We liked the Cinque Terre town of Manarola. It was just a
shame that the walking trail between there and Riomaggiore was closed because
of a landslide. Possibly that was the reason there were so many people on the
train. Still, most people seemed to disperse after disembarking.
The harbour area at Manarola is quaint, but because of the
incline of the land leading to the water, it is not especially functional. A
long winch lowers or raises the little boats one boat at a time. Mostly the boats
seem to be beached along the sides of a short street leading from near to the
train station towards the water. The first picture shows this.
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| Boats on Manarola street |
Lyle and I continued to walk on a paved path around the
northern promontory of the town. It was easy walking with awesome views of the
blue waters of the Mediterranean. In the second picture you can see this. I am
standing in front of the locked gate barring the way to the part of the trail
blocked by a landslide.
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| Sue in front of gates |
On a separate walk, we climbed to a higher elevation to look
down on the town. I was fascinated to see a small cemetery on a grassy point
below the trail and closer to the water. I hadn’t thought of land space for
burial being at such a premium. Apparently the more recently deceased are
buried here and then after a generation the bones of the deceased are removed
and placed in the crypts so that the limited soil space can be reused. The
third picture is of the cemetery.
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| Cemetery in Manarola |
I find it interesting putting bones in crypt, this is also done in Japan.
ReplyDeleteDorothy