Wandering Around Vernazza

Vernazza, just south of Monterosso, has no car traffic and the only natural port in Cinque Terre. The city dates back to 1080 and, over the following two centuries, the city provided port, fleet, and soldiers for Genova's conquest of Liguria.  In the 15th century, Vernazza built fortifications against frequent pirate attacks and, in the 17th century, entered a period of decline that ended in the 19th century with the growth of the wine industry and the completion of the La Spezia-Genoa rail line, with stops in the Cinque Terre cities (the rail line that we ride out from on our arrival in Milan:  Milan-Monterosso, passing through Genoa).

It's a cloudy day as we leave Monterosso for the three minute train ride to Vernazza

Cloudy at Monterosso train station

We walk up above the Vernazza train station for great views across the city.

Views of Vernazza

We pause briefly to wait for one of the small rubber-track tractors that are used to carry deliveries up the stairs to homes, offices, and restaurants.

Delivery on the way up

We then descend into Vernazza through the picturesque, narrow, windy streets.

Streets of Vernazza

Every now and then, there is an opening to a small park overlooking the Mediterranean.

Overlooking the sea

We leave the sea, back into the internal city streets, wandering and traipsing up and down.

Continuing on the streets of Vernazza

Now, we're on the other side of the city from the sea, facing the port, the piazza, and the hills, with great glimpses of all of them.

Views of the port and piazza

Great spot for lunch!

The sea is rough today (no ferry service) and washes over the breakwater and into the port of Vernazza, causing us to occasionally move backwards very fast.

The sea today.

We walk around the harbor to the Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia built in the 13th century on a rock overlooking the sea.  The interior is beautiful, with front and rear entrances and great views of the sea.

Santa Margherita d'Antiochia, overlooking the harbor

Beautiful inside, with views of the harbor and the sea

Outside the church, we climb the stairs a little further and come upon more great views of the harbor and Vernazza on the other side, with the train tracks heading into the tunnel that continues on to Monterosso.

Harbor, sea, city, and train

Soon, it is time to head back and we exit the Monterosso train station to beautiful views of beach umbrellas partially furled for the weather, with a few open for those who brave the storm for a dip in the sea.

Back in Monterosso

Our lunch reward today is bruschetta:  anchovy and tomato.

Lunch

Today was a short trip with great exploration, scenery, and a little history.  And, lunch.

Hiking Corniglia to Manarola

We catch a train from Monterosso to Corniglia, two stops and seven minutes away.  The town is up 377 steps from the train station, getting us in the spirit of going up, soon with much more rocky steps.  We are hiking to Manarola, which we can see in the distance as we climb the steps to Corniglia and start up the path from there.  The path is basically straight up to the top of the ridge and we get a good workout at the start, but then we can stride along the ridge and enjoy the fabulous scenery

Up from train station, Manarola in the distance

Starting up the path

And up some more

Monterosso in the far distance

Looking back at Corniglia, forward to Manarola

The path along the ridge is fairly level, with a few ups and downs.

Continuing along the ridge

The trail crosses someone's front yard and then continues into the vineyards.

Crossing the yard

Through the vineyards, Corniglia and Monterosso in the distance

On the other side of the vineyards, we enter the small town of Volastra, quickly passing through and starting down the stairs on the far side.  Volastra is 345 meters (1132) feet above the sea (and Manarola), with around 1200 steps down to Manarola.

Streets of Volastra

Manarola in the distance

Steps down from Volastra

Just before the bottom of the steps, we take another trail around the point to the sea (instead of following the road into Manarola), where we can follow a rocky descent with great views.

Path to rocky descent

Views of Manarola and the coast north to Monterosso

We begin our final descent into Manarola and walk through the city to the train station and lunch.

Descending into the streets of Manarola

Another great day and hike in Cinque Terre!

Tarallini Pugliesi

Our Dallas weather for the week is a temperature of 25°F (-4°C) with freezing rain, sleet, snow, and hail for four to five days.  The towns here don't have snowplows or sand/salt trucks and we sit at home until the freeze is over and the roads are once again safe to travel on.

Weather outside

While we're sitting looking out at the cold and snow, writing blogs about beautiful, sunny, warm Mediterranean weather in Cinque Terre, we think of ways to create a little of that here.  We open the cookbook Italian Street Food, and spot a recipe for tarallini pugliesi.  We discovered taralli in Italy several years ago and have been purchasing them on occasional shopping trips to a local Eataly.  These treats are a great snack or accompaniment to a glass of wine. The tarallini pugliesi are small taralli typical of Puglia on Italy's Southern Adriatic coast and are made with fennel seeds, but can also be made with chili flakes or pepper.  The tarallini are both boiled and baked, making them quite crisp and tasty.

Store purchased, home made

We combine flour, dry white wine, olive oil, sea salt, and fennel seeds in a mixer until the dough is smooth and soft.  Then, taking 1/2 ounce (15 gram) balls of dough, we roll each ball into a 4 inch (10 cm) stick and join the two ends to make a circle.

Making circles from the dough

The dough rings are cooked in water for about a minute, 6-8 at a time, until they float to the surface.  They are then removed with a slotted spoon and spread on a tea towel to drain any excess water.

Boil and dry

We then transfer the dough rings from the tea towel to a wire rack and let them sit in a cold oven with the door slightly open for a least 8 hours.

Sit in the oven for the day (or overnight)

After their day of rest, we place the rings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them for half an hour at 200°C (400°F).  After baking, we cool them on a wire rack, open some wine, and have a snack.

Bake and cool

Snacks are ready!

Delicious!  Great tastes and memories of Italy and Cinque Terre!  We're going to have to make these every week or two!