Cinque Terre - Dieci Bottiglie

Translated as Five Land- Ten Bottles

After the big night out in Zurich, and only 3 hours of sleep, we were somehow able to pull ourselves out of bed, get our life together, and make the 7 am train. Unfortunately for us, the train made it approximately 20 minutes out of Zurich before breaking down in a tunnel. More unfortunate, however, was our seat mate who had to enjoy our stench of stale cigarettes, fondue cheese, alcohol and dancing sweat (like the classy ladies we were, we forgo showers that morning in order to make the train). After an hour and a half, waiting for another train, we were back on the rail to Italy. (Did I mention that there was a 9am train we could have taken instead?)

We finally arrived in Vernazza, Italy, the fourth town in Cinque Terre (five small cities along the coast of Italy) in time for dinner. Even in the dark, we noticed and felt the charm of the small fishing village. We ate dinner at Giannis, the restaurant of the hotel we were staying, which rooms boasted ocean views (absolutely stunning) and warned of “some” stairs (130 steps to be exact). Over dinner we polished off the first of many bottles of wine.

We awoke the next morning to a sunny day and everything we had hoped for: a quaint fishing village with rustic charm and few tourists…although it did help that it was November. After a quick American breakfast at the Blue Marlin, we headed south to Riomaggiore to begin the hike through the five villages. And although we only did 2 of the four sections (1 section was closed and we were too hungry to complete the last), we were still able to see all five towns, with a quick glass of wine between towns Riomaggiore and Manarola, gelato in Vernazza (the most hard earned and enjoyed gelato of my life) and snacks and more wine at the end in Monterosso.

After our hike, we headed back to home to get ready for dinner. To none of our surprise, dinner was again fantastic with pesto and foccacia bread (the two local specialties) fried calamari, walnut raviolis and steak. But more important than the food (and dare I say wine), the conversations between the three of us made the meal memorable. I was having dinner with two of my best friends, in Italy, having the type of conversations that you can only have on holiday with good friends.

10 years of friendship, five towns, two nights and ten bottles of wine, we were off to a great start…next stop Pisa for lunch and Florence for dinner.