The Odyssey, Part I

August 18, 2008

One of the things I really like about living in Alessandria is our location: an hour from Milan, Genoa, Turin… We’re on a main rail line and if you pay the Euros, off you go. Both Kim and I think that the train fares are high—much more than in the past. But, worldwide, things are more expensive so why not trains? In any case, given Jean’s visit, we thought it would be fun to head over to the Cinque Terre for the day. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Cinque Terre, it’s five little towns along the coast and overlooking the Ligurian Sea. It was first described in medieval times as the “five lands”. Jean has never been and it’s a two hour ride to La Spezia where you then connect to a local or Regionale train for the smaller town connections.

After reading Rick Steve’s for advice, we decided to head to Monterosso because he said the beaches there are bigger and sandier. Kim and I spent three or four nights in the Cinque Terre some 15 years ago so we were happy to revisit a place where we’d had such a fun time; at that time we stayed in Vernazza and on this trip, we’d hoped to also make it to that amazingly picturesque town. So, around 10AM with bathing suits in hand we left Alessandria on our journey for the day.

It’s summer and the area is quite busy with lots of tourists from many different countries. Families, couples, young backpackers carrying their heavy loads; all heading toward the beach and a spot to put down one’s towel. A new addition to us was the many chairs available for rent in certain “private” areas and then public areas where people were elbow to elbow. This public beach is what you first see as you come off of the train in Monterosso as you begin to orient yourself and strategize where you will hope to soon land. We of course headed (unknowingly) to the private, more quiet area and plopped ourselves down. A small technical detail was that the place where you pay to shower or change was closed for afternoon break time. We discussed the situation for a few minutes; the blaring down of the sun aided us in making a quick decision, which involved going to a wall behind all of the empty, non purchased chairs and changing there. Jean and I went first and held up a towel for one another and given that we all have 50+ some year old bodies, we didn’t worry about anyone getting too excited over us. Kim, with a little bit of encouragement followed shortly.

Our beach spot was very rocky and really had very little sand; actually, all of those empty chairs were on the sand and we sat right up in front of them. Within a few minutes, Jean and I were in the water which was a great temperature and felt fantastic! The waves pounded, the currents were strong and all those rocks were under our feet making walking a challenge. But we all managed and enjoyed our dips (I was the only one to get totally knocked down by the waves) followed by lots of people watching and talking. The sounds of the surf, the beauty of the day and the companionship of very dear people with good philosophical conversations made for a few perfect hours. But, all things do change and that perfection was not meant to last forever. A young man who was big and buff approached us to let us know that this was a private beach. “Oh, my” we said and it was time to move on….something that we internally knew we were ready to do.

There was no way we were going to join all those on the public beach and so headed to the little changing/shower/bathroom area which was now open. Now, as far as this kind of establishment goes, one is deluded to think that it’s going to be anything like your own home bathroom. But, as luck would have it, it could have been better but also W A Y worse and we managed cold showers and changing, ignoring the wide open window that ran along a main outside stairway. (Actually, Jean and I easily ignored those walking by but Kim who describes herself as “the prissiest of all” was not pleased; too much of her father’s daughter, too much sand and grime).

That done, it was time to wander and explore Monterosso followed by a nice drink at a bar overlooking the sea. I had Grappa for the first time ever (fire water!), Kim had an imitation Marguerite (bad choice), and Jean enjoyed something that seemed to be more like a Tequila Sunrise even though she’d ordered a wine spritzer. So, now fortified, it was time to head to the train station and on to Vernazza.

This ends Part I of our Cinque Terre Odyssey. As readers, please keep in mind the following additional details: our two hour trip to Monterosso (from Alessandria) actually took four and a half hours. It was 5PM and someone in our group was thinking that despite the hour, going to Vernazza was still a fine idea.