Pianazza

Cinque Terre
A day at the beach… two actually, but this beach is somewhat different.
Cinque Terre was the destination I was anticipating the most; and the place I’m least likely to see again.

I was looking forward to the beautiful pastel buildings pressed into the valley along the coast. I could taste the peace of a tourist town with no cars, no golf carts and no scooters. A tourist destination, simply at a slower pace. A few more days on the coast, coffee on the rooftop above the town each morning, and a last few minutes under the moonlight at night. We got all those things. Cinque Terre is charming without a doubt. A tourist town that asks cruise ships NOT to come.

But why not return? Quite simply, it is the stop where we have no unfinished business. We did Cinque Terre and we loved it – maybe not the hill, but we loved it.
We saw every shop and every restaurant and lots of GELATO.
Cinque Terre (Five Lands) is five coastal towns. We stayed in Riomaggio in an airB&B with a large patio on the roof, overlooking the town. Just absolutely beautiful each morning, afternoon and evening. It was a great place to relax. Church bells make watches and alarm clocks unnecessary. We found ourselves in the middle of 3 churches within 300 yards.
We were told that the neighboring town of Monterosso had the best beach, which meant that the “sand" is better and the beach is set up with chairs and umbrellas. We had a nice relaxing day.

The ‘sand’ is actually a reasonably small gravel – and it was actually nice to go to the beach and not leave with sand everywhere. The waves wash it onto the beach and retract with a rattle as the turquoise water sifts through the rock. The visibility is like nothing I have ever seen. If I were scuba diving, I would expect 100 foot visibility.

Our second day at the beach was in Riomaggio. (We were somewhat stuck in town due to a national train strike). The beach here is like river rock and the rattle is even louder. As we swam (bobbed) in the water, we rode the swells that were sometimes 5 foot tall. The beach is just below the train as the train is turned inside the edge of the mountain.

Where the train comes out of the mountain at the base of the valley that creates the village, there is a plaza built on top of the train tunnel. Local children are playing soccer, riding tricycles, and drawing on the concrete with chalk - all in the same space as their parents watch out over them, all of this amongst all the tourist as they pass by to get to and from the beach.

We enjoyed. We relaxed. And we recommend (to those that can do lots of steps and steep hills), but we move on to the next Italian treasure.Read more