Cinque Terre, five lands, is a short section of rugged Mediterranean
coastline in the northwest part of Italy. There are five small towns
connected by railway and in the past, also by hiking trails. This year,
two sections of the hiking trail are still closed because of
landslides.
For the past three nights we have been staying in Riomaggiore. It is
the most southerly of the five towns. It is definitely built on a hill
and our legs have been given a good workout. For instance, from the
train station to our accommodation by the marina, there are 21 steps down
plus another 11 with handrails on the left, tunnel under the train
tracks, another 12 plus 12 steps down with handrail on the right,
through a small plaza congested with 50 or so boats pulled out of the
water, and then up 6 plus 12 plus 12 narrow very steep steps into our
apartment. Of course, every time we leave the apartment, the reverse
holds true. Generally speaking, we are in and out three or four times a
day. For someone with mobility challenges (i.e., wheelchair, walking
frame) the route would be impossible. With my white cane I negotiate it
with difficulty.
Our apartment itself is adequate. We were pleased to see a TV, telephone,
and electric kettle when we arrived., but not so pleased when we
discovered that none of these worked! In fact, there were only two
electrical outlets that did work. We instantly plugged the fan into one
of these. The stove top was also interesting. There were four gas
burners which could be lit with the use of a cigarette lighter
thoughtfully provided by the apartment management. Lyle has singed his
fingers on several occasions. In spite of all this, we have become used
to the Italian eccentricities of the apartment and are enjoying our stay
here.
We hear many languages on the street - Italian of course, but German and
English also prevalent. Most of the shopkeepers do speak a little
English, or else we can point at what we want. This was not so in the
tiny butcher shop. There was nothing on display, but finally the
inspired butcher announced spaghetti and mince meat. "Yes," we said,
and that decided our menu for the evening. Tonight we are trying again
and hoping to buy hamburger patties.
Tomorrow we are going to Manarola, but that is for another post.
Glad I am not doing the walking, as I walk about a half of block and my legs are hurting. I laughed about the plug ins and lighting the stove .Lyle you need to just know how to hold the lighter so you do not burn yourself. LOL.
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