László Varga

There is a little hidden treasure just south-east of Genova, and we thought me might pay a visit, since it is close, and not getting there would have almost been a sin 🙂 . The “Five Lands” are five villages called Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore or Cinque Terre in their original name.

Cinque Terre is an UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its sheer beauty and extraordinary example of man shaping its surroundings. Life in this area must have been very hard for the locals in the past, yet they have managed to survive and even build beautiful vineyard-terraces on this rugged terrain. The villages seem to be frozen in time preserving the cultural heritage they have received throughout the years.
There are several paths connecting the villages, along the seaside or higher up the mountains. There is also train connection between the villages. For a small fee one can purchase a visitor ticket which allows the entrance into the park on any pathway, usage of the park-buses and the trains which connect the villages.

We have decided to do the trip on foot starting from Riomaggiore to Monterosso al Mare. We arrived to Riomaggiore by a local train (Regionale) from Genova. The location is so hard to acces, that the train had to stop almost in its entire length in a tunnel. We almost did not observe that we had to get off. At the station we have immediately spotted the park-agency and went in to buy the daily ticket. We were sad to hear that most of the coastline-pathways have been closed due to recent landslides (rains) and they have not managed to clean it up yet. This meant that some of the connection between the villages could have only been done by train (or by the long footpath up the mountain). We decided to buy the ticket anyway and visit what we can by foot, and fill in the gaps by train.

Riomaggiore was the first place to visit. The actual pathway of Cinque Terre started from the train station towards the next village. We have spotted however another path which took back to the village itself from the station. It is worth visiting 😉 . Next we have turned back to the original pathway which connects Riomaggiore with Manarola. This path is called “Via dell’ Amore”. One can see a lot of love-messages written on the walls or carved into the cactuses that grow along the path.

After arriving to Manarola, we just went down to the marina and spotted the continuation of the road. It was not blocked entirely. We could walk out towards the end of the cliffs, where one can have a beautiful view of Manarola.

From Manarola we had to go by train to Corniglia, the next village. There was a very long staircase leading up to the cliffs, where the village center is. This seemed to be the most remote village of all five. There is a steep staircase down to its marina, so we decided to enjoy the view from the top.

From Corniglia to Vernazza we took the train again. This little village is in my opinion the most picturesque of all. Following the pathway from Corniglia one can have a beautiful view of the village. Because we could not arrive on the seaside pathway, we had to climb up to the cliff, where the connection pathway ends, just to enjoy the view.

Lastly we have visited Monterosso al Mare. This village has long sandy beaches, and is by far not as remote as the other four. It too has some interesting features and cliffs to climb at the north west side.

Pictures have been uploaded to my Picasa account. I think the pictures can say more 🙂 .

I have passed for several times through Milano since I was here in Italy and never had the chance to actually visit the city. After the Torino visit, we thought of making a trip to Milano also, right on the next day. This time, we have not booked in advance, we went with possible ad-hoc plans to visit the city.

As usual we have arrived in Milano Centrale which was already very familiar to me. Nothing much has changed. The central station was almost completely renovated and everything was looking nice. From there we went to take the subway to go directly to the Piazza del Duomo (taking the yellow, number 3 subway).

As we exited the subway, we have found ourselves in front of the very imposing Doumo di Milano. The structure itself has an amazing Gothic architecture, with an almost painfully white surface. The square in front of the dome (Piazza del Duomo) is full of tourists, pigeons and a number of annoying people telling you to take this, take that because it brings you luck… well, don’t.
After taking a reasonable amount of photos on the square, we decided to go inside. The entry fee into the dome itself was absent. Tourists can go in and out without paying anything. There is only a control at the gates checking your luggage. The interior of the dome is amazing, full of paintings, pillars and beautiful sculptures.
Visitors can also go up to the top of the Duomo. The entry fees are: 5 euros for using the stairs, 9 euros with the elevator. The entry point is on the left side of the Duomo (I am telling this, because we actually did a whole circle around the building – which is huge – before finding it).

The Galleria Emanuele II is right next to the Doumo. It is a classy collection of expensive shops and restaurants. The cheapest is McDonalds (which for the sake of integrity, has beautifully painted golden signs instead of the plastic yellow ones). Again, we had to eat there… On the other side of the Galleria, is the Milano Scala (opera house). Unfortunately we could not go in 🙁 .

After the Galleria we went to Castello Sforzesco, an interesting fort in the middle of the city, and from there we strolled on the passages of the very nice park next to the Castle.

Milano is a very classy and culturally rich city of Italy. Before the visit I did not pay much attention to it, but now I can say it is too a MUST if you are in Italy. For us it was an effortless trip, because most of the landmarks can be reached on foot. Also the plan of going without guided tours went well, we have seen a lot and remembered a lot 🙂 .

I have posted images of the trip on my Picasa account.

We went for a little sightseeing tour to Torino the other weekend. For me this was the second time in Torino, but the first time I was just passing through, so it was an exciting trip for me, too.

We have booked a trip in advance here. We have booked the complete tour (historic center and the Egyptian museum). The city center tour was really good, because there is much to see in Torino. It has a lot of squares with lots of monuments, so it was good to have a guide to tell stories about it. The guide spoke fluently in Italian, English and also French. The historic center trip contained a trip on foot from the Piazza Castello (this is where the guide agency is), continued in the San Lorenzo church (copy of the Holy Shroud), Piazza San Giovanni, Piazza San Carlo and concluded in front of the Egyptian Museum, where for the ones who have chosen the full trip, the guide continued to present the museum also.

I can say the Egyptian Museum was awesome and for St. Valentine’s Day it was really cheap for couples (3.50eur for both). The museum itself is pretty amazing, covering a great deal of Egyptian history and the guide was able to answer most of the questions we had.

After a quick McDonald’s meal (I have had it with that for a while) we have decided to continue our tour on foot to the Mole Antonelliana (the Museum of Cinema). This was amazing. The Mole itself is a very tall and beutiful building, and for St. Valentine’s day, the entry fee for both the museum and the elevator (which takes you up onto the top) was free. First we went to the elevator, which is pretty amazing: it takes you through the inside of the building (it is like floating in the middle of nowhere) all the way to the top, where you have a beautiful view of the city and the Alps in the distance.
The Museum of Cinema was also very interesting (and long, I did not even notice that we have spent quite a few hours inside) and it had a pretty good coverage of the history of this beautiful branch of art. In my opinion it is a must for all movie lovers!

All in all it was a very nice experience and I would recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go to Torino. I have uploaded a number of pictures to my Picasa account.