Cinque Terre, Revisited

It’s such an amazing feeling being able to visit a place like Cinque Terre for the first time – and for me visiting a second time was even more rewarding than the first. I think part of the reason is because I didn’t feel as rushed to try to see everything I could like I did last time, and this time I was also able to visit with my Brother, Sister and my Dad. Being able to play tour guide is honestly one of my favorite things to do – especially with my family, as I feel like I’m also the most capable to be able to do so in a way that will be meaningfully impactful for them. Italy is basically a country that has stolen my heart since 2012, and feeling confident to know exactly where to go and how to find amazing things to do – almost without fail at this point is honestly such a humbling feeling, and something that I feel so privileged to be able to share with those that I love so dearly. I feel like I’ve completely immersed myself in the culture here, and because I’m a member of their family I feel like they get more out of their experiences here because of me. What can I say, I honestly just feel really stoked about that.

If you missed the blog post about my first trip to Cinque Terre in 2017 you can check that out here 🙂

Truth be told, our decision to continue our trip here to Cinque Terre after just coming back from Southern Italy was a bit last-minute, but it didn’t take very much convincing for my Dad to actually insist that we went. It went a bit like this”‘Dad, are you sure you want to go? We could always take it easy for a few days in Florence?” My Dad – “No, I think we really should go, sounds great! Another thing is I just realized there isn’t a beer in my hand, we should fix that! BRB” (Dad fades away into the distance in search of beer, knowing zero Italian, returns with beer. When he comes back, probably makes some remark like “Those guys were trying to gouge me over there, but all I had was 5 bucks and some of these weird coins. Beer’s cold though!”)

Check out my collection of framed artistic prints from Cinque Terre Here

Taking what I learned from my first trip here I knew we needed to rent bikes for us to ride, and I also knew that staying in Levanto would be a great option for what we were wanting to do for around 3 days.

So we arrived at the Levanto station and started walking towards the center of Levanto where our apartment was located. I had found this place on Airbnb, and let me tell you it didn’t disappoint. The location was perfect, and the apartment had a ton of character. The highlight of the place was the great balcony with a great view of the surrounding Italian countryside, and how close it was to everything we wanted to do.

Once we got settled in at the apartment we headed out to explore Levanto a bit so we could grab something to eat, and my Sister also wanted to buy a hat so we helped her find what she wanted. Levanto itself isn’t very big so we had a good time poking around and trying some of locally famous focaccia with pesto which everyone obviously loved. Since I had already been to Levanto I also knew for sure that I had to rent bikes in advance for our trip, so thankfully I did that already and our reservation was set for the next morning. 

The next day we realized we got lucky too because I think my Dad got the last electric bike available for the day, and every other bicycle had already been rented out. As soon as we picked up the bikes we headed into town to pick up some lunch to go, and we took off towards Bonassola and Framura. Riding through the repurposed train tunnels in this area of Liguria is honestly such an awesome experience, and I’m so happy everyone felt the same about that. We stopped here and there to admire the sea views along the way, and eventually made it to Bonassola, and then to Framura where we had a snack at my favorite local place. It’s really experiences like this that I like sharing the most because I know that there’s no way that they would have ever come here without me telling them about it. It’s part of why I really like travelling north of Cinque Terre like this, because more of the tourists never make it this far, and while the 5 major towns really are something special, there’s also something special about living slower with the locals in these beautiful less-known places.

We hung out there at Bar Agua for a bit, and then headed back towards Bonassola for a break and drink so we could relax and also enjoy the late afternoon sun, and the sea that was almost begging us to get in. Being that it’s August I think that the late afternoon once the sun starts going down is honestly my favorite time of the day. The temperature starts to fall a little, but there’s plenty of sun left to do a myriad of activities.

After arriving back to Levanto we parked our bikes in our garage and headed up to the apartment to clean up a bit before heading out to dinner. I have to say I really do love these Ligurian beach towns, and the chill seaside vibes that they have. Being near the sea in Italy in general reminds me a lot of certain spots in California, and the sea in general always makes me feel refreshed and reconnected.

We weren’t that hungry so we headed to this great place that had good drinks and tagliere that we all shared and just enjoyed the summer air and people watching in the main square. Honestly I couldn’t have picked a better place, and being able to share it with my family was simply ethereal. I really missed them a lot, and I honestly just cherish spending time with them so much – especially as it doesn’t happen very often.

The next morning we checked out of the apartment, grabbed our backpacks, and headed towards our next adventure back through Cinque terre on the way back to Florence. Our first stop was Monterosso al Mare, where we had to get in the water and enjoy some must-have fried fish at that small place right next to the train station. Monterosso al Mare is honestly such a cool place, and certainly one of my favorites in Cinque Terre – probably because the beaches are larger and there is more space to move around 🙂

Next on our list was Vernazza where we took the time to navigate through the narrow street down to the water’s edge, scope out the famous church-by-the-sea, and admire the scenery while we took some photos together. It’s moments like this where I realize how bad I am at taking candid photographs of people – even of my own family. I know I should probably work on that, but for now thanks to Aly, Ben, and My Dad for providing me with some of the photos shown in this post. Go team Wilson! <3 

Last but not least we stopped in Manarola which is where we spent the most time. If you’ve never been to Manarola – there is no beach that you can go to so if you want to sunbathe you basically need to lay on concrete. The cool thing about Manarola though is the rock jumping, as well as the absolutely profound depth of the sea not far from the shore- which makes for some pretty humbling and amazing snorkeling opportunities. We sunbathed for a bit, and swam in the water for a while to cool off. Me and my brother both jumped off the big rock a few times which was pretty fun, and then we made our way to the train station to catch our train ride back to Florence.

Plot Twist

Our train was significantly delayed. We’re not talking a little delayed, we’re talking lets find a place to camp out while trying to hide from the sun-delayed. We’re talking – we’re going to need to restock on water and food-delayed. After about 45 minutes I decided that it would be best to try to run back into town to try to find some fast food and drinks to bring back to everyone – otherwise we’d be on a train for ~3.5 hours without enough food or drinks. The challenge was that there was no estimate of when the train would be arriving so my Brother and I really had to hoof it, while navigating through summer crowds in Manarola, not lose each other, find food and drinks super fast, and be able to find the way back.

So off we ran together trying to find what restaurant or fast food might be available. The first place we found we thought might work, but after 5 minutes we had to bail and move on. Finally after a couple more minutes we found some snacks and drinks that we could quickly purchase and both of us just kept watching the clock. Then we heard the whistle of the train. We quickly payed and I’m not even kidding we were like climbing staircases up the side and swerving in and out of people like we were recording scenes from the next parkour action film. We turn the corner and see our group waiting at the exit of the train holding the door with their bags outside as everyone else had already gotten on, and they thought they were going to have to let the train go without them- which was also the last train of the day. Ben and I yelled ahead to have them get on the train and we ran and jumped on, joining everyone with all our food and drinks in hand.

Mission accomplished! Air high five! 

All in all it was such an amazing adventure, and I can’t wait to travel with them again sometime soon. If you’re reading this -thanks again Aly, Ben and Dad for coming to visit me in Italy, and to let me share some of what fuels my passion and love for this country with you.

Cheers until next time <3

Scott