More Cinque Terrre

The following morning found us excited to start another wonderful day of hiking in Cinque Terre.  We got up with the sun, enjoyed some complimentary European hot chocolate (very rich) and headed for breakfast at the Pirate of Cinque Terre, a local pastry shop.  We had quiche, which we ignorantly ordered not realizing that Italians do not use eggs in their cooking that way.  The poor chef, a jovial guy, kept the hated entree on the menu because dumb American tourists like us keep coming and demanding food they're used to rather than try the local cuisine.  I made a note to never eat quiche in Italy again.  Alex was also informed that even though there were cannoli in the case that he would not sell them since they were left over from the previous night and therefore not fresh but also cannoli is a dessert-- not appropriate for breakfast.  Alex was a little concerned that she might not get to eat any cannoli in Italy since she was always asking at the wrong time.  However in Rome a cannoli sale to a tourist is more important than culinary tradition.


After breakfast, it was back to the trails.  As we clambered up the steep path, we passed a local woman who had to be in her eighties working the same steep incline towards the local cemetery.  Alex exchanged a few words in Italian with her; the content of which was something like "Pretty steep hill, huh?" and the old woman saying "Hard, but good for the body."  We left the hardy octogenarian and headed for Reggio, a refuge for the people of Vernazza when pirates came.

Along this trail, scenes from the death and Resurrection lined the path, much like outside Castlerotto.  We made it to the hermitage that served as a refuge and viewed the old church, perhaps more ornate than the one in the village below.  Unlike some of the similar sanctuaries we had seen the previous day, this church was decorated all the way around, with paintings on the ceiling and side walls.  If a medieval peasant knew the story of every scene depicted on these walls, their Biblical knowledge, devoid of any literacy, would be competitive with the modern Evangelical.

We continued on our way to San Savorigno, the site of a church with incredible history.  Legend (an awfully specific one) says that in the year 641, a pieta was hidden by local villagers during an invasion of marauders, and in the chaos that ensued the statue was lost.  A hundred years later, a priest out walking rediscovered the statue, and after several incidents where the statue moved itself back to the spot, a church was built here.  It was a beautiful sight.

After that, we headed to San Antonio, the hermitage of some Augustinian monks overlooking the city of Monterroso.  This journey took us until mid-afternoon, with trails we thoroughly enjoyed.  The background slowly transitioned from vineyards and olive trees to pines, reminiscent of Colorado if you could see the ocean from Colorado.  Pine trees gave way to craggy rocks as we passed into territory where the sulfuric salts left from volcanic activity left only the most specialized of flora represented.

Finally, we reached the hermitage.  The monks at this site, overlooking the five cities of Cinque Terre, acted as sentinels, alerting the people of Monterosso of incoming pirate activity.  Boy, did they have a view.  You could see all 5 of the Cinque Terre villages along the 10 miles of coastline from here.

We headed down to Monterosso, the most touristy of the five villages.  Beaches of imported sand offered sunbathers a more comfortable perch than the natural rocky terrain would typically afford.  We got some fried seafood in a cone and walked around, taking it all in.  Afterwards, we viewed the ruins of a Capuchin monastery.  Ironically, the original Franciscan (St. Francis of Assisi) is immortalized in stone just in front of the monastery.  We viewed another cool chapel, as well as a "clubhouse" for one of the clubs the Catholic church instituted to keep men devoted to the church as a part of the counter-Reformation.

After all this activity, we got some gelato and just sat and people watched.  It was a satisfying way to end a day full of activity and wonder, to take it all in.  We headed back to Vernazza via the train, sad that our time in Cinque Terre was at an end, but excited about the wonders that awaited us in Tuscany.  Omnia Vincit Amor.