” of grapes and olives, built and cultivated over centuries. The colors of the town and of the fruits growing on the hills — it’s all so bright and charming and calm. Even as the streets are bustling with tourists.

Our lunch today was standard Italian “fast food” — Tom had pizza with porcini and speck ham, and I had the local speciality farinata, a sort of bread made with chick peas, topped with pesto. Both were delicious. Then we got down to business and did the laundry, which was kind of fun and quite rewarding to convert our dirties to cleans and see them hanging — like all the other households around us — out in the air and sun to dry. With that done, we took a hike to see Riomaggiore. Claudio had told us of a trail that goes way up the mountain and then down into the town. An alternative to the “lovers lane” flat, tourist-packed pathways that everybody takes. He said we should do it that way if we are brave, which I took as a bit of a challenge from our host. So we took off to find the trail, found it, and started up. Seriously, up. And up and up until we were far above and in between the towns. But then we lost the trail, decided to not be so brave that we got lost in the brush, and climbed back down to join the tourists on the regular path.

Riomaggiore is bigger, has cars, and does not have the best gelato in Italy. But we did sit and people watch by the docks, and it was a beautiful afternoon to be anywhere in the Cinque Terre. Back “home” between the day and the evening, we relaxed on the patio and finally opened the bottle of Brut we received in Venice. Two words — totally drinkable. In fact, we totally drank the whole bottle. Another couple arrived to stay in the apartment above us — Mike and Stacey from Bend, Oregon! Very nice couple that we expect to see again before our stay is over. Especially since they cross our patio to get to their room! With the champagne gone, we then set off for dinner at Trattoria da Billy.

Oh, Trattoria da Billy, was a recommended pick from Tom’s research, so we made a reservation earlier in the day. We sat down and were given a little fruity drink to start. A nice beginning. But as it turned out, Billy would not be a favored memory from our trip (although we still talk about it to this day!). Unlike most other eateries we’ve been to so far, Billy had a sort of frenzy about him that just didn’t match the tranquil, slow-paced style of Italian eating. We felt sort of anxious and hurried and though the food tasted pretty good, we were, as they say in America — “over it” and ready to go. Though we split each dish, our bill was 64 EURO, thanks to the “special” fish that I didn’t realize was going to cost E 35! Okay, so after a few minutes of sulking, we put it all behind us, went for a walk by the water, and then headed home to our squishy bed for another peaceful rest in the Cinque Terre.

Ciao, Kirstin