Cinque Terre, Cinque Terre, Italy, Monterroso al Mare, Photography, Travel

European Vacation – September 19/19 – Monterroso Al Mare (Cinque Terre), Italy

On our first full day in Cinque Terre, we headed to the National Park Office near the train station. You need a pass to hike the trails. The trekking card, which includes bus transport is 7.50 Euro. The Cinque Terre Card Train MS includes train travel between the villages and costs 16 Euro.

While we did not plan to hike this day, we still bought the Cinque Terre Card Train MS. The difference in fees is well worth it, if you plan to take 3-4 train rides that day.

Our first destination was Monterosso al Mare, the village furthest away from us. It is located at the center of a small natural gulf protected by an artificial reef. The town is split into two parts (Old Town and New Town) connected by a tunnel for the pedestrians and the few cars in the town. Population as of 2009 is listed at 1562.

(Source:Wikipedia)

This town is the least exciting of the 5 towns and is more like a resort town. It also has less stairs than the other towns. In 643, people living in the hills moved down to the sea, hiding from the barbarians. The village is named Monterosso because the ruling family had red hair.

(Source:Cinque Terre Travel.com)

The train lets you off in the new town by the beach, so we explored here first, enjoying the brightly coloured beach umbrellas.

The ruined castle, partially built by the Genoese is clearly visible, as you wander towards the old town, past boutiques and restaurants.

We hiked up the Capuchin trail towards the statue of Saint Francis of Assisi. The views were stunning.

Statue of St. Francis of Assisi
Wrought iron fnce with sea view
a break in the clouds
Heading away to the Old Town

After our visit to the statue, we walked onward along the trail, down into the Old Town.

It was market day on the Old Town, so we spent a bit of time wandering through the stalls.

We walked through the narrow old town streets, happy that there were fewer stairs.

Before turning around to head back, we stopped into the 16th century Oratorio della Cofradia de Bianchi o de Santa Croce…

….

….before walking back down into town past all manner of tiny shops, steep stairs and narrow lanes.

One last stop at Chiesi San Giovanni di Batista (built 1282 to 1307), where we tried to figure out why the decor included skeletons and skull and cross bone motifs.

Back through the tunnel to the train station and on to our next stop.

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kagould17

Not much to tell. After working for 3 companies over 43+ years (38 years 7 months with my last company), I finally got that promotion I had waited my entire career for……retirement. I have been exploring this new career for the past 7+ years and while it is not always exciting, the chance to do what I want for myself and my family instead of what my company wants has been very fulfilling. Early on, there was a long list of projects in my “to-do” hopper and I attacked these projects with a vengeance for the first 9 months of retirement. Eventually, my brain told me that this was not what retirement was about, so it took me another 5 months before my industriousness again took over and I attacked another line of projects, this time somewhat shorter and less complicated, as well as many new projects related to the family weddings in 2016. After going hard for 6 weeks and 3 weddings, my body was telling me to relax, then the flu bug hit and as soon as that was done with me, my sciatic acted up. No rest for the wicked. In 2020 and 2021, the Covid 19 pandemic changed the whole retirement gig. I was lucky to not be still working, for sure. I enjoy photography, gardening, working with my hands, walking, cycling, skiing, travelling, reading and creating special photo and video productions obtained in my first pastime. I may never become wealthy in any of these pursuits, but I already feel I am rich in life experiences far beyond any expectation.

11 thoughts on “European Vacation – September 19/19 – Monterroso Al Mare (Cinque Terre), Italy”

  2. What a beautiful hike! I guess to properly see and do these five villages has to offer you would need at least a week if not more. How long did you stay for at Cinque Terre? Thanks for sharing, I very much enjoyed all your photos. Aica

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    1. We stayed 4 nights/3 1/2 days. The first part day we spent getting our bearings in Riomaggiore. The next day, we did 3 of the 4 other villages by train, the third day, we did the hike from Manarola to Volastra to Corniglia. On our last day, we did Riomaggiore in depth. If I ever go back, I think I would stay in Corniglia (in the middle). We really loved this village and it has a phenomenal restaurant which I will post about. The key there is to take the bus up from the train station, as there are 382 steps up to the town. More posts to come. Thanks for reading Aiva.

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