Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE OTHER CINQUE TERRE
For a less-touristy approach to the region, try one of the following activities.
Worshipping with the Locals
One of the greatest challenges facing the Cinque Terre is the decline in full-time
residents, and with an aging population, the Cinque Terre is in danger of losing
its cultural traditions. Attending 11am Sunday Mass with the villagers in one of
their Gothic-style churches (each sporting a beautifully carved marble rose win-
dow, proof that the villagers were turning a reasonable profit in the Middle Ages)
is one of the best ways to experience an authentic slice of village life. Other times
for Mass are as follows: 4pm on Saturday and Sunday (Riomaggiore and
Vernazza); 5pm on Saturday (Manarola); 5:30pm on Saturday and Sunday, and
9am on Sunday (Monterosso).
Making Wine & Perfect Pesto
In 2005, park authorities launched a new series of guided tours showcasing tradi-
tional activities, including
Wild Nature and Cultivated Terraces
and
Cookery Lesson
in Montenero
(both tours, departing Manarola and Riomaggiore, respectively, at
9am;
€
30 including lunch, after which you are brought back to the starting
point). On the former tour, you are taken for a walk through the vineyards behind
Manarola, given a short lesson on local grape cultivation, introduced to the vint-
ners, and, finally, provided a glass of wine during lunch at Gli Ulivi, in Volastra.
In
Cookery Lesson in Montenero,
you walk up to the Montenero Sanctuary, where
you are given a demonstration on the traditional way to make pesto (Liguria's
most famous culinary export), and then enjoy the results in Montenero's 14th-
century refectory, where its
ristorante
is located. All park tours (including those of
guided hiking trails) run once a week on specified days only; to learn more, con-
tact
%
0187-760000 or agenziaviaggi@parconazionale5terre.it.
THE PORTOFINO PROMONTORY
This pristine piece of coast, a jutting triangle that divides the Golfo Paradiso from
the Golfo Tigullio, was a favored haunt of Hollywood stars and jet-set moguls in
the 1950s, and its villages and towns still ooze the kind of sophisticated charm
their cousins south of Genoa have long since sacrificed to mass-market tourism.
Portofino
is glamorous with chichi boutiques hawking everything—from
Pucci to Picasso—to socialites who teeter along its cobblestone lanes in high heels.
Neighboring
Santa Margherita Ligure,
on the other hand, is larger and less
pedestrian-friendly but has the slightly faded elegance of an aging Hollywood
star—great bone structure and still beautiful. East of Santa Margherita, where the
promontory joins the mainland, is the bustling harbor town of
Rapallo,
which
has its fair share of Liberty-style (Art Nouveau) buildings and palm-lined prome-
nades. But the encroachment of bland, modern structures now detracts from what
must once have been the equal of Santa Margherita Ligure.
Of all the harborside settlements, my favorite is
Camogli,
a tiny fishing village
that lies west of Santa Margherita, on the western flank of the promontory. Once
mother to the legendary Mille Bianchi Velier (1,000 white ships) that set sail from
