6/14 -- Visit Corniglia, Agrituristic Lunch

For our last full day in the Cinque Terre, we visited the only one of the villages with no harbor. Instead it is perched on the top of a bluff. Because none of these towns are car friendly, we piled into 3 SUVs a couple blocks from the hotel and headed up to the road. We stopped at a church with a killer overview of Corniglia and a couple wide spots in the road for photos before heading down into town.

Monterosso

Above/below: Vernazza

 

Corniglia

San Bernadino Church with the viewpoint
for these photos -- 2 above and 2 below.

This village was cut off from the main road for a long time in 2011 after a horrible storm took out the road in multiple canyons and wiped out the homes below. Despite promises, there has been no emergency relief to owners to rebuild and the most damaged parts of the road are still just gravel. This town is flatter than the others and offers a great view of Manarola, the most picturesque village.

Above/3 below: These photos show a local tram for gathering
baskets of grapes or clearing stones. Top is the seat and
some sort of engine.

There are 2 skinny cars behind the seat.

The contraption runs on the square rail that turns toward
the hill and makes a complete Uey to go up the hill
below.

Views toward Manarola above/below.

 

Love the look of building right into the rock

 

Jim went into this little church with the
decorative ceiling.

 We wandered around for nearly an hour before heading south to La Spezia, the biggest local city, which is also a naval base.

Lots of wine and olive terraces here

View of the whole Cinque Terre with Riomaggiore in the
foreground

La Spezia harbor above/below

 

A bit outside of La Spezia, we came to a farmhouse and winery where we had lunch. The farm and home were purchased in 1910 by the uncle of  the current owner. He was described as a mama's boy and he bought it for his  mother. Now it is a B&B with three rooms and a large addition in the making. They grow most of what they serve and make a red and a white wine, named after some of the strong women in the family. We got a glass of their wine with lunch. The red was quite nice, but I found the white a little sweet. There were a bunch of appetizers followed by a filling meal and homemade mint granita for dessert.

Our hostess

Part of the farm

Winery facilities. They hire a vintner, but all the grapes are
from their fields

B&B rooms. There are 2 other bedrooms not pictured. Prices
for the room we saw were 64 to 120 Euros with an
ensuite bath plus breakfast.

The exterior with the addition in the background.

Then it was time to head back to Monterosso and start to pack for the main part of the trip, which starts tomorrow in Milan. Mara sent this picture today from our tour in Genoa.

Back: Chuck, Paulette, Odell, Jim, Juliette.
Mara. Front: Judy, Sandra, Joe, Me, Jill. You
can just barely see the VA from GENOVA
behind the front row.