**** No food in this one, but if you'd like to see where we visited in Riomaggiore and Manarola read on!
We woke early on our second morning in Vernazza. We walked on over to Piazza Guglielmo Marconi and took a look at the waves breaking. Yes, it was fall and it was pretty rough out there. Right at the end of the piazza and on the harbor is the popular Ananasso Bar, which serves coffee in the mornings and cocktails during the evening.
A nice espresso.
We'd end up stopping by on our next morning as well.
You get a front row seat of the harbour as well!
Ananasso Bar
Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 30
Vernazza, Italy
Speaking of a front row seat. During rough seas, the fishermen will bring their boats ashore and while passing among the boats we heard a loud whimper and saw a large Golden Retreiver run to it's owner for comfort. What was the cause for this distress. Well, the source soon walked out from among the boats…..
Like I mentioned in a previous post, these cats have no fear and apparently are not to be trifled with. We saw this feline hiss at a couple who tried to pet it making them back away, it also scared away a fairly large mutt on the next morning. After my previous experience with a "Killer Pussy" on Easter Island, I knew better than to mess with them!
After our coffee we headed on out. We decided on visiting the two southern most villages of the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore and Manarola. We went and purchased the two day train card at the stop in Vernazza. This gave us free access to the La Spezia – Cinque Terre – Levanto railway line, free use of restrooms, etc. It took us just 10 minutes by train from Vernazza to Riomaggiore, the second largest of the five villages. It's an interesting train station, overlooking a ravine. You access the village via a tunnel.
From there we got onto Via Telemaco Signorini and walked on up to the village.
It's a fairly steep hike, but the views are quite fabulous.
We took a turn around the bend and found the stairs (yep more stairs!) up to Castello di Riomaggiore.
The hulking structure, built in the 13th century, has some pretty nice views, though it wasn't open to visitors. There's also an interesting small church the Oratorio di San Rocco which was built to commemorate the end of the plague.
Walking inland along Via Pecunia, you'll get some nice views of the town.
Via Pecunia ends at a piazza where the Church of San Giovanni Battista stands.
The grey stone church stands above the village. While originally constructed in 1340 and dedicated to John the Baptist, the church went thru a huge renovation in 1870.
From here we headed down to the main street of the village; Via Colombo.
At the end of Via Colombo was one of my favorite spots on this trip. As you approach the train tracks, you'll find stairs leading up to a square. This is Piazza Vignaioli and is right above the train tracks.
And also nice views of the lovely pastel colored buildings in the town.
But what really caught our attention were the views of the "harbor"….I'll just use quotes on that. Because of the rather rough weather, the boats had been pulled up onto the square…which really look like the street! It really look like the waves are breaking on the village streets.
Quite dramatic looking, huh?
On our next stop, we were going from the second largest, to the second smallest village in the Cinque Terre, Manarola with a population of about 350. And in keeping with the number 2, the train ride from Riomaggiore to Manarola takes about 2 minutes! The village is tucked into a ravine and to get to it from the train station means a 200 yard walk thru a tunnel. The tunnel opens right up in the center of town, which was pretty busy on this day.
The view from the harbor was lovely and you can see the trail that we took along the vineyards to the cemetery…with of course, a wonderful view a short time later.
We then headed back up the main street, lined with shops and restaurants, for some reason, this seemed to be the most touristy of the villages.
The higher up into the the village, the less tourists we saw.
As you get to the bend in the road you'll come across a large water wheel.
Manarola is the oldest of villages in the Cinque Terre, supposedly dating back to the 13th century founded by the Romans. The town was built alongside a large creek and according to the story there was a large waterwheel (magna rota in Latin) in the village from which it got it's name .
Things seemed a lot quieter here.
And so it seemed like a nice time for a Limonata break.
Before heading onward.
We finally came upon the trail we were looking for. It was right next to this church.
This is the Church of San Lorenzo which dates back to 1338.
The namesake of the church is Saint Lawrence, who is the patron saint of the Cinque Terre. I found the ceiling fresco to be quite "interesting". It has San Lorenzo holding a grill…..
The grill "gridiron" is the symbol of San Lorenzo as he was roasted alive on it. It is the symbol of his martyrdom!
To quote the Wikipedia page:
After the martyr had suffered pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he cheerfully declared: "I'm well done on this side. Turn me over!"
Thus Saint Lawrence is not only the patron saint of Cooks, but also the patron saint of comedians as well!
Turning back down the street, next to a wine bar you'll see the sign for Trail 502C. This trail heads up past lovely vineyards to the cemetery, which of course means that the best views.
I mentioned that cemeteries were moved out of villages for hygienic purposes and many seemed to have ended up on hills with wonderful views.
From the cemetery, you can take some stairs and end up with amazing views!
Check out the harbor and breakwater!
We then took Via di Corniglia back to the town and the train station.
Since it was still fairly early, the Missus decided that we should head back to Monterosso before calling it a day!
This was actually not bad. The soup could have used more anise and beef flavor for my taste, but it had a mild peppery spice, a balanced sodium content, good soy sauce tones, and was not bad at all. In fact, I've definitely had 
Man, those were quite a bit of fries! Unfortunately it was over fried and super salty…way too salty to enjoy. I love the richness of schmaltz, which also has a savory component to it; but this was just too salty. I couldn't finish the fries…..
Now I understand that Jidori chicken is a bit chewier, but this was very tough and rather leathery. Also, having had my share of Jidori, which flavors differ from region to region, I expected some interesting poultry flavors. None were to be found.
But, any doubts were soon dispelled when I started mixing things and eating. The shrimp was decently plump with no off flavors. There was more ground pork than on my previous visit. Of course the sliced pork is chewy and quite rustic, but it flavor. There was still only a single lonely fishball in the bowl.
The pork hock has gotten smaller over the years, but the meat on this one was more tender than on my previous visit and the soup, while still heavy on the msg, had a bit more flavor and a dose of white pepper.
But a quick bite of the "fatty" intestine assuaged my doubts. It was tender and full of "bungy" goodness. Don't stare at the intestines too long; you might start seeing things…. Nice mild funky-savory tones.
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.
