Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre, a region comprising five towns -- Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernaza, and Montesorro al Mare -- is an area that finds itself on the bucket lists of most individuals. I myself had never heard of it, and Gabe and I decided to go at the recommendation of our parents, despite the schlep south from Milano.

To say the least, Cinque Terre was the most outstanding, visually beautiful, calorically intensive place Gabe and I have yet visited; the perfect combination of great views, food, and wine made our two night visit to new and undisputed highlight of our trip thus far.

We arrived in Manarola by train, and hiked up to the OSTELLO CINQUE TERRE, a famous hostel, which quite frankly, Gabe and I were lucky to book on such short notice. The rooms were clean, and the staff was friendly, which one can not necessarily say that about many hostels. To add further luxury, breakfast every morning and after dinner drinks in the evening were on a temperate porch overlooking the water.

As with the rest of our trip, Gabe and I were go-go-go upon arrival, and quickly dumped our bags, catching the next train to Corniglia to explore the town in depth and sample our first "slow food" meal (the Italian equivlant of the US organically, locally sourced movement). Corniglia was absolutely gorgeous, run-down in the most charming of Italian ways. We had dinner at the CANTINA DE MANANAN, which too proved the best meal of our trip, the highlights of which included poached fish, four seperate preparations of anchovies, local wine, octopus, mackeral, and spaghetti pomodoro. Further, everything was enhanced by some mouthgasmic olive oil, which too, I suspect was local (-ish).

The following morning, Gabe and I, as a Cinque Terre right of passage, decided to hike all five towns, which included 11-14km of trails that went from along the ocean, to 100s of feet above the towns, affording us picture perfect views along the way. We completed the entirety of the walk in 6 hours, which included numerous stops along the way for pizza, focaccia, etc.

After we finished the hike, we swam in Manarola for a few hours, and that night, had dinner with a friend we met in the hostel, whose pedigree includes a spot on the US Olympic Rowing Team and former position at Goldman ... pretty impressive. He claims to have known and even -- get this -- sued the Winkelwoss twins. Pretty crazy if you ask me.

We lounged around the following morning, before proceeding northward back through Milano to Como. Stay tuned!

For more info, please read:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/travel/05hours.html