RENTAL CAR PRICES IN EUROPE ARE DOUBLE what we remember from a decade ago. Europcar still had the best deal—€37/day including the Pisa-Bologna drop off charge. The Fiat 500 is probably the smallest rental we’ve ever had but with the back seats folded down we easily managed to get everything in. Although it has been six-years since I’ve driven a stick, the “muscle memory” is still there through all six gears.
Vintage Fiat Our rental chariot
Our route from Pisa to Levanto took us past La Spezia from where we could see the quarry at Carrera where Michelangelo got his marble for David. We zigged and zagged up and zagged and zigged down into Levanto, our base for exploring the Cinque Terre.
Quarry at Carrera from 2012 journal
After re-reading her journal from ten years ago, Connie remarked on how quickly we seemed to rush through Italy last time. Then we remembered that we covered the entire country— from the Dolomites in the north to Syracuse in Sicily, and even to Malta—in the 90-days of our Schengen visas. Now we are biting off a smaller piece of the biscotti giving us time to stop and smell the garlic and Levanto’s B&B Vignola makes a great base for exploring the Cinque Terre. Carlos and Monica have been in business for only a short time but they’re doing a great job. Our room, Violetta, is pleasant, breakfast is great and there is even a pool which must be great in the heat of summer. The B&B is much nearer to the Levanto station than I first thought.
During medieval times each of the five (cinque) towns developed in the shadow of its own castle, protection from marauding Turkish pirates. The towns, perched on steep hillsides above the sea, prospered from fishing and vineyards but remained isolated from each other and the outside world. Today they are connected by roads, the railroad and a hiking trail with countless ups-and-downs.
Vernazza clean-up from the Station, 2012
Vernazza, 2012—Everything is broke
When we last visited the Cinque Terre in January, 2012, shortly after a flash flood all but washed the five towns into the Med, I wrote in my journal Our Cinque Terre experience was different from Rick Steves's —and probably from yours. No great Mediterranean vistas with fine wine under cerulean skies. No scenic walks from Riomaggiore to Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and on to Monterosso. The sparkling Med was gray on this cold, rainy day. We found only one restaurant open in Riomaggiore, but the food was fantastic. Much of the trail was washed out, who knows when it will reopen. And Vernazza, the jewel of Cinque Terre, is still digging out as is neighboring Monterosso. One local told us that there is only one bar open in Vernazza, everything else, he said, is "broke."
Things are nearly back to normal in Vernazza but we hear that the "Lovers' Lane" trail, Via dell' Amore from Riomaggiore to Manarola, won't be open until next year at the earliest—mayben not until 2024. Likewise the trail from Manarola to Corniglia.
