Wednesday, May 27, 2009

We left our sweat on the Cinque Terre

Before we get to the Cinque Terre, we will tell you of our adventures in Milan hotels. We arrived at the Milan airport around 11:00 pm, and began looking for a room. You see, when you make last minute plane reservations, you dont always have time to also look for hotel rooms. So, since we had easily used a train station room reservation agent in the past to help us find rooms, we figured that we should be able to do it again with some luck, although maybe not the best deal on a room.

We found a room reservation station in the airport, not the typical tourist information booth, and were greeted by a smarmy man who said that there was a festival in town, and there was only one hotel with openings. He quoted us two prices, one for a room with a bathroom in the room, and one with a shared bathroom. We asked if we could have a moment to discuss the options. When we came back and asked for the room with the shared bathroom (which also came with a lower price) low and behold it was no longer available. In the 2 minutes it took us to discuss the options, it was snapped up by someone else. Not liking the bait and switch going on, we opted to find a place on our own.

We took the bus into town and then the metro to the central train station. While waiting for the metro we met an older couple from Ohio who were just leaving the Scala theater after a show. They talked to us about where there were many hotels, and we set off in that direction. We began walking around to the different hotels nearby asking if there were open rooms. The first one had a room, but it was 400 euros a night. You can do the conversion yourself, but it is a little outside our desired price range. After the 7th hotel with no openings we started to hear some options in the upper end of our price range. We kept walking following the signs to the next hotel, and happened upon the Rally Hotel, a "2 star" hotel (out of 5 stars). We walked in and they had rooms available, but the place smelled of incense. We negotiated for a price, decided we would keep looking, turned to leave and he dropped the price further. Maybe this should have been our first clue. We agreed to the room and were given a key. Glad to finally have a place to rest our head, we opened the door to the room.

What greated us was the instant smell of moth balls and heat, as the windows were firmly closed. There was a presentable enough bed, but it looked like the room had undergone no major renovations in around 30 years. We unpacked and began getting ready for bed. We also packed smaller day packs with a change of clothes in anticipation of our next trip. The shared bathroom echoed the years of the bedroom, except that there was an indication that we were staying in the red light district. That is as far as we will go with that description. Back in the room, Michelle decided to open the wardrobe to see if there was an extra towel, and found another indication we were in the red light district. Needless to say, we were not interested in meeting any of the other "guests". As we went to bed Tim also leveraged a chair underneath the doorknob. Can never be too cautious!

A fitful nights sleep ensued, and we were up at 5:30 am to get out of there to jump on the earliest train to the Cinque Terre. We have never been so excited to be out of a place before, and were surprised as we headed to the exit to have no one behind the front counter. A very sleepy hotel manager finally emerged froma back room, took our key and unlocked the front gate so that we could leave. Michelle still gets shivers thinking about being stuck behind a locked gate at that place.

Happily out, we made our way to the train station, checked our big bags into checked luggage, and headed onto the train with our day packs. The train ride was 4 hours long, with stops to many small villages along the way. Both Tim and Michelle caught up on a bit of sleep, which was not easy.

We took the train all the way to Riomaggiore, which is the farthest city south in the Cinque Terre. We arrived around 11:30, filled our water bottles (the first time), and did the first hike to Manarola easily. This first hike is the easiest of the 4, with an estimated time of 20 minutes for completion. The sights were beautiful, and the walking easly, and they should be, since this was the trail of love.

We had lunch in Manorola at a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves called Aristide. We shared a seafood sampler platter, Tim had the pesto gnochi and Michelle had the pesto lasagne. We loved all of it, especially the octopus on the seafood sampler. Who would have thought that octopus tasted so good when you prepare it correctly!

We filled the water bottles again and continued on the trail to the next town of Cornelia, dipping our toes in the water at one of the beaches along the way. This was a harder hike, and as we were now in the full sun of the day, there were precious few shady spots. Tim donned his hat, and Michelle opted to use the umbrella, not for the rain, but to keep the sun off of her as much as possible. In Corneila, we stopped for ice cream and bought more water. We then found a place to fill our water bottles yet again. Hydration is key to hiking mid day!

On the trail from Cornelia to Vernazza we had sweat dripping off of us. Lots of stairs, as this trail had the second highest elevation shift of all 4 trails. We were rewarded with beautiful views of the ocean and surrounding hillsides. But it was so hot. Hiking down into Vernazza, we decided to try and stay there for the night. Again, not having a reservation anywhere, flashbacks of the rat hole in Milan kept appearing. But this time, we were much more cautious.

When we update again, we will tell you about our second round of finding last minute accommodations. For now, know that we are safe, back in Milan, and we will try to get you current with our next post. Ciao!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

5/28 Wow, your "hotel" had a full two stars. Sounds like you could have gotten an hourly rate. The hikes and views seem breathtaking. We are looking forward to seeing the pictures. D
Some "back home" updates: Lakers beat the Nuggets - (Series is 3-2) Red Wings beat the Blackhawks to close out the Western Finals (Series 4-1) They will face the Penguins for the Cup. Dodgers and Angels are both struggling. Kids are doing great as is C. Hopefully, JD will be really swimming by the end of summer. That's all for now.