Sunday, September 14, 2008

Cinque Terre


A series of 5 little hamlets on the Ligurian coast of Italy. Near Genoa and part of a National park, this is just a beautiful little area. It was 'discovered' a few years ago by the tourist hordes and it is positively overrun. Now, this doesn't really detract from the place too much because it is such a spectacle. There are trails that connect the towns and you can get away from people for a bit, especially on the harder walks. It was raining when we arrive, but it clears up just in time. We hike about 3 miles to the next town on a path that hugs the mountain and provides absolutely breathtaking views.




These people have eeked out a living from this rather harsh land farming olives and grapes and fishing. Of course mass tourism now supplements this income. The slopes are so steep that they have been terraced in order to grow things. There are grapes growing everywhere and it is harvest time. There are these little tracks everywhere that look like a little roller coaster gear that they use to bring the grapes down the mountain. It is really something to behold, that people can actually use this for something. There are agaves here which make us feel better, because it has been like a week since we have seen them. I got some prickly pear (fruit of the agave) gelato in town later, I can't believe that actually exists.

2 comments:

pfb said...

Microsoft Vista has better views in its collection of desktop backgrounds. So I don't even need to travel.

pfb said...

I've seen fruity Rick Steeves visit here on his show. Did you see an Canadian looking nerd with a camera crew?