CinqueTerre - five villages right on the ocean on the west coast of Northern Italy - colourful, vibrant, full of tourists - and seeing 5 villages in one day is hectic. Assisi - peaceful, calm, beautiful landscapes, silenzio expected in most points of interest... and they remind you, if you forget.
Let's start with CinqueTerre:
We drove to La Spezzia (the name of which I could never remember, until Anne-Marie pointed out - "It's just Spezza with an "i". "... Oh yeah... (Yuki - he's a Sens player).
Anyway, here we are on the train from La
First stop: Monterosso
It's the only one with a beach town feel. Vibrant strip along the ocean, with sun worshippers galore, sea-fast-food, and foccacia with various toppings. Did you know foccacia originated in CinqueTerre?
Short stroll along the beach, and you find some amazing views. Here are a few:
That last one is a guy sculpted in a rock, holding up the balcony of a house.
Moving along the boardwalk I see a sign pointing to a Franciscan Monestary - of course, I'm intrigued, so I follow the trail. Another steep climb on a very hot summer day in Italy - hotter than yesterday's hike, I might add. But, nice escape from the hustle and bustle below.
Half way up, I found a cemetery, and I could see the monastery way way up the mountain...
... running out of time, and energy, I turned back to meet the group to go on to the
Next town: Vernazza
This is basically one main drag, from mid-way up the mountain where the train stops, down to the ocean. Lots of shops and restaurants in between, but that's about it...
Pizza place had some interesting shaped pizza doughs...
Next stop: Coniglia
Mid-way through now, and people are starting to get tired. Off the train, and the first thing you notice is that the village is many, many steps UP!!! Group wasn't too keen on climbing, but fortunately (for me...), we had a few troupers. Anne-Marie and Ryan came along for the climb to see the village from the top. Here's Anne-Marie at the top, just to prove that she made it...
Oh, and here's the obligatory picture of Ryan with his arms stretched out to show "how big". Not sure what this means... and haven't seen any other of those so-called "obligatory" pictures, but in any case, Ryan: your picture.
Then, it was off to Manarola, another village built up on a hill, with a main drag that ends up at the water. Frankly, this is starting to get repetitive - did we really need 5 of these. I think DuoTerre would have been sufficient...
In any case, Manarola was very beautiful - great views of vineyards on the steep hils...
...and at the end of our visit, we had to try Sciacchetrà wine, with anchovies and lemon...
Sciacchetrà (pronouced Shee-ah Ket Rah) is a desert wine produced locally in Manarola, and the anchovies are throughout CinqueTerre - straight from the ocean and onto my plate. For anyone who has had anchovies on pizza - forget that... it tastes nothing like that. These were delicious, and not overly salty.
Final stop: Riomaggiore
Largest and most picturesque of the five villages - too bad we were saturated at that point. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.
Then - Day 6. I got up early and headed off to Assisi. It was a long enough drive, 3 hours, and after the hectic day yesterday, was having momentary doubts about doing it... but I'm very glad I did. It was perfect. Great day of peace, history and spirituality.
As soon as I got out of the parking lot, here is the view
Beautiful scenery both beyond the town and within.
First stop - the St-Francis of Assisi Basilica. A rather simple basilica, in terms of decor, in keeping with the philosophy of St-Francis... but is says PEACE all over it.
OK - so the inside was a little ornate, but mostly with frescoes from Gionto - or someone who studied under him. They don't seem to be sure which. I hope they at least got a good grade.
Then I made my way to the Sanctuary of San Damiano - at the recommendation of Frère Alix - curé de la paroisse St-François d'Assise à Ottawa. Merci Frère Alix - c'était vraiment une merveilleuse suggestion. Étant quelques kilomètres hors de la place centrale, je n'y serais peut-être pas allé. Mais grâce à vous, j'ai vécu quelques heures de paix intérieur comme je n'ai jamais ôsé espérer.
This place is "Peace on Earth". As soon as you start walking down the path lined with beautiful olive trees, the signs are already requesting "Silenzio". The entire area is very peaceful and tranquil.
...and I seemed to be alone there. Being a few kilometers from the main attractions, not many tourists venture out there - which was great.
If you're wondering what's special about this place - other than it's quiet: San Damiano is the church where St-Francis first heard Jesus ask him to rebuild his church. Of course - St-Francis thought he meant that particular church, so he spent a few years renovating it and making it beautiful. Then he realized - OH, You mean the whole church, in the whole wide world... Hence, the journey that we know, that lead to the very inspirational life of St-Francis.
The Sanctuary is sooooooo peaceful. I spent about an hour there (sans-pictures). This was the spiritual part that I referred to.
Continuing the tour, you come across nice cloisters and gardens where you can imagine all the Franciscans and Clarists in prayer.
Then back to town... Assisi - aside from being a shrine to St-Francis and St-Clare, it is also a very well maintained Italian village. Most of its building are probably as they were in the 13th century, but VERY well maintained.
Hard to believe there was a major earthquake here just few years ago. I remember hearing about it and was reminded of it on my visit here. Not much evidence of it though, thankfully.
As you leave town, you realize this is the 21st century after all.
Make me a channel of Your peace...
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