46. Cinque Terra

Had not the slightest idea of how to get there

But knew if I tried, I wouldn’t know where!

Boarded a train for Monterroso, the first CQ stop

I got interrogated by a young 20-yr old conductor cop.

She was not nice or pleasant at all

Said that I didn’t fill out my papers, the nerve, the gall.

She gave me a pen and watched me write in the date

I told her no other conductor has said anything at the gate.

It was unnerving as everyone watched and stared

I felt like I was an idiot… Oh well, what do I care?

I arrived at Monterosso at about eleven,

The sites were beautiful, a little piece of heaven.

Next to get a local ticket for the Cinque Terra train,

She said I have to buy a ticket for 13 euros, as I stood in the rain.

The beach was beautiful but rocky all the way

I didn’t expect the terrain to be so rugged by the bay.

Last October there were floods that damaged two cities

Monterosso and Vernazza were flooded, destroyed, such a pity!

I remember watching a video on Rick Steves website

And, now here I was, standing exactly where the flood was at its height.

Vernazza was completely destroyed with twelve feet of mud

Now the locals are cleaning everything up, by hard work and scrub.

Cornilglia and Manarola are very small coastal cities to see,

So I hopped a train to Riomaggiore the last site on the key.

You walk thru a tunnel to get to the central part of town,

Which is all done in mosaics, upside and down.

The town is built on the side of the cliff by the sea

You walk up steep steps to get to the center of the city.

Then down rocky steps to get to the waves crashing the rocks,

Part of the five mile walk was closed because of the weather and rain,

But I still walked a part from Riomaggiore to Manarola up the steep terrain.

This part is called lovers walk because of all the hearts, chains and locks.

The Italians have a custom to declare your love by displaying on the rocks.

I arrived just as the train was leaving, jumped onboard and no Gestapo cop this time.

Everything went smoothly arrived in Genova  but confused at stations, they have 5 kind.

Through trial and error, I made it back to the hotel before dark,

Will eat at the hotel restaurant, pack it up and take a walk to the park.