We came to Bisceglie because it has one of very few camp sites currently open in the Bari area and at the end of the month (in two days time) we are scheduled to leave Bari on a ferry to Durres in Albania. We are finally making proper progress on our journey to Greece.
Bisceglia is a fair sized town of 50,000+ some 20 miles north of Bari. It was around in Roman times (known then as Vigiliae) but didn’t really come to prominence until the 11th century after being conquered by the Normans. Agriculture (olives) and to a lesser extent fishing are the main activities in the area but lately tourism has also become important.
Trani from our camp site
Bisceglie from our camp site
Our camp site was some 2 kms north of the town centre and it was a lovely sunny walk along the promenade to the harbour and then into the old town which adjoins the harbour and is wholly residential except for the cathedral and a handful of small cafe bars. The cafe bars were full of locals and there was no sign of tourism or any other form of commercial development. The lanes are wonderful and were a breath of fresh air after some of the places that we passed through during our drive down from Vieste.
We enjoyed a wander around both the harbour and the old town and stayed long enough to enjoy a late breakfast in an old town cafe and an early lunch sitting outside a harbour cafe.
Breakfast amounted to a chicken taco and a local beer (okay it was early for booze but we are on a kind of holiday) while lunch comprised the local bread and four very large prawns coated in chopped almonds. One thing I missed out on was a Bisceglie Sospiro. This is a light sponge cake, the flour of which is flavoured with lemon zest, filled with a vanilla infused cream and coated with a thin sugar glaze. According to local legend, when Lucrezia Borgia, the countess of Bisceglie, wed Alfonso of Aragon, the nuns of the San Luigi convent prepared these little cakes for the wedding celebrations. Other stories say that the Sospiro was invented by a romantic confectioner who was inspired by the shape of his lover’s breasts. The cakes are breast shaped.
Prawns coated in chopped Almonds
Bisceglie Sospiro
We stayed for two very enjoyable and relaxing days.
One other thing, there were some rather bizarre sculptures on the harbour of which I can find no detail. They included 3 pairs of shoes right by the waters edge, a pair of hands (cut off at the wrist) and a most curious fisherman. If anyone knows anything about these, please drop me a line…
Whilst we were in Vieste a local chap, Francesco, had recommended we visit Trani; a fair sized town of 50,000 people further south on the Adriatic. Trani was en route to our next planned stop of Bisceglie and, while my admittedly limited research on the place suggested there was not much to see (It’s real interest is in it’s history – it was a major jumping off point for many of the Crusades) we decided to give it a try.
We elected to follow the coast road. We figured it would be slower but more picturesque and; it was for the first few miles across the Gargano Peninsula to Manfredonia and; it should have been impressive beyond that but, so far as Vanya and I are concerned… Well, read the travel blurb and it will tell you of the numerous luxury holiday resorts all with blue flag beaches that adorn this particular stretch of the Adriatic coastline. It will tell you too of the beauty of the Riserva Naturale di Stato Saline di Margherita di Savoia. Sorry, not when we were there. We drove the coast road all the way from Manfredonia, through Zapponeta, Margherita di Savoia and Barletta to Trani and, honestly, it looked like an extensive plot from Dawn Of The Dead. The first half of that journey we passed countless holiday resorts and camp sites; every one of them closed if not derelict; shredded flags blowing in the wind and rubbish, tons of rubbish and dumped furniture, strewn along both sides of the road and; no people. The second half of the journey it was salt marshes; miles of flat, featureless salt marshes occasionally punctuated with metal skeletons that I assume were some form of industrial processing plant and small mountains of salt and; rubbish, tons of rubbish and dumped furniture strewn along both sides of the road and; no people. And it was grey and it was raining and all very apocalyptic.
We arrived at a bad time, about noon, when every self respecting Italian is off for a two or three hour lunch) and the ensuing lack of activity around the town combined with worsening weather (heavy rain clouds were forming) ruled out one of my favourite pastimes – people watching over a glass of wine or two.
We decided that, because Trani is a historic fishing port, anything worth seeing would be down by the seafront and so we made for the harbour. I knew too that the Cattedrale di San Nicola Pellegrino, one building that I am keen to see, is also by the harbour.
It was easy to find the harbour and we parked up on a delightful square almost on the marina, the Piazza Plebiscito. There followed a brief wander around the marina (taking the usual tourist snaps as we went), and then a stroll along the harbour walls and promenade and through the adjacent 19th century gardens (the Villa Comunale).
In the Villa Comunale
We decided against a trip across to the cathedral because the sky was darkening at an alarming rate and we were denied any decent photographic opportunities as a result of it being totally enveloped in scaffolding for renovation purposes. Just my luck! By the way, I am talking about the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas the Pilgrim, not the other better known Saint Nicholas of Santa Claus fame.
How the Cathedral should look…… and how it does look
The weather is set to deteriorate. It is time to move on. We therefore booked a ferry for the evening of 30 September from Bari to Durres in Albania. And in the meantime? We decided upon a leisurely drive down to Bari which would include at least a 2 day stopover at Tenuta Padre Pio, a hotel complex near Vieste, with a view to spoiling ourselves a little. Sod the weather!
We headed south on the A14 motorway when, within 120 kms of Bari, the Satnav turned us around and sent us almost 30 kms back north on the coast road towards Vieste. It was a most confusing route but very scenic. We traversed the Gargano Peninsula (through the Parco Nazionale del Gargano) and while it wasn’t the best of roads (steep, narrow and winding – Vanya crept to the back of the Van and went to bed) it made for some wonderful views to the south (and we passed a “sounder” of wild boar on the way).
Vanya’s final photo at Porto Sant’ElpidioView south from the Gargano Peninsula
I would love to spend more time exploring the Gargano Peninsula. Jutting out into the Adriatic it is often referred to as the spur on the heel of Italy’s boot and that description does not do the place justice. In fact, this area is as scenic and close to unspoiled as you get in Italy. With towering forests of pine, oak and beech covering the hillsides it’s greener than just about anywhere else I have seen in Puglia and these forests contrast wonderfully with the stark white limestone cliffs and the deep blue sea. This is perhaps what is most endearing about this place – the diversity.
We were more than satisfied with the accommodation at Tenuta Padre Pio and that first evening we splashed out on a rather nice if somewhat expensive meal and a couple of the local wines. These were very local wines coming from the hotel’s own vineyards – no wonder the hotel has its own Enoteca and offers free wine tasting – but, while Vanya really liked her sparkling wine I was not wholly convinced with the red (but they served it chilled?!?).
Some interesting features in the hotel grounds but our accommodation was fine. Plenty of water taps and electrical points dotted around the grounds; I think they will add a camp site to the complex Restaurant was very busy for a Sunday night and my fish was goodLike I said, there are some interesting features in the grounds including these two representations of Padre Pio. They are accurate having been taken from actual photographs; he died as recently as 1968. He was beatified in 1999 and canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II after exhibiting stigmata.
We were up early the next day and at the Vieste Marina by 09.00. Being a Sunday morning the town was very quiet and finding a parking place for the Van was easy. Getting Vanya out of her bed is never so easy but, the offer of a boat trip around the grottos dotting the coastline of the Gargano Peninsula had her eating out of my hand. She’ll do almost anything for a ride on a boat and a grotto excursion would test the dogs in advance of our sailing in Greece. The only downside was that I would be expected to accompany them on the boat but as it turned out I was glad I did.
There were some fine views of Vieste as we motored off on our boat to the grottosFrancesco introducing us to the local fishing platform (il trabucco) and the real thing
Leaving aside some great views of Vieste and it’s beaches from our little boat and; our learning a little about local fishing methods from one of the boat crew, Francesco, and; not forgetting the local legend Francesco related concerning the Crystal Rock; we saw some quite spectacular formations that were cut out and sculptured from the (white) limestone and grey (flint) rock by the power of the sea – precipitous crags & cliffs, yawning caves & grottos, natural bridges, arches & towers.
It was amazing too how the skipper could so easily manoeuvre his boat into, around and out of some of these features (with the waves more often than not tossing his small craft all over the place) – Large colourful caves filled with any number of grottos, some with narrow ledges or beaches lit by shafts of light streaming only through a hole in the roof; others smaller, dark and empty; one with stalactites and; one particular cave with two very distinct caverns, one full of light and colour and the other dark and forbidding. My photos could never do them justice.
In terms of revisiting the Gargano Peninsula, one of these boat trips would be a great way to check out the local coastline for places to visit. We were introduced to all kinds of beaches; the long sandy public beaches either side of Vieste and, in total contrast to these, a series of hidden coves with small empty pebbled beaches backed by towering white cliffs. At the top of some of the cliffs are ancient watch towers (lookout posts against invading armies or pirates) and on others modern smart looking hotels (some with lift shafts running down to small secluded beaches); still others were just a mixed mass of rock and trees hanging precariously above the water but, all provided for stunning views both across the Adriatic and up and down the Puglian coast.
All too soon our tour was concluded and we were returned to Vieste but this is one boat trip I would recommend notwithstanding the 25 Euros per person cost. And the dogs? No charge for either of them and both coped well except that Nala didn’t look too happy once the waves became a little choppier.
Back on land, we thanked the skipper and his crew, especially Francesco, and hurried off for a fish lunch and some refreshments; followed by a brief walk around the delightful old town with it’s numerous staircases and tiny piazzas and then; back to the Tenuto Padre Pio for one last lazy night in a real bed (until the next time).
Feeling very tired as we arrived at Porto Sant’Elpidio and, instead of staying the one night (i.e. the 24th) and moving on to Vasto the next day, we elected to stay for a second night notwithstanding that the weather is worsening in the Marche Region and that it is expected to be much nicer to the south.
This was not the most thought out decision of this trip (not least because we have already booked into a Hotel Resort down at Vieste for the 26th and 27th) but sometimes you just have to slow down and Vasto and the Riserva Naturale di Punta Aderci will wait for some other time. Of course my leaving the sunroof open that first night and; it raining heavily for most of the night and; well, the Van getting half flooded did also influence our decision a little. Oops!
There’s not a great deal at Porto Sant’Elpidio. It is a typical Italian Adriatic seaside resort but the campsite we chose was comfortable and right on the beach such that when the rain wasn’t thundering off the roof you could hear the waves hitting the beach from inside the Van. There are worse places to be stuck while a Van dries out and Vanya was happy.
Journey from Villagio Sanghen wasn’t too far (126 miles) and mostly by the Autostrada but longish stops first at Lidl and then a motorway service station for lunch saw us arrive at Dozza in the Emilia-Romagna Region much later than we expected. Rather than rush around the place, we decided to spend the night in the Van on a very quiet and secluded car park on the west side of Dozza and leave the trip to the coast until the next day. That gave us time to properly explore the town during what was left of the afternoon and then return in the evening for a meal in a local restaurant.
Not far from Imola, Dozza is a small hilltop town overlooking the Sellustra Valley. It’s houses are built along the lines of old castle walls in a long thin shape which taper at both ends, almost like a spindle. At the eastern end of the spindle is an entry arch and at the western end, connected by two almost parallel cobbled streets, is the Rocca Sforzesca – Rocca Fortress. It is almost wholly pedestrianised with only the locals who live between the entry arch and the castle allowed to drive in the town.
It is magical – a medieval village doubling as an open air art gallery. More than 100 (some say 200) brightly coloured frescoes decorate it’s houses, shops and municipal buildings. There’s an abundance of colour everywhere you look but it is not graffiti style street art; it is far more. It is all to do with the “Biennale del Muro Dipinto”, a festival of painted walls which takes place in September every two years and which sees famous national and international artists descend on the town to paint permanent works on the walls of publicly and privately owned buildings. It is a street art museum and quite wonderful. Sod’s law – It’s been taking place every two years since 1960 and it was supposed to take place this year but it is a casualty of Covid.
Some of the artwork had me spellbound…see above
Not just murals…
It cost 5 euros but I just had to pop into the Rocca Sforzesca (Rocca Fortress). The original fortress was built 1250 but extended significantly some 250 years later and then remodelled again in the 16th century when the Malvezzi-Campeggi family sought to transform it into more of a dwelling place than a castle. Most of what you can see now is 15th century. With the exception of the dungeon and the kitchen which are packed with their respective fixtures and fittings the inside of the castle is quite sparsely furnished but there is enough there to provide a real mood about the place and everything is authentic.
Views across the countryside from the top of the fortress are breathtaking and the light was, I imagine, an artists dream. Although dotted with small woods of Oak, Chestnut and Ash the rolling countryside is largely cultivated with a mix of wheat fields, strawberry plantations, apricot and peach orchards and, of course dominating everything, an abundance of grape vines. This is the land of the Sangiovese and Trebbiano di Romagna reds and the Albana and Pignoletto white wine. Vanya will be interested in the Pignoletto (Grechetto) which is this Region’s Sparkling Wine or Frizzante. Not to be confused with Spumante, “Frizzante is softer, rounder and has frothier bubbles” or so I am told.
Talking of wine, the basement of the fortress holds an Enoteca (regular readers of this blog will perhaps recall the Enoteca I visited in Tuscany 2 years ago – that one cost me a small fortune). We were more prudent this time – just 4 bottles; 3 for Vanya and 1 for me.
That evening we left the dogs sleeping in the van for a couple of hours while we walked back into Dozza for something to eat. The cuisine in this region, Emilia-Romagna, is considered among the best in Italy. Particular products include Parma Ham (Prosciutto), Parmisan Cheese, Modena Balsamic Vinegar and some famous Tagliatelle Pasta dishes that Vanya was keen to try.
We found a very welcoming trattoria, Osteria di Dozza, with the chef coming out of the kitchen to explain the dishes (we cannot read Italian and the rest of the staff could not handle English). We chose a local cheese board to start with and then Vanya went for the Tagliatelle while I opted for grilled leg of mutton with garlic & rosemary potatoes.
The town was as magical in the evening as during the day…
What is most amazing about Dozza is that it is not at all touristy. There are no coachloads of tourists (we appeared to be the only visitors in the place during both the afternoon and evening) and absolutely no souvenir shops. It remains a simple village without any of the chaos and stress that now seems a part of everyday life. I do hope we find more like this one.
Despite it’s unabashed tourism and increasing number of theme parks, Lake Garda remains a favourite of most people I know who have visited Italy.
I first visited Lake Garda in 1970 as a teenager with my parents. I returned countless times in the 1980’s (whilst working in Milan with Foster Wheeler Italiana); called in on Sirmioni with Vanya during our honeymoon in 1991 and; overnighted there last year while making my way from France to Austria in the Van. This time, we elected to stay over for a couple of days on the quieter western side of the lake between the two small villages of Villagio Sanghen and Manerba del Garde.
Lake Garda from Villagio Sangher. Manerba del Garde is on the higher ground to the right
Talk about catering for tourists – a special beach for dogs and even a beach library!
These villages are quieter than most around Lake Garda, sitting as they do in the heart of the Valtenesi, a green area between Salo and Padenghe. While the lakeside remains a tourist area with its campsite and accompanying bars and restaurants (they are everywhere around Garda now), go inland to the village of Manerba del Garde and you’ll barely notice the tourists. The village has retained much of its traditional character and has a very rural style about it.
A mule symbol here too?
Village Bar/Restaurant
This is particularly true of the restaurant at which we stopped for lunch. We spent a lovely two hours in a local cafe restaurant there and were delighted at how very cheap the place was (especially having regard to the portions) – 3.5 Euros for a 15″ pizza! Just a few hundred yards away on the waterfront we’d have paid four times as much.
Euro 3.50 for pizza
Euro 3.50 for coldmeats
Who cares what it costs?
This is a wine producing area – Bardolino. I thought Bardolino was produced only to the east of Lake Garda but no, it happens in the Valtenesi too. In fact, in this particular area the focus is on Bardolino’s Chiaretto, a pale rose wine. I need to find some of that before we move on but if not, there’s one thing for sure about Lake Garda, we’ll be back.
The 200 mile drive from Baratier to Lake Maggiore was mostly motorway and we made good time but upon arrival at Stresa it became obvious that we would not be able to negotiate the Van along the narrow lane into the campsite. It took us another hour to find an alternative site at Feriolo on the northern end of the lake but it actually worked out well for us.
Feriolo is a small picturesque fishing village nestled into the northwest corner of the lake and we were very lucky to find it. Picturesque is an understatement.
Most of the western side of Lake Maggiore has succumbed to tourism and while Feriolo is not entirely without tourists (the campsite we stayed in is testimony to that) this place is one of the quieter villages in the area with just one small hotel and four cafe / restaurants (excluding the campsite pizzeria) and it has a very local feel. It has the only sandy beach in the area (if not the whole of the lake), a charming little promenade and the smallest most simple marina used predominantly by local fishermen. There is a small dock too where a ferry used to call but that ceased operating a while ago and the space is now filled by a statue of a mule, the symbol of Feriolo. The only other building of any note is the Church of St Carlo.
Looking East and down the lake
Looking West across Feriolo
Simple streets and houses, unchanged for years, surround the Church of St Carlo
That first night in Feriolo we chose to eat out at one of the four restaurants on the harbour, The Vistaqua. That’s Italian for “Water View” and the setting was great. So too was the pizza. Mine was filled with Gorgonzola, Pears and Walnuts (which combination worked really well) and it was accompanied by a fantastic but inexpensive Salento Primitivo. I cannot recall what Vanya chose to eat but it will come as no surprise to those who know her that she was drinking Prosecco.
The next day I witnessed the most impressive sunrise I have seen in many years and that combined with a promise of continuing fine weather prompted us to stay on another 24 hours. Time to get the BBQ out!
Today started somewhat inauspiciously but turned out well. I was to get a train from Sestri Levante to Camogli (at the northern end of the Portofino Peninsula) and then hike some 3+ hours across the peninsula to the San Fruttuoso Abbey (the Abbey can only be reached by foot or by sea) before getting a ferry back to Camogli and then the train to Sestri Levante.
I had bought the train tickets and was en route to Camogli when a local, bless him, explained that the ferries don’t operate in the winter and that my only alternative would be to charter a boat (very expensive). Immediate change of plan. I thanked the man, got off the train at Rapallo (which is located at the southern end of the Portofino Peninsula) and elected instead to check out Rapallo and then the two other small towns on the southern end of the Peninsula, Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure, before taking the train back to Sestri Levante. Camogli and the Abbey will have wait. Shame, Camogli sounds special and there’s an interesting dive off San Fruttuoso:
… the above photo (not mine) is of Christ of the Abyss, made in bronze and submerged off San Fruttuoso near where Dario Gonzatti drowned (the first Italian to use SCUBA). Could be a good dive. A second statue, cast from the same mold, is off St George’s, Grenada (a gift of the Italian Navy for help in rescuing the crew of a stricken vessel) and a third bought by the US in 1965 was placed off Key Largo, Florida
… Sod’s Law. To date, everywhere I have been, the dive schools have been closed. Today I learn about Christ of the Abyss and I come across two schools operating out of Rapallo, one leaving to dive the Abyss as I arrive and the other preparing for a wreck dive
Rapallo seems a lively place and would probably have made a better base to explore the area from than Sestri Levante. There was far more activity on the seafront than you would normally expect of a Sunday morning and the place seemed to be gearing up for a carnival of sorts (large families and every woman and her dog was out – it seems to be the women who walk the dogs here) but I didn’t have time to wait. I estimated it would take up to 3 hours to walk to Portofino and back and if I allowed myself half an hour in Santa Margherita Ligure and another 2 hours (including lunch) in Portofino, I would be back in Rapallo by mid afternoon to catch whatever has been planned and, in any event, have a proper look around.
… most of the way, first to Santa Margherita Ligure and then Portofino, there’s an easy footpath that hugs the coast. Even where there is no path, the road (especially the part after Santa Margherita) is virtually deserted because only local traffic may park in Portofino
I reached Santa Margherita within 25 minutes of leaving Rapallo:
… Santa Margherita Ligure (SML)
SML and Rapallo are alike in some respects, although Rapallo is larger. Both have a small castle. Both are long established fishing ports (although the fishing fleets of each now form a very small proportion of the boats in the increasingly large marinas) and the crystal clear bay of each is lined with palms and old fashioned hotels with stunning architecture. There’s a definite increase in the number of designer shops in both towns and prices are spiralling but they have a long way to go before they catch Portofino. Also, I didn’t hear much English spoken in either town. It was all Italian. You cannot say that about Portofino.
… Rapallo and Santa Margherita each has a prominent statue of Christopher Columbus (see above). He was actually born in Genoa but it seems all the towns in this area lay claim to him
… the views open up as you approach Portofino and some of the properties en route (and their views) are to die for
Just over an hour after leaving Rapallo I entered Portofino and; my first impressions? Put simply, it is striking.
I was all set to hate the place. It is described by Lonely Planet as “perfectly coiffured” and “even the trees are handsome”. That sounds so pretentious and plastic. Before I even knew I was going to visit this place today I had formed the view that it as an expensive, artificial tourist resort, attractive only to celebrities, would be celebrities and celebrity seekers. Portofino is expensive and it is a bit of a playground for celebrities (but they have to go somewhere) and there are a ridiculous number of designer shops given the small size of the place and it’s remote location but, otherwise, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The place is gorgeous. The pretty Piazzetta on the small harbour exudes tranquility and is great place to sit and relax with glass of wine or a coffee. I sat people watching for an hour, simply revelling in the atmosphere.
… In no time I had homed in on where I wanted to be and was sitting people watching with a perfectly fine glass of wine
As you look up from the harbour you will see Castello Brown on the left and the Church of St George on the right. There is a short flight of stairs to the right of the harbour that leads up to the church of St George. Beyond that is the Castello Brown. Entrance to the church is free but there is a 5 euros entrance fee into the Castello. I think it’s worth 5 euros of anyone’s money for the views alone.
… the first photo is the Church of St George photographed from the Castello Brown and the second is the Castello photographed from the Church
… Inside it is not so much a castle as a private dwelling which, I understand is what Montague Yeats-Brown (British Consul in Genoa) intended it to be when he bought and renovated it in 1867
… the views from the windows are stunning
It was a slower walk back to Rapallo. I attribute that to the wine and the sunshine but, I arrived in time to watch the tail end of the carnival (quite what they were celebrating, I do not know) and to have a little look around the town:
… If I didn’t know better I would have sworn I saw Will and Ro in amongst the “Onesies”
Today is different. Today is about walking the Cinque Terre from one magical village to another and experiencing the journey, the villages and the experience as a whole. I refuse at least for today to enter any castle, any monastery, any church.
Cinque Terre translates as the Five Lands and it comprises five small fishing villages (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore) strung along the rocky coast of Liguria between Levanto and La Spezia. Until quite recently they were linked by mule tracks and otherwise accessible only by rail or water. This is a beautiful part of Italy; so much so that the Cinque Terre is recognised as a World Heritage Site by Unesco and is now a National Park and Protected Marine Area. The really good news is that the mule tracks have been developed into an excellent trail and it is possible now to walk the route between all five villages and explore them all in the one day (although, if you have longer, why not take two or even three days?).
I started by taking a half hour train journey from Sestri Levante to the largest and most northerly of the five villages, Monterosso, and began my walk from there. North to South is recognised as the best approach in terms of views.
Monterosso is more of a small town than a village and it is dominated by the ruins of a castle and Churches of San Giovanni Battista and San Francesco. I promised to ignore castles and churches today and so restricted myself to a walk along the beach and a morning coffee in the sunshine. Monterosso has arguably the best beach in the area (large and sandy and, more to the point, free. So many beaches in Italy are privately owned and closed to the public – you’d never get away with that in Britain).
… the exit from Monterosso station brings you out almost directly onto the beach.
The trail to the second of the five villages, Vernazza, starts from just behind Monterosso Town Hall. There’s a charge of a few euros to use the trail (to pay for it’s upkeep) but this is waived in winter. It’s a well signposted route and, to start with, an easy walk up a stone staircase. Well it would have been easy had I not started on a second bottle of Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano last night.
… the start is easily recognised and the steps make for rapid height gain. The trail is good throughout with absolutely no exposure. If anything, there is too much fencing
The views soon begin to open up…
… that’s the first sight of Vernazza from the trail.
The small fishing village of Vernazza (population of just over 1,000) is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, although you wouldn’t think so if you came in from the back of the village as I did (see photos below).
… the trail brings you into the village at the back of the houses and even more washing is hung out at the back than the front. A lady was hanging out her washing as I took the first photo above. Look carefully or enlarge the photo and you’ll see her hanging out the window. Walk under her dripping wet washing and down an even narrower alley and you arrive at the pebbled cove that passes for a harbour and doubles as the village square…
… it’s a very small harbour and in winter or when a red flag indicates bad seas, the harbour restaurants have to remove their tables from the square so that the boats can be landed
Vernazza is a fascinating and beautiful place with it’s pastel coloured buildings and narrow lanes. Oh, and it has a 15th Century castle (which is really just a watchtower built to provide early warning of pirates) and there is a church built on the rocks – the Church of Santa Margherita di Antiochia. Enough said about those (although I really had to hold myself back from entering the church).
I stayed half an hour or so and then set off on the next stage towards Corniglia.
… that’s the view back over Vernazza and in the far distance you can see Monterosso
… an already good trail got even better over this second stage not least because it was generally wider. Don’t misunderstand me; the path was wide enough for me throughout but, in the Summer, when there will be hundreds of people walking the trail, I suspect that overtaking and/or passing people travelling in the opposite direction could be a real problem
… and above but not that easy to see in the photo is my first sight of Corniglia. It sits on the top of that spur about 100 metres above the sea
… closer still. It took another hour to travel from Vernazza to Corniglia and again the walk was wonderful, not least because the weather was magnificent all day.
Corniglia is for my part probably the least interesting and attractive of the Cinque Terre but that could be because of the disappointment that ensued.
No mention was made of this at the outset but the trail from Corniglia to Manarola is completely closed and a small part of the trail from Manarola to Riomaggiore is blocked off because of landslides. These two stretches of the trail are the easiest, each being just 2 km long and mostly paved but I was really enjoying the walk and I wanted, especially, to see Riomaggiore. What a bummer but… all was not lost. There’s a railway station at Corniglia and I took the train to Riomaggiore.
… Simple, really. Train from Corniglia to Riomaggiore. I could have alighted at Manarola but it would have added the best part of 2 hours to my trip because of the poor connection times. Taxis are non starters around here. They simply don’t tolerate non-essential motor traffic in the villages
I would have liked to complete the walk but I don’t regret taking the train to Riomaggiore. It is the most southerly of the small fishing villages that form the Cinque Terre. Like Vernazza and Manarola, Rio consists mostly of old pastel coloured stone houses that are either cut into or cling barnacle-like to the sides of a steep rocky gorge:
I had lunch there (a bottle of the local white wine and Gnocchi with Shrimp and Spicy Sausage both at tourist prices), explored the place, walked almost all of the Riomaggiore to Manarola section from the other end of the Cinque Terre (until I reached the closed off part) and took the late afternoon train back to Sestri Levante. Except for having to pay silly money for lunch it was a great day and one I would repeat.
… there’s a fine looking church on the left (the Church of San Giovanni Battista of Riomaggiore) and; the path I stood on to take this photo leads to Via dell’Amore – see second photo – which is the paved path that forms the last section of the Cinque Terre and goes all the way to Manarola.
I came to the small seaside town of Sestri Levante as I need to keep moving north but also because, weather permitting, it is a reasonable starting point to walk the Cinque Terre. If the forecast is correct, the weather will improve over the next day or so and I am therefore leaving the Cinque Terre until tomorrow. Today was about Sestri Levante and a short coastal walk out to the Punta Manara and then on to Riva Trigoso.
It took me less than 15 minutes to walk to the heart of Sestri Levante. The town was originally built on an island but time, soil & sand and the ocean currents created the isthmus or promontory that is modern day Sestri Levante with the Baia del Silenzio (Bay of Silence) to the south and Baia delle Favole (the Bay of Fables) to the north. The latter was named in honour of Hans Christian Andersen who lived here for a period in 1883.
the Baia del Silenzio and the Baia delle Favole…
Until quite recently, Sestri Levante was little more than a fishing village and it is only now that tourism is starting to take a hold but even so, this town is unlike most of the other tourist spots on the Ligurian Riviera in that food and wine remains cheaper, there’s not a designer shop anywhere within the town precincts and it is almost entirely Northern Italians who holiday here.
Via Nazionale and the wholly pedestrianised Via XXV Aprile are the main shopping streets and while there are an increasing number of bars and restaurants opening, these two streets are still packed with small shops selling local produce (bread, wine, olive oil, cheese, salami and pasta and not forgetting ice cream – I tried the local cherry flavoured ice cream today; my first ice cream since arriving in Italy). There are also a number of (non designer) clothes boutiques but I can’t say I paid these particular shops any attention at all. Some of the shops looked very interesting and you could spend many hours here just window shopping and/or browsing.
… first photo above was taken looking south down Via XXV Aprile towards the Church of Santa Maria di Nazareth and the second at the northern end of the same street looking towards Viale Dante (which is not wholly pedestrianised)
There weren’t too many tourist type sites to see (no castle, no monasteries nor convents and relatively few churches by local standards). It is a place to chill; to eat, drink and relax although, as intimated above, it is within easy reach of many interesting hiking trails both inland and along the coast and I dare say that all sorts of water sports are available in the summer. In this latter regard, I understand they run whale watching tours from here. I was unaware the Mediterranean had any whales.
… just two interesting churches so far as I was concerned. The first was the tiny Chiesa di San Nicolo which looks to have been boarded up at least for the winter. The second was the Santa Maria di Nazareth, with its impressive neo-classical portico. Inside, this latter church was somewhat special…
… the inside of the Santa Maria di Nazareth was magnificent.
After exploring the town, spending most of my time taking photos down at the harbour and in the Santa Maria di Nazareth, I set off on my coastal walk which comprised three stages. Stage 1 was from Sestri Levante along the cliff tops to the Punta Manara headland. Stage 2 was a walk around and down the other side of the headland into the village of Riva Trigoso (for a late lunch). Stage 3 was a walk back to the Van from Riva Trigoso, taking in the Church of St Bartholomew on the way.
Branching off the Via XXV Aprile is a small lane (the Vico del Bottone) which leads to the Punta Manara trail. This trail is a short, easy, well marked coastal walk with no real exposure until you reach Punta Manare itself, where there is short rock staircase that leads to a narrow ridge at the end of which is a fine viewpoint. It took less than an hour to reach Punta Manara, passing just two people on the route (both going the other way) and there were some great views:
… a view back to Sestri Levante and…
… the view down to Riva Trigoso from Punta Manara and…
… the view south from Punta Manara and…
… the view down from Punta Manara
I pottered around for a while on the Punta Manara but within the next hour was sitting in a Riva Trigosa restaurant with a roast chicken dinner and the local white wine (just a half litre – I still had to get back to the Van) and capped it all off with an expresso. You order coffee here and an expresso is all you will get. It’s very Italian. I think the total cost was just over 10 euros and there was so much I couldn’t finish it – the food, not the wine.
The one hour walk back was mostly uneventful but I was impressed with St Bartholomew’s:
The weather improved throughout today. Here’s hoping it remains so for tomorrow.
I’ll leave you with a couple more photo’s taken in Sestri Levante but don’t ask me to explain them because I couldn’t but, they looked interesting:
