Piazza della Scala, Milan
Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan
View of Vernazza during the hike to Corniglia, Cinque Terre
Beach at Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terre
Showing posts with label Cinque Terre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cinque Terre. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Fodor's Photography Contest
Fodor's is having a photography contest called "Show Us Your Italy". With the help of family and friends, I found five photographs that I'm proud enough of to submit to this contest. Now, I know I'm an amateur but there's no harm in trying, right? So, here are the five submissions that I made - thanks to all who helped me pick them out!
Piazza della Scala, Milan
Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan
View of Vernazza during the hike to Corniglia, Cinque Terre
Beach at Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terre
Piazza della Scala, Milan
Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan
View of Vernazza during the hike to Corniglia, Cinque Terre
Beach at Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terre
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Cinque Terre
I thought about delaying this blog entry- I didn't want to look through all the pictures and wish that we were still there! But, we're back. And we wish we were still in Cinque Terre! Wouldn't you?
Cinque Terre is the name of a region in Liguria, literally translating to "Five Lands", Cinque Terre is comprised of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Cinque Terre has been a National Park since 1999 and a UNESCO protected site since 1997. These five towns are along the sea and connected by a series of footpaths that vary in difficulty. Olive trees and grapevines cover the landscape throughout Cinque Terre, resulting in some amazing olive oils and wines (we tested a few versions of Cinque Terre white). Beyond the wine and olive oil, this region specializes in anchovies and pesto sauce. Naturally, we tested the gelato and found it to be more than acceptable!
After checking into our Riomaggiore hotel on Saturday, we met up with some good friends that flew in from London and proceeded down the Via dell'Amore - the Path of Love - which begins the 11 kilometer trek from Riomaggiore to Monterosso and connects Riomaggiore to Manarola. It's a leisurely stroll on a paved path with beautiful views and lots of little nooks built into the path for cuddling. In Manarola, we caught the train up to Monterosso (beach in below photo), thinking that we'd work our way down the path.
Well. As it turns out, the Monterosso to Vernazza path is one of the more difficult sections of the Cinque Terre path. It takes, on average, a little over two hours to go two freaking kilometers. And it's mostly uphill. And we were dumb enough to BEGIN the walk around 1.30pm. Yikes. On the upside, I think it helped to heal my slipped disk (yeah, back injury on top of everything). We had a gelato in Monterosso before we left but our "reward gelato" in Vernazza was even tastier. I had cannella and fior di latte - cinnamon and milk. In the background of the below photo, you can see the beach that's located right in the town of Vernazza.
In an effort to avoid being late for our 7.30 dinner reservation in Riomaggiore, we hung out in Vernazza a bit and then headed back via train to get ready. I can't remember the name of the restaurant that we ate at but I can tell you it was delicious. We split a bottle of Cinque Terre white wine (which the NY Times calls a "tangy blend of three grapes") followed by another liter of house wine. Along with that was the traditional Italian meal of a "primo" (usually pasta) followed by a "secondo" (fish or meat). My primo was homemade pesto and spaghetti - the basil was so fresh it has given me reason to take a morter and pestal to my own basil plant at home. Mark had a spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, and hot peppers. Very spicy but delicious. One of our friends had the restaurant's homemade gnocchi and had good things to say about it. Since we were at the seaside, we all had fish as our main course. Mine was a sea bass in herbs - again, incredibly fresh and delicious. After dinner, we retired to our friends' room (they had a deck) and listed to a terrible Italian cover band playing in the town square below us.
The next morning, we began the day in Riomaggiore with crepes (strawberry for me) and coffee.
We then decided to undertake the walk from Vernazza to Corniglia. After the previous day, we decided to go from Vernazza to Corniglia due to advice that it was an easier route than the reverse or other options. Don't trust the internet. The first half was steep uphill, the second steep downhill. Luckily, this path was a bit wider and easier to navigate than the one the day before. It provided some beautiful and open views to both towns.
Along all the paths we walked, we passed by vineyards that are still in use. With such steep hill and so few roads, we often found ourselves wondering how the wine producers managed to collect a harvest. A little research gives me a simple answer, they do it all manually. Because of the steep and narrow space, machinery is impossible to operate. The best grapes are located near the sea, making for a lot of up and down. Luckily for some vineyard operators, these little monorails can ease the load.
After a drink and gelato in Corniglia, it was time to pack up, say goodbye to our friends, and return to Milan. But....one last sandwich of fresh mozzarella and tomato. Ahhhh, that's perfect.
Cinque Terre is the name of a region in Liguria, literally translating to "Five Lands", Cinque Terre is comprised of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Cinque Terre has been a National Park since 1999 and a UNESCO protected site since 1997. These five towns are along the sea and connected by a series of footpaths that vary in difficulty. Olive trees and grapevines cover the landscape throughout Cinque Terre, resulting in some amazing olive oils and wines (we tested a few versions of Cinque Terre white). Beyond the wine and olive oil, this region specializes in anchovies and pesto sauce. Naturally, we tested the gelato and found it to be more than acceptable!
After checking into our Riomaggiore hotel on Saturday, we met up with some good friends that flew in from London and proceeded down the Via dell'Amore - the Path of Love - which begins the 11 kilometer trek from Riomaggiore to Monterosso and connects Riomaggiore to Manarola. It's a leisurely stroll on a paved path with beautiful views and lots of little nooks built into the path for cuddling. In Manarola, we caught the train up to Monterosso (beach in below photo), thinking that we'd work our way down the path.
Well. As it turns out, the Monterosso to Vernazza path is one of the more difficult sections of the Cinque Terre path. It takes, on average, a little over two hours to go two freaking kilometers. And it's mostly uphill. And we were dumb enough to BEGIN the walk around 1.30pm. Yikes. On the upside, I think it helped to heal my slipped disk (yeah, back injury on top of everything). We had a gelato in Monterosso before we left but our "reward gelato" in Vernazza was even tastier. I had cannella and fior di latte - cinnamon and milk. In the background of the below photo, you can see the beach that's located right in the town of Vernazza.
In an effort to avoid being late for our 7.30 dinner reservation in Riomaggiore, we hung out in Vernazza a bit and then headed back via train to get ready. I can't remember the name of the restaurant that we ate at but I can tell you it was delicious. We split a bottle of Cinque Terre white wine (which the NY Times calls a "tangy blend of three grapes") followed by another liter of house wine. Along with that was the traditional Italian meal of a "primo" (usually pasta) followed by a "secondo" (fish or meat). My primo was homemade pesto and spaghetti - the basil was so fresh it has given me reason to take a morter and pestal to my own basil plant at home. Mark had a spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, and hot peppers. Very spicy but delicious. One of our friends had the restaurant's homemade gnocchi and had good things to say about it. Since we were at the seaside, we all had fish as our main course. Mine was a sea bass in herbs - again, incredibly fresh and delicious. After dinner, we retired to our friends' room (they had a deck) and listed to a terrible Italian cover band playing in the town square below us.
The next morning, we began the day in Riomaggiore with crepes (strawberry for me) and coffee.
We then decided to undertake the walk from Vernazza to Corniglia. After the previous day, we decided to go from Vernazza to Corniglia due to advice that it was an easier route than the reverse or other options. Don't trust the internet. The first half was steep uphill, the second steep downhill. Luckily, this path was a bit wider and easier to navigate than the one the day before. It provided some beautiful and open views to both towns.
Along all the paths we walked, we passed by vineyards that are still in use. With such steep hill and so few roads, we often found ourselves wondering how the wine producers managed to collect a harvest. A little research gives me a simple answer, they do it all manually. Because of the steep and narrow space, machinery is impossible to operate. The best grapes are located near the sea, making for a lot of up and down. Luckily for some vineyard operators, these little monorails can ease the load.
After a drink and gelato in Corniglia, it was time to pack up, say goodbye to our friends, and return to Milan. But....one last sandwich of fresh mozzarella and tomato. Ahhhh, that's perfect.
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