TRAVEL

There is not much to do but walk at this Italian spot, but its the only way to enjoy the gorgeous views. Alan Robles takes the train to go

Chillin in

a spezia Centrale is a gritty railway station on italys northwest coast. arriving on the express from Rome in the heat of a summer noon, youll only have enough time to take in and forget the ambience (utilitarian). Then off you go to join the usual neurotic crowd of travelers anxiously peering up at the public monitor to check the status of their rides. You see, in italy, no matter what the printed schedules say, trains tend to arrive and leave when they want. sometimes on a different track than the one advertised. Found and boarded the correct train? settle down in a window seat on the left side with the soda you bought off the platform vending machine. The treno will ponderously roll out of the station, pick up speed, and then plunge into darkness as it suddenly enters a tunnel cut into a mountainside. The blackness lasts a few minutes, then you erupt into the light and what a light it is. The window fills with the vista of a pale blue sky, flecked with the occasional cloud, set over the darker blue of the Ligurian sea. is that a sailboat far below? are those medieval towers on rocky outcrops? Fumbling with the camera, you might just manage to scramble to your feet trying to compose a shot before the

The picturesque cliffs of Manarola

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Side streets in Vernazza

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A breathtaking view of Vernazza

train suddenly slows down and halts. Youve arrived at Riomaggiore, the first of the Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre (pronounced chink-weh te-reh) Five Villages. From south to north, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. ancient, isolated coastal towns wedged, and tucked into the folds, steep promontories, outcrops, and narrow valleys of a mountainous coast. separated by rugged terrain, inaccessible by car, the towns can only be reached by train, boat, and steep mountain footpaths. Each village is a colorful riot of houses and blocks of buildings that, like true italians, elbow, crowd, and jostle each other for the best vantage points. The pastel buildings lean over warrens of charming narrow streets, dark alleys, and winding stone steps that dip, rise, go sideways, and lead to unexpected places a small church, a tiny plaza, a laundry hanging out to dry. sharing the same stretch of Mediterranean coast as its tonier French counterpart, the Cinque Terres been called the poor mans Riviera, maybe because its inhabitants dont own yachts or run casinos. in fact, until recently, they were fishermen. They still fish, but their biggest catch now consists of shoals of german and american tourists, the latter typically equipped with books of Rick steves, the travel geek who helped put tourist crosshairs on Cinque Terre. now the villages offer TV, airconditioning, internet, and even massages. Each of the five has its charms. Vernazza and Manarola, with their postcard-perfect waterfronts,
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A local specialty acciughe or anchovies

surely account for terrabytes of camera card memory daily. Riomaggiores stacks of houses and buildings march down right to the waters edge, alongside a road that slides smoothly into the sea. Corniglia perches high up a cliff, needing a staggering climb of 400 steps to reach (tip: if you dont want to rupture something, take the mini-bus). sprawling Monterosso al Mare has both an old and new town and boasts the areas best beaches. on a good summer day, Cinque Terre will take the breath from your body and put romance in your heart. Whats there to do? nothing. no, really. Take a seat beside a table in the open-air cafe in front of Vernazzas harbor (go mid-morning, it can get crowded at noon). Have a caffe affogato, vanilla gelato drowned with a shot of espresso. Kick back. Watch the harbor and the swimmers. stare at the sea

and clouds. Read a book. The waiters wont drive you away. Laze long enough, and you might face the strenuous effort of deciding where to go for late lunch. stay longer, and youll start to understand dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing. should you decide to look for lunch, there are restaurants everywhere. as you might expect, Cinque Terres big on seafood. Try acciughe anchovies which are nothing like the briny tiny dark things we extract from flat cans. The acciughe in the Five Villages are large and can be served pickled, fried, or stuffed. Liguria, the region to which Cinque Terre belongs, claims to have invented pesto, so youll find bottles of it being sold in shops. seeing as how youre already there, would it be asking too much to set aside about 40 to 50 euros to blow on one fine meal? Round it off with a glass of sciacchetra, very sweet dessert wine. Ristorante Belfortes in Vernazza has an unbeatable combination of food and excellent location under the ruined watchtower by the harbor. The five towns are linked by train and ferry, but consider hiking the spectacular network of mountain trails between the villages. its at least 10 kilometers from end to end, a distance that will take five to six hours to cover. Youll need good hiking shoes, comfortable clothing, a bottle of water, and perhaps a towel. also a ticket to hike, bought at a tourist counter. You neednt do the entire stretch, facing the possibility of leaving your skeletal remains for some bemused tourists to someday find. Walk just segments of the trail, and youll still find unbeatable views. The only thing youll exhaust will be your camera batteries. The via dellamore, the lovers lane between Riomaggiore and Manarola, is a cakewalk, a concrete road threading through a covered gallery overlooking the sea. The next stage, Manarola to Corniglia, is a dirt trail that eventually leads to a huge drainage culvert under a train station. Take the mini-bus to the town, where youll find the path to Vernazza. This is a challenge. it twists, turns, and climbs, and in many places are little more than large rocks spaced apart. The views are breathtaking, and luckily there are benches where you can rest and wait for your heart to catch up. The final path, to Monterosso, is the most rugged people you encounter coming in the opposite direction are invariably slouching, moving like zombies, wheezing heavily, and drenched in sweat. no one will hold it against you if at this point you just decide to take the boat. after all, a vacation shouldnt be that exhausting. How about a nice, cold, and slushy lemon granita? AD