The Cutest Yet

(Day 7 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Corniglia) 5 May 2015

Spent the morning writing blogs and surfing the internet which FINALLY worked. In the afternoon, we took the ferry north to Vernazzo and then the train south to the last of the Five Towns, Cornelia. Unfortunately, there is not a safe place for the ferry to stop in this tiny town. The town is high above the train station, 365 steps above to be exact. This deters many visitors and makes for a very peaceful village. 

Super cute and super mellow, my favorite town of the five. I wish we left more time for it.
We explored a bit but we were both pretty hungry. 

After a beer in one of the squares, we quickly found the La Lanterna restaurant. No one was eating here but it had a cute table up high over looking a small square filled with very loud, older Italians.
A great meal in a wonderful town.

Back to Riomaggiore to pack for our trip to Bologna the next day.

Hike to The Arsenal (Day 6 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Vernazza & Monterosso) 4 May 2015

Today we saw two of the “Five Towns,” Vernazza & Monterosso. We took the train to Vernazza, ate some breakfast in the main square on the water and then explored the town. A fairly leisurely afternoon in the hottest sun thus far. We then began the 3 kilometer hike to Monterosso. All five of the towns are connected by what is known as the “Blue Trail.” Unfortunately, heavy rains a few years back caused extensive landslides which closed all of the trails but this one. This is the longest and most difficult of the four but has some of the best views.

We climbed and climbed, through vineyards and past tiny farms. We kept getting views of Vernazza that I have seen in photos in magazines. Climb, climb, climb… we got to over 166 meters (Almost 550 feet). The hike, along cliffs over the Mediterranean was breathtaking. Van said it was the nicest she had been on ever and we’ve hiked many trails. We shot video along the way. 

Despite the vertical ups and downs and the many photo & video stops, it wasn’t long until we saw the village of Monterosso in the near distance. Down we climbed, again through many vineyards and over narrow trails perched above sheer cliffs leading down to the Mediterranean Sea. Monterosso supposedly has the nicest beaches, meaning the nicest to lay a towel on and sunbath so it is the most touristy. 

We immediately saw drunk, sunburnt, British tourists. This is not our type of place. The town was far less cute than the other three we’ve seen thus far. Our dinner was alright but the most expensive yet. We were here for one reason: to see Arsenal Football Club play Hull City. Monterosso had the only pub in the five villages that had a large screen TV that we could find. Our Italian friend Cristiano warned us that it would be difficult to find a place that played anything other than Italy’s premiere league, Serie A. We quickly found The Fast Bar and sure enough, the bartender claimed to not know of Arsenal or The English Premier League. He asked his boss who did claim to know what we were looking for and told us he would put the game on. Arsenal won 3-0.

The pleasure of the win quickly turned when we took the wrong train which blew past our stop full speed. We exited in the next town and luckily there was one more train heading back north. We waited a long hour, intoxicated and tired but finally got back to Riomaggiore.

The Shire Is In Italy (Day 5 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Manarola) 3 May 2015

Breakfast again at Giammi Caffe and then on the train North to Manarola. This village is the second smallest of the five towns and may be the oldest in Cinque Terre. The church, San Lorenzo, dates from 1338.

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, as tourist poured off the train like zombies from World War Z, I dreaded the fact that we committed to five days in Cinque Terre. But today we explored the multitiered town of Manarola. Stunning! Tangier meets Santorini. Narrow walkways and staircases hidden throughout the town. Photos, photos, photos... Beer & Caprese salad. Photos, photos, photos... pasta, seafood & wine. 

Excellent lunch at Trattoria dal Billy. We sat outside overlooking the village. After showing us their catch-of-the-day, Vân opted for tagliatelle with clams while I had pesto pasta. Fresh made pasta tastes really, really good!

This is one of the towns one sees in many of the photos of Cinque Terre. We hiked up amongst the vineyards, artichoke farms and wild flowers and took many photos. Beautiful spring day.

After we got our fill of the town… and our daily gelato, we hiked about 1.5 kilometers to the tiny town of Groppo. We were in search of the Michelin restaurant Cappun Magru in casa di Marin. We found it though it was closed when we got there at 4pm. This trips was a good example of the journey being the destination. The short hike, there and back again, brought us through Hobbit like trails with small farms and little houses. I was convinced the shire was around every corner and I'm fairly sure I saw a Nazgûl. 

Tsunami of Tourists (Day 04 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Riomaggiore) 2 May 2015

The morning was still overcast. We found a breakfast place in town called Giammi Caffe. The crowded cafe indicated it was worth the visit. Simple breakfasts off all sorts. Two Cappuccinos, Van got an egg and bacon English muffin and I a cheese & pimiento omelette with toast. All portions were smaller than what you’d expect in the States. Might just loose these extra pounds yet. 

Our WiFi was not working at our flat so we used the restaurant’s. Access to the World Wide Interwebs seems like it will be a challenge here in Italy. I think most people use their phones and free WiFi is a bit of a challenge to come by. I can do little but urinate and sleep without being online so this will be tough. 

Cheese plate and a bottle of local red wine at A Piè de Mà, an outdoor restaurant perched above the Mediterranean. Slight mist in the air and complete overcast gave us our choice of seats. “A nice day in Ireland” I often say. Super relaxing. I guess we are going to need to start shooting video one of these days.

Tons of tourist flooded off the train today. A bit overwhelming. The train seems to come about every 45 minutes and out pours selfie sticked Japanese, American and surprising, quite a few Italian visitors. Many of the Italians have small dogs. Van and I tried to go to the marina area twice and each time we arrived, so did the title wave of tourists. Both times we retreated. Tourism as consumption. Exit train, take photos, buy trinkets, get back on train to go to the next town.

Dinner this night was at Trattoria Via dell ‘Amore at the bottom of our street. Van had pasta with shrimp. She didn’t love trying to strip the meat from the head and shell of the shrimp. Van didn’t really like the bottle of red wine we bought with dinner so I drank it all. We learned that the local wine is all white and it a better choice.

Handmade Pasta (Day 03 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Riomaggiore) 1 May 2015 PART TWO

Arrived in Riomaggiore around 5:30pm in a light rain. Maria, the owner of our AirB&B place had her father meet us at the train station. He insisted on caring the Pelican case with one of the small camera backpacks on top of it. I thought it might kill him as he was a fair bit older and it was a decent climb to the flat up a fairly steep hill. At least it was paved road and not cobble stones or stairs. 

The room is brand new. We are the first to stay in it. It had an unfinished mini-kitchen, a small kitchen table with two chairs, a thin balcony with French doors, a decent sized bed, another large window with a view of the Mediterranean, if one leans far enough out of it, and a decent bathroom with a tiny shower. The bathroom does have a heated towel rack, nice touch.

Dropped our bags and headed out into the tiny town. Three minutes below our flat is the train station and a restaurant. Next to that is a small tourist center and next to it a tunnel that follows the train tracks though a passage way through the hills. On the other side of that tunnel is the main town. Cute, single road with small shops mostly catering to tourists. Didn’t really catch my eye at first. A few bars, a few restaurants, a few shops selling local wines and Limoncello. We read a few menus, weren’t overly impressed and finally decided on PrimoPlatto Laboratory Pasta Fresca Takeaway, a to-go pasta shop that sold maybe eight different types of noodle made on the premisses that day matched with one of many types of sauce, along with some local white wine. Yummy. The rain had stopped so we ate it on a bench outside the store, sipping cold, white wine and watching the people walk by. Simple life, no freelance jobs due, no article deadlines, no classes to teach, nowhere in particular to be. Devine. 

Early night to sleep. We have five villages perched on cliffs over the Mediterranean to investigate over the next five days. 

Hat Hating God (Day 03 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Milan) 1 May 2015 PART ONE

Trying to kick the jet lag, we woke four hours after we went to sleep: 7am. We packed most of our gear the night before so after a quick shower and some last minute packing, we left our bags at the front desk, checked out of the hotel and jumped on the Metro for the Duomo. We were second in the queue to get our tickets to the terrace or roof of the Cathedral. Vân and I decided to walk the 200+ steps to the roof… or I should say I decided and Vân agreed to come along. My inspiration wasn’t the €7 fee compared to the €12 admission, no… It’s the beer belly I’m trying to walk off. Plus, when do you get to climb a narrow, stone staircase that was built six hundred years ago?

The Duomo was pretty incredible. HUGE in all caps is still is not large enough to explain how big the interior of this place is. With a capacity of 40,000, it can fit a fully attended Fenway Park baseball crowd. It's 135 spires are pretty incredible to see and the flying buttresses are impressive. 

They have a marble carved statue of Saint Bartholomew. I wouldn’t want to be old Bartholomew, at least not when they skinned him alive. Well, that is one of the stories of his demise. I wouldn’t want any of them actually. One story speaks of him being kidnapped, beaten unconscious, and cast into the sea to drown. Another account states that he was crucified upside down. The most popular story seems to be this skinned alive thing which often ends with his beheading. Makes Game of Thrones seem pretty tame. 

Things I have learned about Milan and it’s people:

1. Milan has an extremely large amount of book stores.
2. Everywhere that advertises “free internet” then tells us it is coming tomorrow or is broken.
3. Everyone smokes cigarettes, and then some.
4. Pizza doesn’t always come with cheese
5. Pizza doesn’t always come pre-sliced but it will come with a very dull knife.
6. God does NOT like men wearing hats in his big cathedrals. Women… not a problem. Men yelling at the man wearing his cap in the large cathedral, that is okay with God. Peculiar one, that supreme being.

There and Back Again (Day 02 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Milan) 30 April 2015

Completely passed out last night just after midnight; the most tired I have been since… I don’t know when. Tried to pack a bit, tried to do some research, didn’t make it ten minutes before succumbing to the sleep. Woke at 10am feeling rested. “Babies don’t sleep this well,” to borrow a line from Fight Club. 

A couple of cappuccinos, a chocolate croissant, a ham & cheese sandwich for Vân and we were off. Quick stop at the photography shop and on to find Flash Pizzeria for a late lunch. Fortunately we stumbled upon Via Della Spiga, a beautiful pedestrian shopping street with a fancy cafe where we had our first stand-up espresso. We felt very Italian.

That was about the only thing we could afford on this Via. Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino, Chopard, Tiffany, other high-end jewelers with armed guards outside, beautiful glass-enclosed courtyards… We made our way through the maze of streets toward the Duomo where a souvenir shop attendant pointed out the way to Flash. Our waiter was not as friendly as the souvenir guy, but we got our Caprese de Bufalo salad, two pizzas and two Peroni draught beers. The food and drink was good and the travelers were happy.

Between our late start and our leisurely meal, we missed the last entrance to the Duoma Terrace. We’ll have to wait to walk on the world’s largest Gothic Cathedral’s roof another day; meaning tomorrow as it’s our last day in Milan.

Vân learned about a “secret” craft-beer bar from the New York Times “Milan in 36 Hours” video. We walked… and walked… and walked that pizza and beer off. We walked and got lost and got found again. We walked, guided by our excellent Ulmon City Maps 2 Go iPhone app which allows one to download an off-line, interactive city map. Life saver. We walked and finally found it, only to be told it was closed this day for a wedding. Married people ruining my day again. The Fonderie Milanesi reminded me of Freeman’s for those lucky enough to have been to this Manhattan gem. We then turned around and walked home. Over 20,000 steps according to my Dick Tracy pedometer watch (actually my Basis watch, which I wouldn't recommend). 

We passed the Duomo again on our return trip and it was packed. A choir and orchestra were preforming for the opening night of the Expo Milano. Apparently, and you may not have known this, but the Expo Milano is a big deal. Don’t ask us what type of Expo it is, we never found out. 

As soon as one raises their phone to take a photo in this town, it seems an Asian person pops up in front of said person and lifts their phone to take their picture and ‘enhance’ yours. I’ll have an album of Asians taking photos of Europe by mid-July. 

Better photos... and photos of Asians taking photos of the Duomo tomorrow.