Another morning spent traveling through Italy's coast. The city of the day was Cinque Terre and we town hopped the entire day. Cinque Terre is known for the famous colorful houses on a hill photo posted all over Instagram. There are five towns located in this area of Italy and some surrounding the area as well. Since there are so many villages to cross off the list, definitely have a game plan if you're thinking about visiting all of them. We booked a train from Florence to Monterosso and that was the only definite plan we had. It ended up working out in our favor and we were able to visit three of the villages.
Since I was traveling with my spontaneous boyfriend, he made the suggestion to get off a stop early at La Spezia because there were boats and it looked pretty. I was hesitant about the idea but ended up going with it. We got off and had no idea what to do or where to go so we just started walking. The streets are beautiful and have the colorful vibe of Cinque Terre even though La Spezia isn't technically one of the five villages.
After walking the main drag and buying a postcard for my collection, we heard music and decided to follow the sound. A minute later we were met with a view of white tents. It was a fair or a festival or something like that. There were stands with cheese, meats, fruits and vegetables, nuts, snacks, clothing, you name it, they most likely had a stand for it. This festival went on for MILES. I wish I was exaggerating but I am most definitely not. There were so many stands that we didn't see them all and even if we tried, it would have taken us a week.
Since La Spezia is located right on the water, they have lots of yummy seafood around. On a side street of the festival, we stumbled upon a food truck and ordered fried calamari and french fries. Since living in Italy, my new thing when it comes to dipping sauces is mixing ketchup and mayo. I know it's basic and people have been doing it for years but I just found out about this and my life is changed forever. We sat down with our legs dangling over the side of a marina to eat our food and it was delicious.
We spent most of the day in La Spezia, but booked a train to one of the Cinque Terre villages, Riomaggiore around mid-day. The train was ten minutes long and we were there by 2:30pm. This was where the iconic colorful houses on a hill were, and they were so instagram worthy. Exploring this place was a little exhausting since the roads were steep hills.
From the train station we wandered, which has been a common theme throughout this trip as we really don't have a plan. We stumbled upon a restaurant directly on the water and stairs that led down to a cluster of huge rocks in the water. People were climbing and sitting on them for photos and to enjoy the view. Obviously we had to follow suit and found ourselves scaling rocks in Riomaggiore. Another set of stairs let up and up and up to an area built on the side of the mountain. I thought of it as a hike but I think it was just a bridge. We continued the journey around the mountain, taking timer photos along the way.
In the main area of the city, we found yet another place that served fried calamari and how could we resist? We ate it in about ten seconds. Then I found a place to buy a postcard, we saw lemon and orange trees and booked our next train to Monterosso.
Monterosso is more of a beach town and most of the beaches in Italy are rocky with no sand, that's how it was here. The light from the sun went away fairly early because of the mountains so we weren't able to have a beach day (it was also getting late) but we got dinner here. It was hard to pick a place but we landed on a small restaurant called El Dorado Wine Bar.
We sat down around 6:30pm which is not the typical dinner time for Italians. Usually during this time, Italians will meet up with friends and get what's called "aperitivo." This is almost like an appetizer and is when drinks are ordered and small snacks are given to the table. It is more of a social thing here. So, people around us were drinking spritz and eating small snacks all while we ordered the biggest (and best) meal of our trip. I ordered a panino (i'm obsessed) and RJ ordered a pesto pizza. Needless to say, it was devoured in record time.
My favorite thing about the Italian lifestyle is the slow living part. Sitting down to appreciate and enjoy food is normal. The waiters never ask customers to leave the table if they are finished with their meal, no matter how busy, and the customer always has to ask for the check. We sat at this restaurant for hours debriefing our trip so far, taking in the views, and appreciating each other's company. That's what it's all about.
BS