Cinque Terre, Italy 

June 27-July 2, 2011

Our little slice of La Dolce Vita! We visited before in 2004 and have wanted to go back and finally did!

Arriving in our temporary Cinque Terre apartamento in Riomaggiore, the southernmost of the five...

Our apartment in Riomaggiore, our Cinque Terre home for a few days that we rented from a sweet familia who doted on Colin.

Colin's excited to be here too!

Riomaggiore the night we arrive, sun is slowly setting, gorgeous. AAAHHH, so happy to be here! It's such a magical place, soaking it in...

The buildings look like they are about to tumble into the ocean and fall in on one another

In just a few days, our 3 year old Colin has taken his first domestic flight, first international flight, taken taxi cabs, trains, subway trains, trams, and rental cars; slept on a plane, car, and two new beds in different countries...he's actually done amazingly well and adjusted to everything beyond my expectations. So awesome! A little world traveler :) We're still adjusting his sleep schedule though--we wakes up around 3-4 am each morning so far, but eventually goes back to sleep! 

Day 1, walking the Via del Amore to the next couple of towns-Manarolo and Vernazza-to explore, swim, eat, chillax. Colin is adjusting to jet lag and was up in the middle of the night and is cranky...he's not so impressed with the Via, nor the majestic ocean and mountains clashing, nor does he want to pose and smile for a picture.

View leaving Riomaggiore as we walked along the Via del Amore. 

The above pic is still Riomaggiore, looking back at it as we walked on the Via toward Manorola. We couldn't walk all the way on the Via because it was closed after Manorola due to rockslides during the late Winter/Spring on three places between Vernazza and Corniglia.

Colin was most excited to hop the train pronto to Monterroso al Mare. We ate lunch beachside on the boardwalk, and I got my pesto al trofie (this is the birthplace of pesto!), rented chairs and an umbrella on the beach where they had this handy slide for the kiddos, and cooled off on the pebbly beach in the very refreshing blue water. Colin made a little redheaded friend named Lorenzo.

Colin climbing

that's me in the hat "manning" the slide so Colin was safe and Colin in the brown baseball cap

Colin loves his Daddy!

Daddy loves Colin!

Everyday is la dolce vita for Colin

Lorenzo, Colin's playmate for the day

View from our beach spot in Monterosso al Mare

Colin loves Cheetos, Cheese Puffs, and Cheese Curls, thanks to his very own Nonna, who got him hooked at home.So, he was thrilled to find these Italian Cheese Puffs at the beach snack shack in Monterosso.(He calls them Huffs & Puffs, you know, like as in huff and puff and blow your house in!?!)I liked them because they didn't have impossible-to-get-off-neon orange cheese off his fingers!

Colin climbing steps up from our apartamento. 

Heading back to our apartamento in Riomaggiore, I shopped (fast-they closed between around 7 pm each day) at the fruit stand and little co-op grocery store. Dinner was Caprese salad, spaghetti al aglio y olio, sliced nectaries and Prosecco. I was pretty proud of myself for throwing together a great meal in about 30 minutes and the al fresco setting was pretty awesome!

Cin Cin to the Cinque Terre!

Cin Cin!

A great end to a great first full day in the Cinque Terre!

Scott on the rocks in the Vernazza harbor

Vernazza

Another view of Vernazza harbor

Carrie at Vernazza

It was HOT and sunny after the fog burned away that day so we decided to just hop the train again and go back to Monterosso...if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Colin had a great time on the beach and so did we, so we sought out a place to eat lunch where we'd been on our previous trip and loved...

Fantasia di Bruschetta and insalata at the oldest vinoteca in Monterroso.
We had been here on our first trip and easily found it again--so fabulous!
It was just as great as we remembered it! Picked up some nice limoncino too...

Look closely, there are achuge (fresh caught anchovies) on the platter, and they're not bad, especially if you chase it with an olive or two. The ones with the tapenade are amazing too. And the bread is perfectly toasted and rubbed with garlic. Really, the simplest food with great quality ingredients, and attention to detail is what I prefer to eat and cook all the time! 
I think I must have been Italian in a former life..

And now I must have my macchiato, per favore!

Colin and Mommy...Mommy, look how great I am at the Birdy Game (Angry Birds!)

Just another OLD building on the street in Monterosso in the Cinque Terre.
Bougainvilla grows wild and explodes all over here...I love it!

Colin's  new favorite "blue juice" (Powerade)

 We spent the day relaxing and playing on the beach again in Monterosso.
Colin and Scott napped on the beautiful beach in their very comfy lounge chair.


Oh, and as I'm writing this blog post, Scott reminded me that this was the last time he was wearing his new favorite shorts... On the way back as we rushed to get off the train getting back to Riomaggiore, tired from a long day of swimming and beaching with a 3 year old and lazing about on the beach, I realized--just as the train was out of the station--that I left my resuable Vera Bradley shopping bag  on the train. It contained: a pair of Colin's shorts that were hand-me-downs, a $2 pair of my black Old Navy flip flops, and Scott's brand new-$50-bought-just-for-this-trip-technical fabric-quick-drying shorts! I was pretty sorry and Scott was soooo unhappy with me... the cost of La Dolce Vita...

And another dinner al fresco on our terrace 
that I whipped up in our apartamento like a good Italian mama...


My version of Spaghetti Carbonara with fresh eggs (they don't refrigerate them!?!!) and Parmegiano Reggiano, sundried local tomatoes and proscuitto, chopped caprese salad with fresh mozzerella (the butcher explained that it was from a cow's milk from a farmer just down the road :) with balsamico, ripe pears and a little more Parm, cherries, ICE COLD water we froze, and Prosecco. All local products of course, purchased from Riomaggiore co-op and grocers.
The weather was balmy, the food and drink divine....


A tip if you go: when you shop, put your things in a little basket, then wedge your way up to the deli or cashier counter and put your basket in line behind the other baskets, then you pay and be on your way. The local Prosecco was so great and only about 3-4 Euro--a great deal & cheaper than a Coke!

The main (and only) street down to the harbor and train station in Riomaggiore .
Our apartamento was up the street and around the corner. 

Riomaggiore in the morning...we decided to get on a ferry tour boat that would take us to another picturesque coastal city just south of the Cinque Terre and then back to see each one of the Cinque Terre towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterroso al Mare) from the sea before getting off at Monterossa again for our final day.

View of the San Lorenzo church and Andria Doria Castle as we enter Porto Venere,
a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

This is us on top of the Castle overlooking Lord Byron's Grotto below.  

Lord Byron's Grotto -- he supposedly came there to think and write...and maybe swim too?

View from Castle/Grotto looking north up the coastline. Another fortress in ruins is just up the hill.

Porto Venere. Rain threatened but held off over us, thankfully!

Colin LOVED climbing up the the castle/fortress and church. It was a bit overcast, and rained threatened, but it just added to a really cool vibe to this place. So much history...amazing. 

This was part of the jail cells in the castle and we explained that is where people go when they do bad things...and he miraculously sat down and posed for this picture! 

The sun broke through and illuminated the great colors of the buildings of Porto Venere. 

Porto Venere

Another view of San Lorenzo Chiusa (church) and castle ruins as we left Porto Venere

The water is amazingly clear and green-blue

Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, Italy

A little more of Riomaggiore as the mountain splits it in two sides 

Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore

Manorola...notice the amazing terraced vineyards

Corniglia...sitting way up on its perch...with nudist beaches below

Vernazza...see the craggy rock coast and more terraced vineyards

Vernazza

Vernazza

Monterosso al Mare

On the rocks after getting off the boat for our last day in the CT!

Check out the black fog rolling in, which it does pretty much daily. This is part of the perfect conditions for the grapes  on the mountainside terraced vineyards.

Monterosso

You know that Andy Samburg SNL short film?!?...I'm on a boat! 

I'd hoped to see the sunset, but the gray fog rolled in to cool and protect the grapes on the mountain. But this is still pretty awesome--our view from Riomaggiore at the beginning of the Via del Amore, looking up the coastline at the other towns of the Cinque Terre. The sun is peeking through and shining down on Monterosso. We have wine, Colin is falling asleep in the Gladiator...
a bit of La Dolce Vita! 

Vernazza

Riomaggiore, from Scott's iPhone while on a bike ride

Riomaggiore, from Scott's iPhone while on a bike ride

Road up and out of Riomaggiore, from Scott's iPhone while on a bike ride

Murals painted on the wall commemorating the Giro d'Italia the passed through Riomaggiore in 2009, and grape harvest. Taken by Scott's iPhone while on a bike ride

The funicular used to tend and harvest the grapes on the terraced vineyards

Bridge leading out of Riomaggiore, taken by Scott on his iPhone while on a bike ride.

Riomaggiore, taken by Scott on bike ride

View to sea from Riomaggiore

More terraced vineyards, apartment houses, and church in Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore...Scott is riding WAY up high on his bike and his iPhone gets some fantastic shots!
 Last bike ride in the CT for Scott...and we pack up and head out of there to Munich to settle into our apartment and new life for next three months! This was a great place to get out our jet lag and spend family time together before Scott starts to work.