Monterosso Al Mare, Cinque Terre, Italy
Sorry for being MIA for so long! I had not even taken this much long break from my blog even when I gave birth! We actually shifted to a new home in a new neighborhood and it took really long to set up internet. Too sad. Now when all the woes are over, I am back again with my travelogues!
So we had arrived at one of my dream places : Cinque Terre! The five villages in the order of farthest to nearest is : Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. The easiest way to explore them is to take the Cinque Terre Express from the La Spezia station. When we reached the station, we realised our train was waiting at the platform to depart. The time of departure was at 12:25 and it was 12 20 pm already. There was a long queue at the ticket vending machine. However none of them was boarding our train. So after a series of requests, we reached to the front.
We wanted a ticket to Manarola (or that is what my husband said) It was our first time at an Italian ticket vending machine and we needed some time to understand it. It was 12:24 when our tickets got the command for print and I ran to train to board; thinking I might stop it from departing without my partner. There was a green button at the side and someone advised me to press it. As soon as I did, the door started closing. My husband started screaming and running towards the train. Then a passenger shouted at me saying that the door was already open; why did I press the button? So finally we both made it inside the train without losing a single moment. I am literally in splits as I am writing this. the verdict: The green button opened the train door when it was closed and vice versa. So one is not supposed to touch it when the door is already open!
Station after station passed. Every station was beautiful offering gorgeous views of the Ligurian Sea. The rest of the journey was inside the tunnel. Now my partner is really bad with names. I mean really. If he is extraordinarily good with maps and directions then he is equally bad with names. When he said Manarola, he meant Monterosso, the farthest of the five villages. When we reached Vernazza, he said that the next stop was ours. I said it was Monterosso. Now he got scared. When we asked the people, they said Manarola was the second stop. We had crossed it way back. Now as per Indian standards, the train tickets are really expensive. I mean 4 euro each for a ten minute ride is too much for us. He got really angry on me that since I had learnt Italian, it was my duty to guide him.
Well what we realised that he mistook Monterosso for Manarola and then we disembarked there. We technically did not violate any law as the ticket fare was same for all the villages: 4 euro each. But it was an eye opener anyway.
We literally walked out of the station in to the Ligurian Sea. I had never seen such a gorgeous view from a railway station before. We were famished and we gorged on lip smashing pizza from two different places. As soon as prepped up for taking a swim in the sea, the clear skies turned overcast and it started raining. It was raining really heavily. I swam in the rain only. We had plans of hiking after that so we could not afford any wastage of time. We took turns. When I was in the sea, hubs helped a young Russian couple guard their six month baby with our umbrella. It was so cute seeing them struggle with their infant in the horrible rain. It reminded me of our early parenthood days. By the time we finished swimming, the skies cleared. It was a blessing as we started the first tough hike of our lives in clear weather.
6 comments
Just my kind of place !
ReplyDeleteMy anxious self would have had a mini heart attack with all that confusion , you guys look cool and composed ...I guess that's what travel teaches you- to be prepared for the unexpected !
How amazing its this place great pictures
ReplyDeleteGorgeous outfit and photos, it looks really nice and chic on you!
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Karen @ Lookbook Store Wordpress
LOVE that neon dress babe! The yellow and pink color combination is absolutely stunning!!
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So much drama...omg...n u still look gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteAditi
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Great holiday, beautiful pictures
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