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Monday, September 15th, Varazze, Italy
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Designated as one of UNESCOs World Heritage Sites, the
villages, coastline and surrounding hillsides of the
Cinque Terre fall under the protection of the
Parco Nazionale Delle Cinque Terre,
established in 1999. An extensive network of paths
links the villages along the coast, and serious hikers
can explore the more challenging trails leading up the
hillsides and along the ridge tops running parallel to
the coast. For the less athletic, there is also a
train service that links all five villages. Our
little band of four enthusiastic, but short-winded
hikers managed two of the easier coastal trails before
resorting to the train.
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Departing Portovenere on Monday, we quickly discovered
that while the wind had subsided since the blustery
weekend, the seas were slow to follow suit.
Motoring northwestward, close along the coast, we
marveled at the terraced hillsides which farmers have
been cultivating for millenniums.
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Short, stone retaining walls, and thousands of steps
facilitate the cultivation of grapes, olives and lemons
on these precipitous strips of land.
Regretfully, we were not able to stop and explore any of
the villages from Zia, as the 3 foot swell rolling in
from the south made it too uncomfortable and tenuous to
moor and leave the boat.
Continuing northward, we found a beautiful anchorage
somewhat protected from the diminishing swell, nestled
in the semi-circular bay of Santa Margherita Ligure.
The strong, free wifi signal from Hotel Helios clinched
the deal. The city also features a train station
from which we embarked on our delayed exploration of the
Cinque Terre the next day.
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Traveling by train in Italy brings back a flood of
memories from my time at boarding school in Rome,
twenty-some years ago. Not much has changed and it
is still the best way to get around the country; cheap
and efficient. Driving in Italy can be a harrowing
experience, especially for Americans accustomed to such
things as "rules of the road" and "traffic laws."
While both Joe and I are up for the challenge of
negotiating the streets and highways and crazy drivers,
most of the time it isn't worth the hassle and expense
of renting a car. There is one thing, however,
that has changed with the train system. As of a
few years ago, you have to validate your ticket by
stamping it in a machine at the station before
departure. Tickets are issued, valid for one
journey between the specified locations, within a two or
three month period. Unless the ticket is
validated, it can be used again and again and again.
Conductors don't always come by to check tickets, but
this time, one did. Of course, I had forgotten to
validate the ticket. We managed to avoid the €50
fine by pleading ignorance and promising to get off at
the next stop to validate our ticket before continuing
on our journey.
We
took the train to the southernmost village, Riomaggiore,
starting out by walking the easiest trail, the Via
Dell'Amore, which clings to the coastline for one
kilometer on a gentle slope to Manarola.
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The second stretch along the coastal path to Corniglia
was a little more challenging, covering the same
distance but on a steeper path. The kids did
great, until we reached the 382 step staircase up to the
village. Still, the promise of an ice cream at the
end of the climb motivated them to the top. No
amount of persuasion, however, could convince them that
the next 4 kilometer section was worth the effort.
We compromised and took the train, stopping in Vernazze
to see perhaps the most picturesque of the "five lands."
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My
only complaint about the day was that by the time we got
back to the boat and chilled for an hour, everyone
backed out of their promises to rally and go out for
dinner.
We
had made appointments for Thursday with a rigger and an
electronics man to take care of some items on our
"crossing the Atlantic" checklist in Varazze, 30 miles
straight across the Gulf of Genoa. We left in a
flat calm on Wednesday morning, passing by Portofino on
the way, and anchored off the beach outside the marina
until the next morning, saving ourselves the exorbitant
€150 slip fee for at least one night. Luckily, all
jobs were completed successfully on Thursday.
There were no major issues with our mast or rigging, and
we found a faulty component in our wind instrument which
was replaced under warranty. We spent Friday
scrubbing Zia from top to bottom for the first time
since Israel, if you can believe it. We haven't
had access to fresh water as we have stayed out of
marinas since the end of the EMYR. The only
exception was our time at the city quay in Heraklion,
but we couldn't reach the water there. We've been
making do with wiping the decks down first thing in the
morning when they are covered with dew. It gets
most of the dirt off but it isn't the same as being able
to hose down the bimini, sail cover and lines to get all
the dirt and salt water out of them.
Unfortunately, a mistral
threatened over the weekend.
We needed to be in Varazze again on Monday in order to
get our gennaker back from the sail maker. I guess
I neglected to mention that we blew it out on the ride
over from Corsica. It is really meant for
light winds, although we have routinely pushed the limit
with it over the past few years. As the wind
picked up in the early morning hours, the sail split
horizontally right along a seam. We dropped it
with Alfonso on Friday and he promised to look at it on
Monday. We hoped he would be able to repair it and
have it back to us by Tuesday at the latest. With
no secure anchorages in which to ride out a mistral in
the vicinity, after anchoring outside the marina again
on Friday night, we spent Saturday and Sunday back at
the dock.
We
pulled out our folding bikes on Saturday and rode
through Varazze. We found an amazing seaside path
that we followed for a couple of miles to the north.
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We
hit the train station again on Sunday, this time for a
trip into Genoa. Birthplace of Christopher
Columbus, with a formidable history of maritime
domination, Genoa is a big city. The only things
Cassie and Juliana were interested in were the aquarium,
reputed to be the best in Europe, and the H&M clothing
store. Actually, they didn't really care much
about the aquarium.
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We
dragged them through the streets on a walking tour for
as long as we could get away with it, stopped for lunch,
forced them to endure the embarrassment of riding on a
choo-choo train tour so we could see a little more of
the city,
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before we finally hit the H&M store for a little
shopping. It was a near disaster as most of the
summer clothing had disappeared from the shelves
already, but we found a few tank tops and undergarments
to keep them happy.
The bad news about our sail was delivered this morning.
Three years of hard use and the thin material that the
genniker is made from was compromised in more places
than we could count. It just doesn't make sense to
repair it. It is likely to rip again at any time.
Darn! We'll have to figure out the best place to
get a new one made. Quantum has a loft in
Barcelona and we know some people there so that might be
our best option. We'd all be very happy to go back
to visit friends in the area so this might just be the
perfect excuse!
Next
Entry>>>>>>>
Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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