Journey to Cinque Terre; Riomaggiore Through the Eyes of an Artist
We had reservations for the high speed train to Florence, where we would change trains and head to Cinque Terre (literally translated "five lands"). I noticed a sign in the station that stated some train times might be modified due to train strikes. I felt relieved when we boarded the train to Florence that out train wasn't affected.
Well, I spoke too soon!
After we changed trains in Florence, our train stopped in Pisa. Something was spoken over the intercom in Italian, and suddenly everyone got off the train...that is, everyone except those of us that didn't speak Italian! When we realized what was happening, we got off the train, and all the Americans congregated together as we tried to figure out how to get to Cinque Terre. We discovered there were no car rentals or buses going that way. Imagine a herd of Americans going up and down stairs from platform to platform (5x to be exact), trying to find another train headed to our destination. We'd find one only to discover that it too, was cancelled!
We finally found one, and about 2 hours later were back "on track".
After arriving in Riomaggiore, (one of the "5 lands"), we looked for the elevator. I had heard that the elevator headed up the mountain right to our hotel, but it was hit and miss. You guessed it, that day it was "miss". Up we walked, rolling luggage up steep hills and then 3 flights of stairs. I couldn't breathe by the time we reached the Sol Levante, but who cares, look at the view! The owner, Elisabeth was very friendly and the rooms were cozy and clean.
My main goal upon arrival was to find a great place to watch the sun set. We headed towards the village and up the hill and found a beautiful church with benches facing the ocean. Amazingly, it was quiet and crowd free!
The warm light lit up the village so beautifully, and I was inspired to paint it.
(church of San Giovanni Battista)
Coming up next...our hike to Manorola.
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