Cinque Terre Day Two

Looking back at Manarola

Sunset in Corniglia

Cinque Terre Day Two- Sunday, February 14^th 2010

Today we woke up at the crack of dawn with the sunrise shining through the curtain wall in front of us- little did we know that the view of the city scape and the sea out from our window would be this amazing. So amazing, that I didn’t want to leave. Regadless, we all took showers and cleaned up the room before leaving at 10:00 and heading out to the trail to Vernazza, which is the fourth village of the five. The hike there was long and tiresome- but it was nothing we couldn’t handle. And again, the views from the mountainside were amazing! When we arrived to Vernazza we got pizza from two different pizzerias and ate it on the beach. We stuck around for about an hour or so and got wine and gelato before we headed back out to visit our last and final destination. During the middle ages Vernazza was a harbor city ruled by 3 different families until it was finally owned by the Republic of Genoa in 1276. It has no car traffic because cars are inaccessible in this region and it remains one of the truest “fishing villages” on the Italian Riviera. More refined architecture are present, such as loggias, porticoes and decorated portals.

The hike to Monterosso Al Mare was definitely the most challenging. With the path being very narrow, and the slopes being very steep and winding through switchbacks and mountainsides- we found ourselves taking many breaks and struggling to keep ourselves going. I found the experience to be very enjoyable- a hike doesn’t feel complete without a little struggle to keep going. It was probably the most scenic path as well. I cant possibly describe the sights we saw- neither can the pictures. You would have to be there. Only when you’re there will you feel the shoreline hundreds of feet below you, the ocean thousands of feet in the horizon and the mountain-side hundreds of feet to the left and right of you- in relation to your friend who is a couple of feet next to you. To give you a perspective, I was at the base of a Cliffside overlooking the Mediterranean sea, thousands of feet below me, standing on a small terrain with little space to do anything but sit down and eat a meal. I took a rock and threw it as far as I could into the sea. Nearly 8-10 seconds later it finally hit just outside the shore and made but a little ripple on the oceanfront. Only when I did this did I really gather a sense of height and depth- we truly were on the edge of the earth.

When we finally got to the last city, Monterosso, we stopped by the harbor to rest and took a couple pictures before I finally pitched by bamboo hiking stick and boarded the train back to La Spezia then Florence. Cinque Terre was by far one of the best trips ive been on in my entire life- and to think just two days ago I was on the phone with my mom asking her if I should go to Cinque Terre or not. It makes you think just how much is out there and how small you really are. Who would’ve known that 5 small villages along a mountain side would create one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life? All I can say is that the trip was worth more than I could possibly describe- I only wish I could’ve experienced it with more people, or rather, more people could experience Cinque Terre the way I did. Ill never forget what Tommy said in the midst of the trip “Brandon, we’ll never be able to design a place like this. Man is not capable of creating this view- no now, not in the future, never.” As architects, we are taught to work hard ‘at designing a city to the measure of man’. Rationality and reason, able everything else, must govern the way we design- architects are responsible for controlling the way people circulate and live on a daily-basis. But for some reason, when you look upon a view like Cinque Terre, not only the occasional tourist, but even the architect thinks that this area was designed by God and God alone, and that no matter what man does, he will never be able to create or design something as beautiful as this.