Parma

We had run out of ham and cheese so we decided to go to Parma. Unfortunately, we took the blue road from La Spezia to Parma, which afforded us many hours of scenic driving, especially crossing the Apennines, where, for very, very long stretches, we were the only car on the road. The tunnels and bridges of the autostrada, even the expense, would have been better. We got to Parma and on to its peripherique, which is here called the tangenziale, and to the appointed coordinates of the sosta, only to find, at length, that it had been moved. A sign directed us to exit #10 on the tangenziale, and from there, more signs led us to a nice camper parking area, free, in the Park & Ride, helpfully located right next to the Lidl. With little more difficulty we hopped the bus into town. For the record, the P&R was the west parcheggio.

Scenic driving

Helpful sign; in English too

Thus

Parma opera

Where they are doing the Verdi bicentennial

And The Master's; alas, He does not get
top billing in Italy; nor in Parma, near where
Verdi was born; Toscanini, perhaps the
foremost interpreter of both Verdi and Wagner,
was born in Parma

Verdi chocolates

On one of the big piazzas along the Via di Repubblica

Parma street scene

Beautiful storefront; love the pink Vernona
marble

Now in the Piazza Garibaldi

And the Governor's Palace

Where Galileo discovered (but later recanted)
that each minute has sixty seconds

While Vicki bought the prosciutto and parmesan cheese
at some famous shoppe, I photographed the boutique-quality
Lambrusco, which hails from around here; among serious
winos, Lambrusco is regarded as alcoholic cool-aid; but these
puppies cost as much as 10 or 12 euros a bottle!

Vicki displays the best and best-spooned gelato yet, her
favorite cream and pistachio

Cinque Terre: Manarola

Manarola was the last of Five Lands for us. For those of you scoring the trip, we did the Five from La Spezia in this order: 4-1-5-3-2. Incidentally, that is a possible firing order for a 5 cylinder engine. Cinque cylindri motori. 

Manarola's marina of sorts; one of the more picturesque of
the Five

Interesting rock

Looking "up" the coast, you can see Corniglia, Vernazza,
and Monterosso

Closer-up of high Cornigila; more warped and twisted rock

Having walked up the coast a bit, looking back to Manarola

Manarola street scene

We decided to have a late lunch in Manarola; me with the
Vermentia wine of the region and a plate of fried seafood

Vicki's pesto ravioli in walnut sauce

Us at Manarola

The train blasts into Manarola station, ready to take us to our
journey's end; our set is complete

Cinque Terre: Corniglia

Next up was Cornigilia, the only one of the Five that has no port/harbor/marina. It's way up the hill, 377 steps. But there's a shuttle bus (of course) for those who are in a hurry or who don't mind paying 2 euros. Cornigilia, it is written, is the only one of the Five from which you can see all four others. Why would you want to, I ask? Anyhow, it is worth noting that, this being Monday, the hordes and phalanxes of US college students were gone, replaced now by bus loads of American older tourists. The museums in Florence and other nearby places are closed on Mondays, so the tours shift into day-excursion mode. Saint Jimmy-Johnny, Sink Terror, stuff like that.

Corniglia, him/herself

View towards Motorola and Rigamarole

Looking back into the interior...we think we drove through/by
this town on our approach to La Spezia

It's truly a Rickie Stevie wonderland

The train station/tracks from the beginning of the 377 stairs
down

What the stairs look like about mid-way

Next stop: Manarola

Cinque Terre: Monterosso

It started raining Saturday night when we arrived at the train station in La Spezia. The rain fell harder about 10PM as we discerned that La Spezia buses really did stop running at 8PM. We also discerned that taxis showed up at the train station only on the hour, when trains arrived. We finally got a cab and got back to the campground by 11:30PM, 16 euros poorer, but somewhat wiser. You'd think after five years of this we wouldn't be making elementary transportation mistakes. It rained, torrentially, nearly all day Sunday, but Monday dawned far more promising, and we were back on the Sestre Levante train, now to Monterosso, the farthest of the Five.

I think Monterosso is the most photogenic of them--here we're on the beach,
looking back toward Vernazza--but Monterosso is the least "isolated," actually
reachable by car, and therefore, some say, not "typical"; of course all of them
are reachable by car, just not tourist car, and all have been reachable by train
since 1870; it's all just a bit precious if you ask me 

Monterosso is also reachable by RV, which by itself should be cause for its
expulsion...

Having walked along the beach/boardwalk a bit, now looking back to town

In the farther distance, Corniglia, way up on the hill

Beach fortifications

In town now

Looking at St. Giovanni's church...Ligurian
Romanesque; also Zebraesque

Inside

Attributed to Van Dyke

High water/mud mark from latest flooding

Monterosso street scene

Pretty coastline

Close encounter

Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore

Actually, we spent more time in Riomaggiore (Rigamorole) than any of the other four. This was because, in addition to having had some pizza and foccacia in Vernazza, we decided to have another snack, after dark, in Riomaggiore. We figured the La Spezia buses ran way into the night on weekends. Plus we spent a bit of extra time waiting on the train in Riomaggiore. And then we also came back on Monday to get a day-time look and some pix.

Riomaggiore by night; tall buidlings

Lemon anchovies; the local (sweet, floral) white wines really do complement these
flavors; Vicki had the pasta/pesto thing, nothing to look at; perhaps because the
pesto itself was unremarkable; and disappointing

By day, the restaurant at which we dined by night

Outside the restaurant, a line of boats waiting to be launched into the tiny marina

Rigamarole by day

Cinque Terre: Vernazza

We had been near the Cinque Terre a couple times, but we had never done it. Well, this time we did it, although, due to poor planning, poor weather, poor judgment, etc., it was not among our most elegant and efficient visits. But we did it, partly on Saturday and Saturday night, and partly on Monday, after the torrential rains (which closed all the footpaths) had finished. We took the Sestre Levante train from La Spezia to Vernazza, which Vicki had read was the best of the five little towns, with the best hiking path leading from it to the fifth of the towns, Monterosso. Other parts of the trail system have been closed for some time now, after the floods of October, 2011. Anyhow, we got to Vernazza, looked around a bit, and then headed for the trail.

Up on the trail, looking at great sea caves just out of the town

Church and castle verticals

Some of the flood damage from 2011 remains; the trail led
right by this sad and distressing instance

Up higher, the little monorail train that services the vineyards

Looking back to Vernazza; what you can't see is the throng
of American college students; thousands; the only Italian
we heard this day was in the parish church at Vernazza (and
it may have been pre-Italian)

We got to a high point and an overlook; in the distance you
can see Monterosso, our goal; at this point, however, we
decided not to go the distance...heat, humidity, mosquitoes,
another mountain to climb, and descend; so we descended
back to Vernazza

No complaints about the trail, however

Vernazza street scene

Actual fishing boat in the marina

Interesting sea caves across the harbor