So, on our first morning, the Missus was rarin' to go. She wanted to do the typical hike from Vernazza to Monterosso. Unfortunately, due to some landslides that oceanside hike was not available. So, instead it was decided to do the Via Passo del Termine route, which is over 4 miles long and considered at challenging route, sigh.
Instead of starting where the Alltrails hike starts, we went up to the beginning of Via Brigate Partigiane, like we did the previous day.
Because frankly, the views are fabulous.
And also because of the lovely, serene cemetery that resides on a hilltop.
Those "residing" here have one of the most beautiful views of the village. You can read more about it in this post by Rick Steves. Cemeteries were located outside of town by law for hygenic reasons in the early 19th century.
And then we were back on the trail again.
Sometimes you'd get a peak at Vernazza below.
And soon we ended up in a clearing and this church.
This is the Santuario di Nostra Signora di Reggio. And right on the other side is a road that leads to Highway 51.
It was fairly easy to find our way as you'll look for the "signs"…..
We started walking among the terraces; grapes were grown along the steep hills. There were often these devices on rails that went up and down the terraces so folks could maintain and harvest the grapes.
From here we walked along the highway, until we saw the signs indicating the way to Monterosso. At that point we got back onto the trail. This would be the last view of Vernazza on the trail.
And of course, what goes up, must come down.
And soon enough we could see Monterosso in the distance.
And then it was really "downhill all the way". Alltrails says the elevation gain is 1,771 feet and my knees could feel every foot as we descended. Said joints didn't recover until we were in Paris later on during the trip.
Somehow, we ended up in Centro Storico, the Old Town of Monterosso. Monterosso al Mare is made up of two distinct "towns" which are separated by a pedestrian tunnel. One of the first buildings we saw was the Oratorio di Santa Croce o dei Bianchi.
In need of a break, we decided to take a look inside.
The Oratory was built in the 15th century as is named for the brotherhood, who ran the hospital and dressed in white (Bianchi) robes.
From here we headed toward the shore on the main street in the Old Town, Via Roma.
Taking time to stop at a few more churches; the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista….
And the Oratorio Mortis et Orationis – Confraternita dei Neri.
Basically, the Oratory of the Dead.
So, we'd seen the "White Brotherhood"; this was the home of the "Black Brotherhood" who took care of burials for those who could not afford it. The interior is adorned with skeletons and skulls.
Eventually, you get to the railroad tracks….the actual station is in the New Town and right past the tracks is the beach.
Monterosso is the "resort" town of the Cinque Terre with hotels and beaches.
We took the pedestrian tunnel over to the New Town. And took a stroll along the Fegina, the waterfront of the New Town. This being winter, things were quite peaceful and relaxed. That's the distinctive "Eden Rock" in the photo below.
At about this time, I wanted a break. It was indeed winter, but I thought some gelato would be nice. And this shop is right along Via Fegina.
And the tables with a view of the beach across from the shop were unoccupied. It was a nice and refreshing stop.
And the view was wonderful as well.
Gelateria La Scogliera
Via Fegina 20
Monterosso al Mare, Italy
After a nice break, we strolled, or in my case "lurched" our way to the Monterosso Train Station…. I'm kinda glad the Blue Trail back to Vernazza was closed due to blockage because there ain't no way I'd make it back.
Needless to say, it was nice to be able to rest my aching knees back at the apartment. When dinner time came around we picked a spot that had been recommended to us; Trattoria Gianni Franzi, which was located right on Piazza Guglielmo Marconi.
The waves were riding high on this day and it had started drizzling so there would be no al fresco dining on this winter evening. The warm and cozy interior of the restaurant was quite busy on this evening, yet we were able to get a table.
The menu is quite large and there was a section of "typico" dishes, which is where we made our selections. The prices were 4-5 Euros more per dish than on the previous evening. The service was a bit rushed, but professional.
We ordered two Antipasti and two Primi. First up was the Pulpo con Patate, yes octopus and potatoes.
Sometimes simple is best, like in this case, the pulpo was just the perfect texture, firm, but not chewy, with a mild "oceany" flavor highlighted by the olive oil. The potatoes brought a bit of starchiness to the dish.
Now, if you wanted an umami boost, well, the Accinghe Salate, salted anchovies had that in spades.
The textures of the anchovies were almost buttery, the flavor was very salty-briny and umami….while I wouldn't call it fishy at all. Just a plain umami bomb.
Of course I got the Trofie al Pesto.
I didn't enjoy this as much as what I'd had the previous evening. The flavors seemed watered down. And indeed, there was a pool of thin liquid at the bottom of the bowl as if the pasta had not been drained properly. I would have also enjoyed a bit more pesto on this as well.
The Mussels in the Spaghetti ai Muscoli might have been the highlight of the meal.
I enjoy my pasta to be nicely coated, not overly drowned in sauce like many places do in the states, so this version perfectly al dente, coated in peppery-fruity olive oil, with a hint of garlic and hidden red peppers did fine. Those mussels were very good, sweet, tender, and without any grit. This got us ordering mussels when we'd see it on the menu from this point forward. And though we'd have even better mussels a day later, this paved the way for our future ordering.
Even though we were eating in touristy type restaurants; we were enjoying our meals
Trattoria Gianni Franzi
Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 1
Vernazza, Italy
When we got back to the apartment, I took a quick look at my walking distance for the day.
Whoa….164 floors! No wonder my knees were screaming for mercy!
You could make out the scent of truffle. If you took a look at the broth, you'd notice little flecks of black. The more flecks, the stronger the truffle flavor. The broth was very light and in my mind could have used a bit more richness. The savory flavor of shoyu was barely evident. More of a mushroom broth to me. 
The chashu had been grilled before serving; which totally changed the texture and taste. I like a nice "buttery" chashu and the grilling had made it rather tough and stringy. The flavor was on the lighter side as well.
I must say; this was fairly good, at least in terms of how moist, tender, and for the basic marinade/seasoning. The coating could have been a bit more crisp or crunchy as it deteriorated quite fast. Much of that was probably due to the overly sweet and sticky glaze used.
There were some definite improvements on this visit. The noodles were firmer, the menma and tamago were not iced cold.
Overall, the service was unobtrusive, the young lady working the front was very sweet.
The bowl was delivered nice and hot. The tamago was now provided on the side. The yolk was adequately soft, the marinade a bit weak….but of course…my pet peeve, these were ice cold….sigh.
The broth seemed more full-bodies then on my previous visits and while still a bit on the saltier side, I found the added richness more enjoyable . It's still seems fairly straight forward in flavor, but I think that might be a good thing in this case.
Unevenly coated, not crisp or crunchy enough for my taste, on the blander side. The flesh was fairly juicy and tender though. Not a big fan of the sesame like dressing provided either.
This was a pretty large portion. I was a bit puzzled by the bean sprouts as I don't recall those being provided before? Not sure about all that stringy crunchy stuff and also that it was ice cold which dropped the temperature of the beef stew.
The crust was thin and crisp and that interior so airy! It might have been my favorite part of the meal!
All-in-all, not bad. Granted, it's a bit thinner, but the flavor was decent. It's better than I thought it would be and I'd gladly have this again. Though I will be on a search for better versions.
