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| Here comes the bride - no, of course it's not Erin! This wedding involved the whole town of Vernazza and was great fun to watch as part of the crowd |
| Erin's Cinque Terre Journals 5-25-02 Saturday in Cinque Terre, we awoke late. The pounding of the surf was a nice noise to wake up to, and we listened lazily to the local restaurants in the square below as they began receiving their groceries and supplies that morning. After we got up and started getting ready to hike (a major attraction for tourists are the trails that run between each city along the mountainsides), we noticed that there were some major preparations being made down there, and went to check it out over breakfast. We noticed a couple of women decorating a wrought-iron balcony with gorgeous white roses, lilies and other white flowers, and asked the occasion. Sure enough, a wedding was to take place that day, and we noticed several other of the town's establishments taking part in the preparations. A large staircase across the square from the church (which was next to our building) had been draped with white ribbons & flowers and greenery, while a nearby restaurant was setting up a lavish banquet area for the reception. Intrigued to see the local wedding customs, we decided to hang around until noon when the ceremony was over to watch what was going on and possibly get a couple of good photos. Around 11am, the big church bells rang a short 'Here Comes the Bride' medley, and anticipation got high. We'd been seeing nicely dressed guests arriving for about an hour, milling about in the square as they waited, along with many of the town's locals who had gathered merely to see the bride in her finery as she proceeded to the church. Sure enough, the whole crowd applauded as she came down the stairs on her father's arm and walked across the square to the church. It was great to see how involved the whole community was with this event. After the ceremony, the guests all came back out and gathered in front of the church, waiting to throw rice on the happy couple. When they did finally emerge after pictures, they were pelted with rice for at least 15 minutes, while they stood in the square and bussed each guest on each cheek and gave hugs and received congratulations. Then the crowd suddenly disbursed, and we got ready for our hike. The hike to Monterossa (town 5) was supposedly the hardest of the hikes, so we decided to do it first and see how we felt about continuing to other towns that day. We started up the hill and were almost immediately out of breath. It was hard!!! We continued up rocky stairs and switchbacks for about 15 minutes in the hot sun before we got a few level feet to take a breather, then continued on at a slightly up then downhill path for another 40 minutes along the mountain cliff. We had some spectacular views of the water far below us and the towns, but some areas of the trail were pretty scary. I was glad not to be carrying anything, as we went by some backpackers that I was sure would be plummeting off the cliff around some of those tough corners! It wasn't wide enough for two people to pass in many parts of the trail, and there were no handrails or guardrails between us & the cliff. By the time we reached Monterossa, we were ready for a break!!! We panted into town, soaked in sweat and ready for the beach. Luckily, Monterossa has the best beaches of any of the Cinque Terre towns. Now all I needed was a bathing suit! Remember, my bikini top had snapped off in Positano, so I had no more bathing suit. We shopped a bit and finally found a good one, so I quickly changed into it so we could hit the beach. But lunch first. We found some good snacks and sat to eat, noting the Lemon Festival going on there. There were many tables of young kids selling lemonade, and we made sure to try one 'with sugar.' We watched another tourist try the 'without sugar' variety and just about squeeze their mouth off at the sour taste! Finally, the beach. We lay in the sun for about 3 hours, letting it bake out some of the soreness from the hike. When the sun started leaving us, we got up and found some yummy gelato along the beach front, then hit the next train down to Viamaggiore (town 1). The hike from here to Manarola (town 2) was the easiest of all, and paved at that! Plus, it has the distinction of being titled 'Via Del Amore', or Lover's Lane. We walked around Riomaggiore first to check it out briefly, but quickly hit the trail to Manarola, as the trails closed at sunset and it was getting late. Sure enough, it was a nice, easy hike, and we got some wonderful sunset views at the end of the trail. We then went in search of dinner, as many of the restaurants smelled great. But they all had waits, and one in fact flatly refused to seat us, saying 'We are full for the nite!!!' We did see a couple we'd noted on the train the day before and met again on the trail to Monterossa, and after saying hello, they cued us in to a wine bar nearby that had live music later. We agreed to meet them there later and found dinner at a little pizzeria across from it. The dinner was ok, and we ran up to check on the last train back to Vernazza before going to the wine bar. The couple, Taylor and Becky of Colorado, were wonderful and joined us for some wine and listening to a couple of great songs before we had to leave for the train station. We were glad they had recommended the place to us, as it was a charming way to end an evening. |
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| Sunset from the Via Del Amore, or Lover's Lane |