So I’m back from a fantastic and relaxing weekend in Cinque Terre, Italia. Cinque Terre is an area that consists of five “terre” or towns: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We stayed at a cute little hotel called Le Sirene in the town of Monterosso. The owner, Ermanna, was so warm and welcoming. She even offered us her card that gave us a discount to her son’s restaurant. ALSO, I forgot to mention, my mom is here in Italy with me! She’s going to explore Firenze and Siena while we have classes and then next week we are all going on a Mediterranean cruise (MY FIRST CRUISE EVER!!). So that’s also pretty exciting!
On our first night we explored half of the town and went to this little restaurant on the water. We all welcomed mom in true Italian fashion, with wine, classic Italian cuisine, and home-made dessert. After dinner, we were exhausted and decided to call it a night.
On Saturday, Kelsey and I explored the other part of town and went to a local bakery. In order to get to this part of town we had to walk through a long tunnel through the mountain. I got a Croissant for mom, who was still asleep from being jet-lagged. I also tried a pastry with “crema” inside… it’s my new favorite thing (I’m starting to get too many favorite foods in Italy!) After breakfast, Kelsey went on a hike through the mountain to the next town of Vernazza, while I went back to the room with Mom’s breakfast. Mom and I took the train and met up with Kelsey in Vernazza. For lunch, I was able to get a really delicious steak for an inexpensive price AND it came with a side (This is practically unheard of here in Italy, almost every part of dinner comes separately.) After lunch, we explored Vernazza and did a little bit of shopping/sight-seeing/picture taking. We then headed back to Monterosso for dinner at L’Osteria Alessandro (The restaurant owned by Ermanna’s Son.) I ordered a pesto lasagna, which was delicious and tasted like nothing I’ve ever had before. It’s the perfect meal for Vegetarians! Kelsey tried gnocchi for the first time and loved it! Mom’s meal gave us quite the chuckle. She ordered Penne Pasta in a shrimp sauce, little did she know that the shrimp would come in traditional Italian style: shell, antennas, legs, eyes, and all. The sight of this shrimp freaked her out a little bit and she couldn’t eat the dish! Alessandro was great and explained to us that the head of the shrimp (with eyes) is good for the soul but that he understood it could be quite shocking to Americans. He ended up giving us an extra dessert that is found in only Monterosso! All in all, it was a great dinner and learning experience… don’t order shrimp unless you want it took look like it swam out of the ocean and straight on to your plate!
On Sunday, we had to check out of the hotel early. We decided to head to another one of the towns: Riomaggiore. I absolutely loved the marina in this town. Kelsey and I were also able to take some great photos on the rocks as well. We had pizza at this gourmet pizzeria called La Lampara. Mom and I ate salami picante pizza and Kelsey had pizza with mushrooms. We then did a little more shopping! I found some really beautiful earrings that I can’t wait to wear and a long dress that is pink with flowers all over it (perfect for the beach and pretty much anywhere else :P.) After we finished exploring this town, we decided to go to another town called Manarola. We bought the ticket and everything; however, our train was 15 minutes late and by the time we got on it, it had to skip our stop at Manarola to get back on the train schedule. We ended up back in Monterosso! At this point the sun was shining bright so we just sat out by the beach. We picked up our luggage from Le Sirene and then headed to get an early dinner before we had to catch the train. We ate at a place called Bar Gio. I got gnocchi with pesto and tomato sauce. It’s the first time that I’ve mixed the two and let me say it was delicious! Before our train we decided to get some gelato. I tried a new flavor that tasted like a tangerine.
Tonight Kelsey and I are working on our presentation for class tomorrow on Clothing in 15th Century Florence. We’re going to try to get to bed early so we can be
“bright eyed and bushy tailed” for teaching the class. This weekend in Cinque Terre was just what I needed to prepare for the last week of classes/our exam. It also got me really excited for our cruise and the beach. If any of you are planning on coming to Italy, you should definitely plan a trip to the five towns because they are so picturesque and like nothing I’ve ever seen!
“bright eyed and bushy tailed” for teaching the class. This weekend in Cinque Terre was just what I needed to prepare for the last week of classes/our exam. It also got me really excited for our cruise and the beach. If any of you are planning on coming to Italy, you should definitely plan a trip to the five towns because they are so picturesque and like nothing I’ve ever seen!
Much Love,
Court
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