Man (and Woman) in Manarola

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The Cinque Terre is very busy now, but we managed to get away from the crowds by walking round the backstreets in Manarola, the second village on our ‘Five Lands’ tour.

Like Riomaggiore, the houses were built along a river which flows out to the sea. The river now runs beneath a road.
The hillsides are steep, and terraced for vines.
The harbour
Narrow (and quiet) backstreet
Another backstreet
Manarola is very much still lived in by locals
Looking down to the main street
The harbour is so small some of the boats are kept in the road
There is no jetty. The metal contraption is for hoisting the boats up, then lifting them down into the water.
Tunnels were created in the cliffs along Cinque Terre to lay the train track. This train has stopped at Manarola Station.
Every Christmas, Mario Andreoli, a local man, creates an illuminated Nativity scene on the hillside using discarded materials.
We were able to walk part of the way along the Via dell’Amore which connects Riomaggiore to Manarola. The padlocks are apparently a sign of eternal love.
We could also walk part of the way to the next ‘Terre’ Corniglia as well,
but most of the route is closed due to a landslide.
Woman in Manarola
We did a little food shopping on the way home and bought some ‘torte di verdura’ (vegetable tart) which is a speciality in Liguria. I spoke Italian to the lady which she complimented me on. Then I blew it when I failed to understand her question, ‘Where are you from?’
We pass this every day, but daren’t try the coffee. The name is a puzzle – ‘fatal coffee’ is similar in Italian (caffe fatale). Surely he doesn’t mean that. Perhaps the owner is ‘Al’?
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Published by tortoisesontour

My husband, Mark, and I have just sold our house and are taking a year out to have an adventure before we settle down to retirement. We decided on a journey through Italy as it has the perfect combination of good weather, interesting history, great wine and wonderful ice-cream! As we will be starting our journey in January, we are beginning in the very south of the country.

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