Part 2 (A) - AND MORE! (Rome, IT)

What an extraordinary time to be in Rome!  Our morning conference was interrupted this morning with the news that Pope Benedict XVI will resign, effective 28 February.  Let me assure you that I had no role to play in his decision to resign.  It has created quite a buzz around here.  It was suggested that we go to St. Peter's Square sometime today to experience whatever may occur spontaneously in the Square during the day.   More on this event as it unfolds...

Now back to Part 2 of last night's posting.  We left Florence at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning and arrived in La Spezia at 9:30 AM.  La Spezia is on the Ligurian Sea and is the home port of the Italian Navy.  By the length of time of the train ride from Florence to get to La Spezia, you can see that it is in the very northwestern part of Italy.  There were breathtaking views from the train with grand vistas of snow capped mountains. We were greeted at the train station in La Spezia by our guide for the day, Fulvia Loretti.  She was a wonderful guide!  She was not only knowledgeable about the Cinque Terre, she also had all the inside connections in each village.  Even though a native speaking Italian,  she was fluent in English and had a great sense of humor .  She told us the the five villages of the Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare - were for many centuries isolated from the rest of the world because of their location.  Each village is literally at the bottom of steep mountain ranges at the shore line of the Ligurian Sea.  Only Monterosso has an expanse of sandy beach.  With the construction of a railroad line through the mountains, the Cinque Terre opened up to "outsiders", and is now, in fact, a major tourist attraction in Italy.  It being off season, we had the opportunity to leisurely visit 4 of the 5 villages.  Although accessible by foot, or, more accurately, by trekking on mountain paths for approximately 2 to 3 hours from village to village, we took the regional train between each village and were no more than 5-10 minutes between villages.  

The attached photos really do not capture the beauty of each village nor the lifestyle of the people who live in these villages.  Their main industry today is tourism.  However, generation upon generation developed a series of terraces on the sides of the mountains for vineyards.  There are more than 16,000 miles of terraces which are above the villages which are still cultivated.  You need to see it in person to grasp the rugged terrain, which obviously translates into a very robust and healthy population.  Very little in the villages themselves is flat,  there are hundreds upon hundreds of steps which line the streets from the water's edge up the side of the mountains to people's homes.  Fulvia told us that because the villages have been isolated for so long, that practically all of the villagers from all of the towns are related.

If you ever visit Italy, I recommend that you visit Cinque Terre.  Be warned, however, that you will be going up and down hundreds upon hundreds of steps to get around.  It was a work out for the four of us, but it was well worth it for the experience of visiting these extraordinarily beautiful villages.  I took 150 photos while I was trekking through these villages.  Here are a flavor of them.

Our first village to visit.

Main street of the village with a very steep incline.

The bottom of main street

Bill Dickinson, Fulvia (our guide), Jim Walsh, and Rolo Castillo

Front door of a home.

Typical access to homes and other areas of the village.

Altar from village church

Souvenir shop

Train tracks go through the side of the mountain and open at each village stop.

Each village had its own incredible character to fir into the side of the mountain.  The homes are literally built on top of each other along the cliff.  They are, as you have seen, painted in pastel colors.  They are simply a delight to look at.  Here is the next village we visited.

Vernazza

Monterosso al Mare

World War II German bunker.

Children's playground

Confraternity of Christian men whose job was to pray for and bury the dead of the village.

"Modern" development of the village.

It is well beyond lunch time here, so I am going to take a break.  I will be back tonight to show you some more photos of Cinque Terre.  Stay tuned for Part 2 (B)!