We spent a week in Florence and the Cinque Terra. Florence is a fabulous city loaded with art, culture and of course good food. This seems to be the case everywhere we've been in Italy, the food I mean. Our experiences in Rome taught us to be wary of restaurants in heavy tourist areas. Some, not all of them. Many in these areas tend to be pricey and not the best quality. I guess we didn't learn a whole hell of a lot because we did eat at a joint not far from the Duomo....Yeah, not too good and yup---> $$$. Live and learn, several times I suppose. The place we stayed at offered a small cooking area. I didn't think that it would be much more than a small refrigerator and a microwave. 
However, hiding behind two folding doors was a mini kitchen. A sink, fridge, pots and pans, expresso maker, cheese grater, pasta strainer and cork screw. What more do ya need !!! We decided to go to the local deli / grocery store. We picked up some homemade (deli-made) spinach ravioli, crusty bread, locatelli cheese, a bottle of Chianti and some pesto. Pesto originated in Genoa, which is not too far from where we were at. And it WAS the best pesto I've ever had. We cooked in several times. Well worth it.
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| Florence can get a bit crowded with tourists |
Off to the Cinque Terre..................................
The Cinque Terre are five small towns on the Mediterranean coast. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Maranola and Riomaggiore. One-time fishing villages, they now cater mainly to tourism. There is a lot of charm, character, romanctic settings and people, lots of people. We stayed at a lovely little family owned B and B-style place in Levanto. Levanto is the next town past the last town in the Cinque Terre, Monterosso. It is less crowded than the Cinque Terre villages and only about a 3 minute train ride from Monterosso. The B & B, A Durmi, is owned by two sisters and they are very pleasant and helpful. There are rooms and several apartments. We took an apartment. and again we found ourselves cooking in the room several times.....PESTO again ! Having read about the many hiking trails in the area, we asked the sisters to recommend a good hike. They suggested that we take a trail less traveled, the trail from Levanto to Monterosso. It took about three hours and was rather strenuous at times but well worth it. The views of the Mediterranean were at times spectacular. We passed several terraced hillside groves of olive trees as well. Actually, we only passed two other couples along the way. We definately recommend it. All five of the villages are connected by a network of trails and all five are worth visit. Although similar, each village has it's own charm and character. Vernazza and Riomaggiore seemed to be the most crowded and touristy while Corniglia and Manarola appeared to retain some of it's pre-tourist ambience. The towns are minutes apart by rail. One can purchase a ticket that allows hop-on hop-off anywhere between La Spezia to the south and Levanto at the other end.There are also several side trips from the area. Portofino is a charming small coastal village. VERY touristy as well. We spent a few hours in a cool little city called Santa Margarhita, just walking around and exploring.....and eating !!
Genoa and Pisa are not too far either. We didn't hit them, but they are do-able.
Enjoy the pix!!
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| Beach, Levanto, Italy |
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| A Durmi B & B, Levanto |
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On the trail
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| Levanto from the trail |
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| Vernazza |
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| Along the trail |
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| Along the trail |
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