Siena Wrapup, Cinque Terre pt1

April 2



I am in Monterosso in the Cinque Terre, five scenic towns on the mediteranian, nestled into hills. I am in my hotel room looking out over what you might say is a priceless view. You'd be wrong, of course. I know how much the view is worth, because it's what my hotel is charging me for it! This is a nice room, probably the best I've had so far, but also the most expensive, and the reason is obvious, well, just look to the right! I guarantee you, this photo does not do it justice.

I am in Monterosso, as noted above, looking over this view drinking a local red wine sold to me by a very kind wine dude. I was examining his impressive display when he asked me if I would like to try some samples. Now- maybe this is common at wine stores, I wouldn't know. I usually purchase my alcohol at Jewel. But he arranged many samples of locally created wine, and I was very greatful, and to my great surprise, the bottle I selected cost... eight euro. So apparently I have very cheap wine taste. I can't decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. It's also possible, I suppose, that all the samples he put out were cheap ones. Very foolish of him, if so- but Im quite satisfied with this so who cares! (Also I was not carded, which is good I guess, since I forgot to bring any ID. But I guess while over 21 for me is a close call, over 18 is not).




So- Siena, I've decided, is a really cool place, because although it is a picturesque adorable renaissance town, it is actually *functional* as well. It can be quite touristy near Il Campo, but it has what I'm told is a reputable university, it has shops not geared at all towards tourists, it has businesses, and it has a vibrant young community. School kids roam the streets, darting out uncaringly in front of cars, mobbing the local pizzerias and gelaterias at about 15:00. (I took note of where they went and copied :) ) It's more beautiful than a real city, like say Chicago. Of course, even counting what you could gain from nearby Florence, I'm sure you have much less opportunity and events here than in a real city like Chicago, and the driving is absolutely positively horrific. Not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. So, Dublin remains my favorite european city!

It continued to rain on and off in Siena. I rediscoved my preferred raingear from school- rainjacket with hood pulled up over a baseball cap. Of course, wearing the baseball cap is like holding a neon sign that says, "YANKEE" - but they know that anyway as soon as I open my mouth, so whatever. My grip over Italian continues to be perilous. I've gotten pretty good at two or three phrases, such that sometimes the questionee will actually respond IN ITALIAN. This of course is a disasterous result. So, really, sticking to English beyond "Thank you" and "Goodbye/Hello" is a pretty good strategy. There are other funny things relating to the language barrier. Once I got out of Rome, a lot of Italians started to say "Prego" to me. I...think... this means "You're Welcome." But I'm not really sure. I keep meaning to punch it into google translator when I'm connected to Internet, but keep forgetting. (I am not connected right now.)

Did I mention yet that Rick Steves is king of all that is travel related? I'm so bad at navigating european streets that I haven't made it to many of his recommended fancier restaurants. Well, I'm going to try to go to his picks for dinner, at least, from now on, because...
Yesterday I went to one in Siena and it was sooooooo goooood. It was with great regret that I realized I forgot my camera and so couldn't photograph the food. For starters, Bruchetta- but not like any bruchetta Ive seen before. This was 6 different kinds of bruchetta on separate toasted breads. Vegetables ontop, BUT ALSO a weird sauce below that complemented the vegetables. Good. Then I got Ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach, slathered in Ewe's Milk Cheese. Goooooooooooooood. I was a little puzzled by this, though- aren't Ewes babies? How can you milk them? I considered asking my waiter but didn't. He was a very softspoken Italian Gentleman. I didn't feel like breaching the subject.


He served me in the Italian way that I've experienced elsewhere but that still bothers me. In the traditional 2-4 course Italian meal, you will sit down without direction from a hostess, wherever you want. You will then wait about 10 minutes for the waiter to come. You will order appetizers. He will ignore you utterly after he brings them, because it is polite to do so- you are enjoying your food and your company, you don't want to be bothered by a waiter. After you finish you will wait a good five minutes again before you can order your first course. Alternatively, if you are an impatient American with no one sitting at your table to talk to, you will wave to him to bring him over. Making eye contact isn't enough. If you try just looking at him, he will stare straight back at you but proceed to the kitchen without coming over. So, you finally get his attention, order the first course and waaaaait. The first course is a pasta-based food. You eat it. The waiter will NOT come over and say, "Is everything alright?" You finish and wait... and so on through the second course (meat), and desert. Then after desert, the waiter will not bring you the bill until you wave to him and ask for it. Rick Steves writes that you may even have to ask TWICE. I haven't yet experienced that, thank goodness.

Well, I understand culturally how this works, but when you're eating alone it can be pretty annoying. I've found a way to combat it though- wine! After you get through a half litre you don't really care how much you are being ignored.

Well, I had the bruchetta, I had the ravioli, I had the 2/3 bottle of wine, and I was feeling pretty good and very full, since I had sampled the kids' pizzeria earlier in the afternoon. I skipped the second course (Rick Steves actually recommends exactly this- it is the most expensive and the least interesting) and moved straight onto desert. Fruit Crepes! I was hoping for berries but they turned out to be apple. Nonetheless- gooooooooood. Oh so very good. I'm so used to perky waitresses that smile blandly at you that it was a shock to be served by this guy. I don't think he betrayed much facial expression at all until I got up to leave and extravegantly praised the cooking. It WAS good. I went home (in the pouring rain), set my ipod to wake me up, and went to sleep. (Why do Italians hate alarm clocks? Or just clocks in general? This is my third room with no clock whatsoever in it! How do they get to work ontime?)

This morning I awoke slowly and knew I would never be able to figure out the bus from Siena center to the train station, not to mention that train journey itself, before the 9:14 train arrived. I took the 10:41 instead. All in all the journey from Siena to Monterosso encompassed one bus, three trains, and about 5.5 hours. It was pretty stress-free. Taking Rick Steves' advice (have I mentioned that he's the greatest?) I used the machine to purchase train tickets, which had an English setting and was very straightforward. To get the bus ticket, Rick Steves told me to go to any local Tobacco shop (they are EVERYWHERE!) and ask for one. It cost .95 euro. I payed with a fifty dollar note. Wuh-wuh. Much change.

Rick Steves listed a place with free wifi if you order a drink (!) so I tried to go there, but it was closed... I went to a random place instead and paid too much, but I got bruchetta (not even close to as good as the Siena place) and a Salami/Cheese/Bread plate. Mmmm. Then I went to my wine shop and came up here. It was light when I started but dark now- 18:30. The perfect time to go get an Italian dinner. Ciao!
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April 2

Mmmm.... gooooooooooooooooooood. One of the the interesting things about being in the cult of Rick Steves is that you get the chance to meet other cultists. At my rick steves recommended restaurant (10% discount if you show up with the book...) I met two couples, one canadian, one from oregon. It was a nice change of pace to have an extended conversation with native English speakers. They saw my Rick Steves book and said, "It is a nice book, isn't it?" And from there it was off to the races. We talked about travel, mostly. It was very enjoyable. The food of course, was also excellent...



I skipped the appetizer and had pasta pesto for the first course. Cinque Terre is famous for it's pesto, so I dove right in. It was quite enjoyable.









For the second course, Rick Steves wrote, "Try the rabbit!" Sadly they were out of it. But the oregon couple highly recommended WILD BOAR (!) and so I had that, and it was plenty enjoyable.







For desert, Tiramisu. Trusting that whatever Internet I find is up to the task, you will have pictures of all three courses. I also had another 1/4 liter of wine... heh. But with such a hearty meal it's no problem. Now I am going to sleep. Ciao!
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April 3


The hiking was pretty insane. Between the five towns is a "low road" path through the hills, beside the sea. The first leg is the hardest and then they get progressively easier. The first leg, from Monterosso to Vernazza, was pretty intense. Waterfalls, endless steps, rough terrain with lots of up and down. After climbing through brush for awhile, you finally make it to the halfway point-- a picnic table out on a cliff. Look one way to see Monterosso, look the other to see Vernazza. I got to Vernazza and climbed waaay up again, only to see that the path to the next town was closed due to landslide. So, I climbed down and took the train to Corniglia. It took forever to come though, so I had time to sit out on the harbor for awhile. The remaining paths through Corniglia and Montarola and Riomaggiore were much much easier- half of the trail was this kind of wodden balconey over the sea, and the rest of it was mostly flat with some steps, mostly downhill. So, I travelled all five towns today, a total of 9km, about 6.5km or so was accessible. On the way back I took a boat which zips from the last town back to the town where my hotel is. That definitely was faster. Picture dump incoming. These are only some of the photos, I will upload them all at a later time. Click to see larger.




And then, it got a lot easier...

You can barely see Monterosso in this picture below. Alllll the way on that last bit of land over to the left. Thats where I came from!



The quest for Internet in Monterosso continues. My hotel will switch on their unsecured network for a set period of time, if you pay them. Totally lame. Grrrr. This cafe said they had wireless internet, but they don't. Double Grrr. I am now sitting up in my room again, with my totally amazing view. It's the best of all worlds, really. I can look down on the town and the sea and the rocky land ahead, but totally in the shade, and away from the noise of the kids and of the train. I visited my wine guy and procured another bottle of my cheap red wine. After all the hiking, I certainly don't feel like doing much else today. Tomorrow I will site see in the area. Im not sure what that is going to entail, yet. I need to consult Rick Steves.

Rick Steves is a huge celebrity to the locals of Cinque Terre, and to its customers. Lets start with the locals. Tourism has been good to the Cinque Terre. And Tourism came here largely because of Rick Steves. The dude loves this place, listing in his Italy guide book that if you've got an Italy trip with Rome, Venice, and Florance, that Cinque Torre should be the next destination to add on. (I substituted Siena for Florence.) RS has been publishing this advice for years and it shows. You know how in Chicago or New York or whatever, big restaurants put up photographs of movie stars who have dined there? In the Cinque Terre, they proudly showcase photos of themselves posing with Rick Steves.

As for the tourists, it's really quite amazing. In Rome I felt that most of the tourists were European. In Cinque Terre, most of them are American--and it seems practically all of these Americans are members of the Rick Steves cult. It was 3/3 last night at dinner, which I already wrote about. Today on the ship I was on, there were three parties, and they were 3/3 RS readers. One guy remarked to his wife (very southern USA accent), "Can we do all the trails in one day?" She replied, "Well, some people do. Remember, he talked about the Germans with their sticks." I smiled because I knew exactly the passage she was referencing, and thus, the "he." RS writes that Germans are notorious for hiking too quickly through the region with their task-oriented walking sticks. He advises us to stop and smell the cactus flowers, instead. Well, I'm not much of a flower-smeller, but I certainly took longer than the German figure he quoted. I took many pictures, too.

Now it's 17:30. The daytrippers are gone and the town is winding down.

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April 4th, now.

I'm going to have a very lazy day where I do practically nothing, I think. Found my way to an Internet Point in Vernazza (a story Ill have to save for later, clock is ticking), Im excited to be heading to Venice tomorrow!