In the days leading up to our departure from the farmhouse we were sad to be leaving. We felt we could have easily stayed another month. But when departure day finally arrived, we were surprised at how eager we were to get back on the road. We made a stop at the local Coop store, which is a fabulous grocery store but one that seems to be constantly crowded. We stocked up and headed for Pisa.
Pisa gets a bad rap. It is industrial and without the Leaning Tower it might indeed fall off the “must see” list of many tourists. Even some of those who go to see the tower complain that it isn’t worth the trip. I suppose that may be so if time is limited because there are so many other things to see, but we had all the time in the world, so we actually enjoyed Pisa very much. Well, I say Pisa, but I really mean the old city.
We parked up at the local sosta, which is an Italian aire, walking distance from the tower. It was basically just a parking lot with water and a dump. Only a few spaces had electricity but we didn’t get there in time to secure one. We don’t mind going without electricity unless it is constantly overcast or raining. Under those circumstances and with so few hours of sun during the late fall and winter months to help our batteries recharge, we lose power fast. Come nightfall, we tend to live by candlelight. This is mostly fine because we watch movies or read on our iPads, so bright lights aren’t all that important. But when it becomes difficult to recharge all of our tech, then we get cranky and start hunting for electricity.
We had sunshine in Pisa, though, so we were happy campers. Happy to be on the road again, happy to be parked up near the old city of Pisa, and very happy to have made contact with a school friend of mine that I have not seen since we graduated in 1975! Desiree and I lived in the same dorm just across the hall from each other when we were sophomores at The American School in Switzerland. She was born in the States, but has traveled the world and has lived in Italy so long that she speaks English with a charming Italian accent. We met up for a long and leisurely lunch and, while we shared a bottle of wine, got caught up with the goings on in our lives. What a wonderful afternoon!
Before arriving in Pisa we had already made reservations at our next stop, a campground near Monterosso, one of the five famous villages that together make up the area known as Cinque Terre. Known for its beautiful coastline and rugged hillside towns, Cinque Terre is on everyone’s “must see” list. Unfortunately, we had to wait a few days for an open space, which is a testament to how busy this area is even in the off season during a pandemic. After a day in Pisa, and with no electrical spots opening up, I said to Steven it wouldn’t hurt to call and see if they might have had a cancellation. Lo and behold, they had, so we said, “we’re on our way!”. We snagged a total of six days there, so we said goodbye to Pisa and off we went!
Usually in an area such as Cinque Terre we would do a ton of research prior to arriving. I would suss out the drive while Steven would look for places he wanted to photograph. This time, though, we didn’t do anything. We just took off and drove there with no idea what to expect. It turned out to be an exciting drive in Bijou, that’s for sure. We passed through Carrara, home to the famous white marble, giant chunks of which seemed to be just laying around everywhere. It hadn’t crossed my mind that in order to get to the steep hillside villages we would actually have to drive on the steep hillsides, but that’s exactly what we did. Our campground was literally a space just carved out of the mountain and made flat. I wouldn’t want to be there during a heavy rain, that’s for sure, as landslides are not uncommon in the area.
Our campground was across the road from a lovely restaurant, the Ristorante II Ciliegio 5Terre. Once we were checked in, we made a beeline over there to have some lunch. I wanted steak, which in Italy is priced by the kilo and is really meant to be shared. Even though it isn’t his favorite, Steven took one for the team and had steak with me. The waiter brought a basket of bread to the table which we would both usually ignore, but this wasn’t just any bread, this was the softest, fluffiest, crunchiest, most buttery/olivey focaccia I have ever put in my mouth. We ate every bite and asked for more.
When the chef came out we asked him about the bread, specifically, what type of flour he used. He said “00, but the secret is the salt water bath,” and off he went. I was like, “What? Wait, come back, what do you mean, “salt water bath?””, but he was long gone. I was intrigued, so I messaged my foodie friend Lisa and asked, “What is this salt water of which he speaks?” Lisa gave me the lowdown. “…the salt water is a Ligurian thing. They “brine” the dough. After dimpling the dough they do a salt water wash, like an egg wash. The idea is that the water evaporates during baking leaving a salty crunchy crust.”
This may be a well-known “secret” but since I am not a baker, I didn’t have a clue. Lisa knows all. We grew up together in Libya and Switzerland and she draws on a lot of things she learned there and in her travels elsewhere in Europe and Asia. If you are interested in following her, and you should be or you will be missing out, you can find her on Instagram @FoodHistory360. She is a foodie through and through and posts tons of great stuff!
As it turns out, Bijou’s little oven is not going to get hot enough to give a good salt crust, but Lisa sent me a recipe that skips the salt wash. We have made it twice so far and we are completely hooked on making our own bread. If you want to give the Ligurian focaccia a try, here is a great video of Samin Nosrat and Brad Leone making it.. It’s kind of long and a little goofy, but I am a fan and they have fun together and I learned a lot by watching it. Click here.
Anyway, enough about focaccia, I got a little carried away, but honestly, after six days in Cinque Terre, learning about this bread is my favorite experience and I am still intrigued and continuing to learn more.
During our six days in the area, we visited the five towns of Cinque Terre twice, well, most of them twice. The easiest way to see them is by train. We bought a day pass which allowed us to stop anywhere we wanted and then travel on when we were ready. The towns are just a few minutes apart by train, but unless you are there specifically to hike, you wouldn’t want to walk to them. There is a walking trail from the first town to the last, but sections of it have been closed due to landslides for quite a few years. It doesn’t seem to be a priority to repair them and make them safe. In any case, we did plenty of walking as it was, so we weren’t looking to add more. The train was perfect for us.
The names of the towns are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We had a hard time remembering the names, so we basically just called them one, two, three, four and five. On our first day out we visited all of them, with our favorites being Monterosso (one) and Riomaggiore (five). The second time we visited one, two and five. Of course we visited a few little hole-in-the-wall souvenir shops, but mostly we just walked the town, took photos, maybe got something to eat or a coffee, then got on the train to the next town.
The real draw to these towns is that they are made up of buildings awash in a multitude of colors that have been precariously constructed on steep hillsides. Access to the sea also seems precarious, particularly on a stormy day as it was on our first visit. It was so stormy, in fact, that even though it was to be the last day we could have taken a boat trip to see the towns from the water, no tours were running because of the state of the sea. It was kind of weird, because on shore the weather was partly sunny and it didn’t seem all that windy. But water came onshore one giant crashing wave after another.
For the most part, though, we were there late enough in the season that the majority of small fishing boats had been brought ashore and tied down for the winter. Many shops and restaurants were also closed and more were closing every day. The villages of Cinque Terre seem a bit like Venice in that locals long ago sold out to those who are there to accommodate tourists. Authenticity seems to have been replaced by a show for those who come with dollars to spend. That said, the rugged hillsides, the aged architecture and the sea are still intact and are worth the trip.
After six days we packed up to begin our trek south. We thought about lots of places to go and visit, but in the end we decided we were ready to be done for 2021. (There’s a bumper sticker in there somewhere.) We had one overnight just south of Florence before rolling into the Eternal City of Rome. More on that next time.
Of course our posts would not be complete these days without an art contribution from Steven. He saw these flowers next to a deteriorated wall while on the way up the stairs to Corniglia and made a painting of it. If you would like to keep up with his art, you can follow him on his Visual Art Facebook Page here.
NEXT UP: Roma!
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Now that…, that is beautiful! The blog, pics and that wonderful painting!!!
Thank you, Dolores. There are plenty of subjects all around, but this painting in particular that Steven did is one of his most popular and one of my favorites!
I enjoyed reading that and looking at the photographs – excellent as always. Thank you for sharing.
Looking forward to Roma! 🙂
Thanks, Rich! Ah, Roma! So much to see and do, we’ll try to cover it well. 🙂
Love all your blogs. You make the area come alive. Steven and you should do books on photography and drawings. I would love to have them both on my book shelf. My fav town would have been the one where you climb all those stairs. All of the towns were beautiful to see.
Hi Rita! So good to hear from you! Those stairs wouldn’t have been so intimidating if we hadn’t already walked for hours. But it really wasn’t so bad. Once we got to the town, we sat for a leisurely lunch and recovered. And of course, downhill was so much easier! And it was on those stairs that Steven saw the roses and took the photo that he painted and included in this post. It is one of my favorites!
Because you know us, you might guess that we went there specifically to do the hike. Thought you might be interested in reading about our 19 km day there in 2017…
https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2017/03/a-long-day-at-cinque-terre-national-park.html
I would say the best part of your hike was the gelato at the end. 🙂 We had six days there but only two were even partially sunny, so those are the days we went to see the towns. I can’t say the trail from town to town ever appealed to us, but we had already read that parts had shut down. I’m glad we went there to see the place, but I can’t say it would be high on my list for a return visit. There are so many other places I’d rather go. Like Greece and Turkey, maybe we’ll see you there!
Beautiful place . There was a photo in wife’s Dr. office of one of the towns , no name or from where the photo was taken . I always thought what a beautiful place it was and the only bright thing in the room . We never spoke of it as we knew there would be no travels to places like that for us . Thank’s for finally getting me there .
It is a neat looking place, isn’t it? I know I could never live there, though, because I can’t handle the salt spray. Everything is covered in it and I don’t like the feeling of it on my skin and clothes. That said, there was a gelato shop that sold my two most favorite flavors, chocolate and cinnamon. I got the combo – a big one! – and it was heaven!! 🙂 Good to hear from you, Vern!
I did the hike in Cinque Terre to all of the villages about 30 years ago, and even then, the trail was in bad shape. But it was still gorgeous! I’ve always dreamed of returning, but with your comment about the locals selling out to the tourist trade…now I’m not so sure. Maybe I’ll just enjoy it as a memory, and through your beautiful photos.
I love good focaccia, too! How cool that you’re baking it in your little motorhome oven. And Steven’s floral painting is lovely.
I can promise you that everything has changed in 30 years. Some things for the better, others not so much. Venice is a sad story, because there are no people who actually live there now unless they are involved in the tourist trade. Venice is FINALLY taking steps to lessen the impact of “Big Tourism”. Let’s hope other follow suit. But then there are some changes that are necessary. My first trip to Rome was 52 years ago. You can imagine how few barriers there were to keep us out of sensitive areas. Now there is lots of protection and I think that is a good thing!
Incredible pictures! I had such a sense of de javu and the I realized we watched a Pixar movie called LUCA. I’m sure this animation was set in one or more of those Costal towns. Your pictures made me feel like I’d been there. Thank you so much.
you know, when our kids were young we knew all about Disney and Pixar movies, but now that they are grown, we are completely out of the loop. I’m gonna have to look that up! Thank you for taking time to comment and I am so glad you are enjoying our trip and the photos.
Fantastic pictures! I’ve got a sourdough foccacia recipe I’ve been wanting to try, may as well pour the brine on as well, lol. That video was great.
I literally just watched a video of a guy who made a regular yeast focaccia and a sourdough one just to test them side by side. He didn’t do the salt bath, but in the end, the sourdough won hands down! How exciting, let me know how it turns out!!
My family came from a Now deserted village about an hour NW from there. I love it there and have always wanted to hike it. Love focaccia!
That is a pretty mountainous region, no wonder you like to hike so much! It’s in your blood! 🙂
We’ve got the low down on the dough, but what about the stunning, beautiful, captivating, header picture.
The camera, settings and editing software would interest a lot of your blog followers.
As much as I like youtube vlogs I much prefer the written version of peoples’ travels.
Thanks for your comment, Rob. I’m not sure which photo you are referring to, the one at the top of this specific post, or the one on the main page of our blog. If you are speaking of the former, the photo with the wave action at the top of this specific post, then that is mine. I took that photo with my iPhone10. I waited quite a while for the perfect wave to hit those rocks, and the people in the shot just happened by, so all in all, I got lucky. Steven is working on a post of his favorite photos of 2021, so he might shed some light on his process in that.
That header is spectacular!! The couple give such a great perspective for the waves and buildings. I didn’t realize (or remember) that the tower is part of a cathedral – always thought it was by itself. So cool to see it with the other buildings. The pic of Riomaggiore with the water and cliff and buildings doesn’t look like it can be a real place – unique and stunning. Can’t imagine climbing those stairs even once – hope the pizza was really good 🙂 Love Steven’s flowers, look like the petal will drop any second.
Wasn’t that a lucky shot for me? I stood steady waiting for just the right wave, the people were a bonus. Those flowers in the painting were from a photo Steven took as we were climbing those stairs! Another lucky shot. 🙂