Lovely readers! I have a confession. Took a train ride between villages without a ticket! ‘It was a ticket machine malfunction officer!’ – thankfully I didn’t need to exercise that line but dishonesty doesn’t sit well with me, albeit an accident. It all started with getting off on the wrong platform between the villages. Not a bad thing as it turns out as I had one village left to conquer. Manarola.

My train was meandering from La Spezia to the first of the five villages of the Cinque Terre – Riomaggiore, followed by Manarola, Corniglia (in the mountains), Vernazza and Monterosso before continuing on to Genoa. I’d been dozing, thought I’d missed my Monterosso stop and jumped off with the maddening crowds and into the arms of Manarola. Fortuituous indeed!

Had the cliff clinging ‘Via dell’Amore‘ (the Lovers Walk), a narrow pathway linking Riomaggiore and Manarola, not been closed I would have walked the pathway and admired the spectacularly romantic sunsets.  Instead, a leisurely stroll through the village before returning to the train.

The village, again tucked into a tiny crevice has quaint lanes so narrow, the jumble of tall buildings clinging one atop the other, almost touch, held strong only by random stone archways. Cool, dark and perfect for dodging the drips from washing strung high above. I smile at Nona’s sweeping doorsteps and search for the little surprises that whisper of the village personality.

Emerging at the top of the main thoroughfare, a quick glance in the local church, I light a candle then meander on down the promenade past the same linens, baskets of lemons and lazy diners emulating life in the other villages, and on to the harbour.

Quaint, sheltered between large jagged rock formations, smeared with bright towels and sunbathers and topped with teens daring to dive into deliciously cool water between rowboats of softy hued blue yellow and red. They do, to the raucous cheers of folk lining the narrow side steps leading to the cliff walks.

Continuing around one of the cliff paths, I discover a whole other little world tucked in behind steeper rock formations, again hosting swimmers as well as a number of large yachts anchored in the still waters.

Exhausting the camera’s battery, I indulge in a Ligurian style pasta brimming with seafood followed by a tiny scoop of Lemon Gelato then, with a satisfied smile, slip discreetly into a tourist wave and back onto my train. Farewell Manarola, you had me at my accidental ‘hello’.

And thus concludes my dreamy days in the Cinque Terre…have I inspired you?

Stay tuned for the French Riviera!