Cinque Terre was great. If you imagine Italy on the coast, with the colored houses stacked on cliffs and nestled in valleys, you are probably picturing Cinque Terre. The salt water smell, the warming sun, nothing interrupting the peaceful quiet except for the crashing waves and the small town locals going about their daily business. Each Italian experience has been so different from the last. Milan was upscale, chic, and metropolitan. Venice was a rowdy city on the water. Cinque Terre was a quiet coastal stretch with nothing to do but hike and watch the sunset while eating gelato.
For those of you who know nothing about Cinque Terre, I'll set the scene. It translates to "5 lands." And is literally a stretch of five small towns along the coast: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. They are under the same mayor and have easy transport (a regional train) in between.
I was getting my laundry done in a place in town when I got all the dirt from the establishment owner.
About 15 years ago, Cinque Terre was known to virtually no one and its economy existed of mostly fishing and some farming in the hills the towns are nestled in. Nowadays, in order to compete with market prices, most farms need government subsidies. With a solely agricultural focus, the town grew poorer until people just couldn't afford to live there. People either sold or rented out their houses and abandoned the fields. Then a new mayor came in with an idea to save Cinque Terre.
He put it on the map. In the colloquial sense, of course. He marketed the town and made it a tourist destination. Nowadays, Cinque Terre gets at least a mention (if not a chapter) in most guide books. As the tourists began to trickle in, business sprouted. That provided the money to fund the new agriculture programs created by the mayor. The residents were able to afford to move back and the fields went back to being productive.
Then a new mayor came onto the scene. She hates tourists. And wants to return the town to its former quaint glory. Apparently, she's got quite a few cronies working the system from within and has the local newspaper in her pocket. So much drama for a small town, it would be funny if it weren't for the woman telling the story being so worried about losing her business if the corrupt mayor got her way.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the towns from a natives perspective.
Though I only saw elderly people, there must be a secret stash of eligible bachelors because she wasn't the only woman I met who moved to Cinque Terre for a man.
Because of the hills, Cinque Terre turned out to be one of the more exertive legs of my Italian journey. And the hiking. That was really incredible. It was strenuous and hot but well worth it. It provided breathtaking views. Plus, I met some nice girls on the train that morning and we joined up to hike. Meeting new people is by far one of my favorite parts of traveling.
Cinque Terre was a break from the craziness between Venice and Florence. This is definitely a stop everyone should make on their tour through Italy!
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