Cinque Terre

< Hiking from Vernazza to Corniglia.

^ Notice on the sign "to Corniglia" the small

barred circle in the bottom left corner. It's crossing

out a stiletto, this made for a good laugh.

Cinque Terre in Italian literally meaning “five lands” consists of five picturesque villages’ nestled on the rugged Italian coastline. The five villages are, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. You can hike to each of the villages, either on the coastline or in the mountains. The scenery is stunning, with the sparkling Mediterranean, the vineyards on the hills and the quaint Mediterranean style towns.

We stayed just outside of Cinque Terre in a town called La Spezia. It was not a nuisance to get around thanks to the trains connecting all the towns along the coastline.

Our second day there we decided to do a bit of hiking, as that is what most people come there for. The trek ended up being harder than I expected, but this may be due to the fact that we chose the hardest and longest two trails. Unfortunately, we started our walk a bit late and were stuck in the afternoon heat, but the view and the beach that awaited us after we were finished the hike made it worth while.

Cinque Terre is hands down, the most breathtaking place we have visited on our trip so far and it will be hard to beat in terms of landscape. The only thing that would be a turn off, is that there are bucket loads of tourist, this impressive strip of the Italian coastline is the least “Italian” place we’ve been to during our trip. I’m thankful we weren’t there during the heart of summer vacation, because that place would be packed like sardines with globetrotters.

The fact that we stayed outside (in a town called La Spezia) of these five towns was enjoyable. On the streets of La Spezia, there wasn’t a word of English, only musical Italian, this sound enhanced by the delectable smells wafting out of the trattorias and the gelato shops. Although notable travel writer Rick Steve’s quoted, “If you want the easy life, stay in Monterosso…” we found it pleasant to stay a bit outside the vacationist’s zone and get to mix in with the locals.

An amazing place to visit, even if it was a tad touristy. Beautiful, stunning and well worth the trip.

Menton

Our one night lay over to cut the lengthy trip to La Spezia in two. We spent the day relaxing on the pebbly beach, soaking up the sun and taking one icy dip in the turquoise water’s of the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, our hotel was slightly on the dingy side and the restaurant we ate at was less than appetizing. C’est la vie, I guess we will know for next time.

Arles: La Flamboyante

What a city, as small as it may seem it lacks nothing in character. After crossing le Rhone you find yourself in a town full of original sights, sounds and flavors, that also happens to be embedded with a handful of ancient Roman artifacts.

Our (my Dad, my Mom, Sarah and myself) day started off at Arles’s amphitheatre, modeled after the “Coliseum” it dates back to 100 AD. Back in the day, the arena used to be able to hold up to 25,000 spectators who came to watch the gladiators fight to the death. Today it only holds half of what it did in the days of the Roman’s and bulls and matadors have replaced the gladiators, but the monument continues to be a window to the past. We had a good chuckle (but I think my Mom’s laugh can be classified as a guffaw) when my Dad gave us some well kn

own words of advice just before we entered the inside of the amphitheatre. I believe the exact words were… “Whatever happens we stick together… Has anybody had any military training?” I swear I could have mistaken him for Russell Crow ;)

From there, we headed to the ruins of a Roman theatre, St Trophime cathedral and the noted neighborhood la Roquette, where we found an intriguing market that provided us with fresh and flavorful lunch. The fresh produce and mouth watering French cuisine made for an appetizing lunch.

We finished the day with a visit to the museum of Roman antiquities, which ended up being a nice, quiet way to end our visit. My Dad even found his counterpart, a statue of Julius Caesar, which is why we now refer to him as Jules or Guius (Caesar’s nickname as a child.)

That night we ate at an unforgettable restaurant called “Restaurant le Plaza”. One of the best meals I have ever eaten. A “must go to” restaurant if you ever find yourself in the area. A cool side story to this outing, was that we found out that the “Gypsy King’s” are from Arles, who knew?

A great visited to an interesting town that can be classified as a Roman artifact itself.