Alright, by now, Ray and I are completely citied out. Although they all quite intriguing and fascinating, we are in desperate need of a quiet, less populated spot to spend a few days. So we head to Tellaro, Italy, a precious spot south of La Spezia. It was stunning!!! Not quite something that is on the top 10 travel lists, but my guess is that it will be in not too long. We had an amazing view of the hills and ocean right from our hotel room.
From the looks of it, the majority of people who were not locals, were Italian tourists. And when I say the majority, I could count them all on my hands. This place is untouched! Very few people actually go there which just adds to the charmingness of its nature. Just a short walk from our hotel was a small beach with a beach shack serving beers and bruschetta. Ray and I loved just sitting with a corona, listening to waves crashing and soaking in the sun, nowhere to be and nothing else to have to get to. It was absolutely glorious!
Although we couldn't quite “get lost” in the town due to its rather limited amount of streets and such, we literally walked the same paths time and time again just to enjoy the views.
Some cute boats...
Another amazing part about this town was the food. Almost every restaurant had great reviews. We ended up getting a table at Il Gambero Nero (The Black Shrimp)… and boy am I glad we ended up here. Probably the best meal I have had so far on the trip (and that says a lot since the food has been great everywhere). The waiter didn't speak much English; however he could not stop talking about California… “Oh Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, I love thee places!” I think he really got a kick out of knowing we we from just down the street. We order an antipasti and each a pasta dish, before he cuts us off. He says, “No more!” Ray and I look at each other and think maybe he just wants us to order the second plata later. Italians pride themselves on long meals, so perhaps we were just ordering to quickly. No biggie, we’ll order more later. Minutes later, the waiter rolls out another table and sidles it up next to the one we are sitting at. Pretty soon every table in the joint has an additional piece to it. We had no idea what we were in for. First a plate of escargot, then stuffed squid, mussels, caparrachio, calamari, anchovies… before we knew it the entire two tables were covered with the most fresh seafood I have ever had.
Also, I was quite impressed with myself for trying everything, including the anchovies (which I refused to eat the night before). The pasta dishes come out next, beautiful! And huge portions. Now we realized why the waiter told us to stop. We didn't need anymore food after all those fantastic dishes. Yet we did have enough room to enjoy a delicious frozen lemon drink, yum yum yum!!
What a beautiful sunset!!
The next morning we head to Cinque Terre, a place I was super excited to visit. Literally, everyone I told that I was going there, had loved it!! Nobody had any bad words about this place. And how could they, the views were unbelievable!!
We stayed at an Airbnb in the old part of Monterosso (the northernmost of the 5 towns). The place was advertised as the smallest house in Europe, and although I do not think it is the absolute smallest, it was no bigger than a closet. I literally could sit on the toilet & take a shower while cooking dinner all at the same time, thats how small the place was. Regardless, we really couldn't beat the price and the location.
CT is known for many things, including great hikes, spectacular views, delicious wine and yummy pesto. We picked up some vino, pesto pasta and a salad from one of the local markets and had a nice dinner at our small home. Oh and yes, the stairway doubles as the dining room…
After falling in love the wine and the pesto, we knew the hike the next day would not disappoint. We woke up and were off to conquer the trails of CT. We began our trek from Monterosso to Vernazza. All the research I had done said that this is the hardest trek yet also had best views you could see. Pretty soon we were leaving Monterosso in the dust…
I must admit that this hike was definitely much more demanding than I had anticipated. The sun was blazing and it was pretty much walking straight up hill for an hour and a half, sometimes with stairs and sometimes without. It was difficult, especially since we were coming from much cooler weather in Ireland, Scotland, Austraia and Germany. Alas the views were spectacular.
After feeling like an enternity, we started to see a glimmer of the next town Vernazza, looking much like mirage off in the distance.
We’d then get closer and closer and the town would just look cooler and cooler. Brightly colored buildings stacked on top of each other over looking the tiny harbor. Lots of people putting around in the their boats, laying on the beach and enjoying a drink along the shore.
By now, Ray and I we starving so we enjoy some more bruschetta and a pizza right along the waters edge. What a sight to take in after that long hike. We then ventured through a small hole in the mountain, which of course was roped off but nobody was paying attention to that at all. Walk through the hole and come to a huge beach with tons of people all around. Completely not what I was expecting to see.
After putting around Vernazza, we jumped on the train to Corniglia and Riomaggiore. Very cute little towns... minus the hundreds of steps to get up to them.
We ended up taking the ferry back to Monterosso and got some great shots of the five lands along the way.
We went to dinner at Belvedere right along the water, a recommendation from our host. We had some delicious pasta and some unfavorable service.
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