Italy's Cinque Terre 2001

In 2001 my friend Douglas and I spent a month in Italy. We visited Rome, Orvieto, Bavagna, Gubbio, Cortona , Florence and Venice. Of course they all differed and were wonderful but we’d saved the last week for a special treat. We had decided to visit the Cinque Terre, the five small villages clinging to the coast of the Italian Riviera. It was the one place where we had no reservations but we’d read that all you needed to do was show up and someone would appear with rooms to rent so we decided to give it a try.

After a full day’s train ride from Venice we arrived at Montrose al Mare the uppermost village of the 5 and the one in the picture above. As had been promised we’d barely put our luggage down when a lady on a bike approached asking if we were looking for a place to stay and we were able to rent a wonderful villa at an amazingly low rate.

Everything seemed magical at the Cinque Terre but a favorite memory was when
Douglas stopped dead in his tracks and said, “Oh, my …” and I turned to see a young woman approaching. She wore no makeup and her dress was modest but she was regal enough to be a queen and on top of her head was a huge wicker basket filled with lemons. I knew she was real but it felt like she’d just walked out of a painting !

A lot of our time was spent trekking the rugged, steep paths that separated the 5 villages and it was fascinating to see how they differed. Here is Douglas taking a rest between villages.

On our trip home to the States Douglas and I agreed that we traveled well together and we talked of future adventures. Unfortunately he passed away about a year and a half later and our plans died with him. However his friendship and the month that we shared in Italy will always be one of my most cherished memories.