[Idyllchat] Florence/Cinque Terre in Sept.

[Terry Baraldi]

I had to jump in here when I saw "Corneglia"...which is the highest and 
least
visited town of the Cinque.

We arrived there with nothing but a house number and a name...and, since I
had at least a smattering of Italian, I left my companions sitting in the
sunny piazza at the bottom of the town to go find our rooms.  I turned the
corner and entered into another world...a shadowy vicola smelling of cheese
and grape must and nothing familiar.  It was one of the seminal moments of
my first trip to Italy.  While the towns down by the water are full of
touristy charm and amenities, I felt that the real workaday flavor of the 
people of the
Cinque was here in Corniglia.  The narrow streets and the small piazza. 
Look for the cemetary.  People are buried above ground...earth is too 
precious and too rocky!

We got there at the end of Sept, at the very end of the grape harvest, so we
got to see inside basement doors where grapes were being pressed, and 
watched
the trams going up and down those incredible dry-stone terraces.

I hope you are able to take the hike up..up...UP... into the mountain and 
down to
Manorola...(about 3 hours).  We literally walked through yards and gardens
and vinyards and olive groves drooping with fruit.  At the end we feasted
on slabs of pizza with pesto and Italian beer in Manorola, and dipped our 
tired feet in the
Mare Liguria.   Bellissima!

Our last night we had a wonderful dinner at Ristorante Cecio, housed in an 
ancient winery.
Order the local fish, fresh out of the water, and served with shy charm by
host Iacinto.

Buon viaggi!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barb " <bcompulady at excite.com>
To: <idyllchat at lists.untours.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 9:26 AM
Subject: RE: [Idyllchat] Florence/Cinque Terre in Sept.


>
> ^^Definitely avoid the CT on the weekend if possible.  At the very least, 
> don't go without a reservation.^^
>
> Thanks for the advice Robert.  As it turns out, we will be there for a 
> Friday-Saturday but it was because that's when we could get the 
> reservation!  I'm not sure I understand that exactly - but in the area we 
> were looking (Corniglia) there aren't a lot of options and either they 
> didn't have 2 rooms, or had a 2-night minimum for earlier in the week. 
> But we could get the rooms we needed on Friday....  go figure.  We are 
> just hoping it won't be so crowded as to spoil the experience.
>
> Barb
>
>
>
>
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