We had really enjoyed exploring Milan, but it was time for us to head to our next stop. The Cinque Terre, five towns that hug the Ligurian coast had been on the Missus's "list" for years. In doing a bit research, I found that trains from Milan took only three hours to get to Monterosso, the largest and northernmost village. From there the local train service runs every 15-20 minutes or so to each village. The Cinque Terre is a very popular tourist destination, so I thought visiting during the early winter….after all, if we wanted beaches and such, we'd just head "home", right? I figured…quite correctly that the villages wouldn't be swamped.
Our train left Milano Centrale right on time at noon and we got into Monterosso a bit after three. From there, we found the local train which took 4 minutes to get to Vernazza, where we were staying. I decided on Vernazza after looking at all the wonderful photos, it just seemed like the right place. There basically one main street, Via Roma which heads downhill from the train stop.
As you can see, it was pretty quiet when we arrived. Our AirBnb was wonderful, the kitchen, the awesome bedroom, the views. But first, you needed to climb up a good amount of winding stairs…huff…huff…
And the flat was actually two floors with a kitchen on the bottom and the bedroom, bathroom, and a sitting room above.
All the stairs were worth it….just for the views.
You see the couple in the photo below? Well, they were from Australia. We'd end up seeing them almost 5-6 times during our stay. They were so nice and inspired us to travel "down under".
Later during our stay there would be a rather stormy evening and the waves would actually crash against our window.
Of course once settled, the Missus wanted to head on out. So now, it was back down those stairs. It seemed much busier as we headed to the main piazza and the harbor.
Vernazza is known for having the only natural harbor of the 5 villages, there's a breakwater and the waves were indeed breaking!
We would actually see waves breaking on the piazza later on! Folks sitting having drinks got soaked!
The pastel toned buildings, the green mountains….which house vineyards, make for a lovely backdrop.
Right past the waterfront buildings on the Piazza is the Church of St. Margaret.
Which was built in 1318! We took a quick look inside. Saint Margaret is the Patron Saint of Vernazza. And for an even more interesting story, check out this page.
The Missus really wanted to see a bit more of the town, so we, you got it, took more stairs from behind the church.
Where the views start getting really nice.
Then more stairs….
And somehow ended up at the beginning of Via Brigate Partigiane, where the walk begins to the cemetery, which we'd see the next day.
We decided on taking a walk part of the way up anyway.
Where we could see the vineyards on terraces along the hillside. And get a good view of Doria Castle, which used to protect the village from pirates.
Another place we'd visit a bit later on during our stay.
It was so lovely. There were simple things, like this parked scooter that just seemed to be posed for a photograph…..like a two wheeled, Instagram ready, Vernazza "influencer".
And the cats, which seemed totally unafraid of anything.
We'd see one scaring the crap out of a huge mutt in the Piazza the next evening! I guess you don't fool around with the felines here!
Of course all good things must come to an end….so it was back down all those steps. My poor knees!
We headed back to the flat and took a nice rest.
When dinner time came along, instead of heading down to the harbor and piazza, we decided on a place on Via Roma named 5 Terre Bistrot. While the street seemed fairly sedate.
The al fresco tables of the restaurant, which overlooked the pedestrian street were busy.
The menu is small, with a total of maybe 12 items, but I still needed a Negroni to help me make a decision. Plus, we hadn't done Aperitivo time on this day! Yikes, a mortal sin!
In end we had one antipasti, one primi, and one secondi.
We started with the Pulpo e Patate con Bottarga. I'd read that the combination of octopus and potatoes is a Ligurian specialty, so I thought we'd try it here. This version also featured cured mullet roe.
This version is in the form of a Tortino e Patate, a potato based pie. The pulpo was so tender, the potatoes nice and starchy, the cured mullet roe was very savory….an umami blast.
Of course this is Liguria, so I had to have the Trofie al Pesto.
My goodness, what's up with Ligurian Basil?!? This was bright and peppery, nice garlic, the pasta a bit over cooked, but still that pesto. I enjoyed the pesto so much, we had it I think the first 5 straight days in Liguria?
The secondi was Calamari. This version came with a Garbanzo cream, nice and nutty, dots of nice sour lemon jelly, and sweet and sour pickled onions.
The calamari was surprisingly tender, the breading added a nice textural contrast.
This was a nice meal to start our stay in Vernazza. From this point on, we'd be having seafood and pesto all the time! The service was friendly and relaxed; perhaps too much so. But we really enjoyed our meal.
5 Terre Bistrot
Via Roma 44
Vernazza, Italy
After dinner we took a stroll down to the busy, but not crowded harbor.
It was so relaxed….well compared to Milan where we'd been the night before, that it felt like we were on a different planet.
I was looking forward to a nice restful night. Especially since the Missus had a hike in mind for the next day!
Thanks for stopping by!
The line for coffee was crazy; so the Missus got some tea which She rather enjoyed and I had some sparkling water.
The weakest item were the Xiao Long Bao. The wrapper was decent if a bit too doughy; but there was barely any "soup" in the dumpling which was quite bland.
