The T3sk3y Defenestrator

At about 11 AM on Monday, Heather and I were finally ready to start hiking. As I mentioned before, our plan was to go from Vernazza to Riomaggiore with short stops in Corniglia and Manarola.

The climb out of Vernazza is a steep one – endless flights of stairs culminating above the castle. Along the way, you pass a couple of restaurants, including one pretty high on the hill. Our speculation on how supplies were brought up were answered when we saw what could best be described as a ‘motorized tank wagon’. Any supplies would be loaded on board, then the ‘motorized tank wagon’ would noisily crawl its way up the stairs.

Vernazza from the trail to Corniglia

The walk to Corniglia was a very pleasant one – the weather was in the high 50s and overcast. That’s good hiking weather – you don’t boil or freeze. Along the way, we passed though numerous olive tree groves, vineyards, and stands of citrus trees. Being November, about all we saw still on the tree were fresh lemons and oranges. Unfortunately, they were all just out of reach.

Heather hiking through the olive groves�

In about 90 minutes, we descended in to Corniglia – the one town that isn’t down on the water. Of all the towns, Corniglia seems to be the quietest of the five. We strolled through town and took a few pictures at a lookout over the sea before getting some lunch at a cafe’. Of course, we arrived right in the middle of the afternoon siesta, so our selections were very limited. Our sandwiches turned out to be excellent, and we wolfed them down along with some gelato (of course) before leaving town.

The 45-minute walk from Corniglia to Manarola is the least interesting of the hikes in Cinque Terre. You start by walking down several hundred stairs to get down to the train station, then you pass rows of ramshackle sea cottages that are boarded up and/or being torn down. It’s not very scenic. Finally, you come around a point and pass the cemetery in Manarola as you descend in to town.

The view of Manarola from the town cemetery

We were a little worried because we took longer than anticipated to get to Manarola. Fortunately, Mom and William were waiting down by the harbor for us – and William exploded with glee when he saw us.� We spent a few moments touring the incredibly scenic cemetary (really!) and the harborside before setting off for Riomaggiore with mom & William.

Surprisingly, we actually got stopped on the trail to Riomaggiore to check our park pass.� Since it was off-season, we hadn’t seen any park rangers checking our passes.� Fortunately, we had ‘em.� The walk to Riomaggiore is just a stroll along a paved trail – but still very scenic.� The high point is a stone covered walk to prevent against falling stones.

The Via del Amore’ between Manarola and Riomaggiore

We arrived in Riomaggiore late afternoon with just enough time to take a stroll around town with Rick Steves guiding us (by book, not in person).� Before leaving town, we fueled up on pizza and orange Fanta.� I’m not sure how, but Heather and I managed to talk mom into getting anchovy pizza (a local specialty).� I think we enjoyed watching her eat it more than she enjoyed eating it.

That evening, we dined at Gambero Rosso in Vernazza – supposedly the nicest place in town.� Actually, we didn’t have a lot of choice – being off-season, it was the only restaurant in town open that night.� All the rest of the foreign tourists were eating there as well.� The food was pretty good, from what I recall.�� I seem to remember our epicurious mother getting black pasta colored with octopus ink or something like that.

On Tuesday morning, Heather and I planned to do the hike to Monterosso al Mare – the most difficult section of the Via del Amore.� Before doing so, we had to vacate our room and put our luggage in to the car.� Somehow, I managed to miss a step at the very top of the four flights of stairs while carrying multiple suitcases and I fell down a flight of stairs – painfully.� Being macho – I popped right to my feet and acted like nothing happened.� Not a good way to start a hike!

The view of Vernazza from the trail to Monterosso al Mare

After mistakenly climbing halfway up the seaside bluffs only to find it wasn’t our trail (it would have taken 6 hours instead of 1.5!) – we located the correct trail and set off for Monterosso al Mare.� When I was there in 2002, we went the opposite direction and I remember descending literally hundreds of steps as we came in to Vernazza.� Now, I got to climb those steps.� I huffed and puffed my way to the top, barely able to keep pace with my pregnant wife.� Quite the gal.. that one!

It was easily the nicest conditions since we arrived in Italy – 60 degrees and sunny.� It held out just long enough for us to reach Monterosso before the clouds rolled in.� After descending hundreds of steps through vineyards and citrus groves, we met mom and William (who was napping) at the edge of town.� Once again, our timing was perfect – we got to town starving smack in the middle of siesta.� We were able to find exactly one open pizza shop where we devoured some pizza and caught the train back to Vernazza.

Castle and German bunker at Monterosso al Mare

Our last major challenge in Cinque Terre was getting the car out of our parking spot and back down the steep narrow trail to the road out of town.� My plan was solid – I’d drive forward to the next switchback than maneuver myself until I got turned around.� That plan looked good – except for the people doing brick work on the church by the switchback decided to work right when I needed to leave.

My fallback plan was to drive farther up the trail to the next switchback and try again.� This would have worked – except I couldn’t make the turn on the switchback with the construction truck sitting there!� I finally resigned myself to back down the trail slowly – until somebody came up the trail blocking me in.� Yes, really.

That guy turned out to be our savior – he got the construction guys to move their vehicle and he guided me as I turned the car around.� With a high-five and a horn blast, I thanked him triumphantly and headed out of town after scooping up William and mother at the bottom.� We tiptoed our way back up the treacherous road out of town and started making our way to Pisa.

Next up – Pisa and Florence!

All pictures from the trip can be found in my SmugMug galleries here: (link)

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The trip to Cinque Terre was one of the portions of the trip I was a little nervous about. When I went there in 2002, we took the train and it drops you right in the middle of each town. Every guidebook on the planet strongly recommends against driving there – because each town is located at the bottom of a narrow, steep, switchback-laden trail. Oh yeah, and there’s no parking. So – what did we do?

We rented a car in Venice and drove there.

The journey there was uneventful enough – we left Venice early and journeyed several hours across Italy. We passed right through Modena on the way – but didn’t see any Ferraris. When we got to La Spezia, we left the freeway and ascended in to the hills. Though Cinque Terre is only a few miles as the crow flies from La Spezia, it’s 45 minutes to get there because of the roads. We quickly started to see why.

The road on top of the hill isn’t too bad – but as you get closer to the Cinque Terre, it gets much more treacherous. We were warned to watch for uphill traffic – and it was obvious why. The roads aren’t two lanes wide – and trying to downshift on a steep switchback and make the corner while passing another car heading in the opposite direction is difficult to say the least. On more than one occasion I killed the engine on a switchback and said a few things I hope William doesn’t repeat. I got very familiar with using the handbrake to start uphill with a manual transmission.

When we reached Vernazza at about 4:00 PM, I had to find our lodging and figure where to park the car. Martina – our innkeeper – had her father lead us up a very steep (30 degrees, or so it seemed) and narrow sidewalk that was barely one car wide to their parking spot. It was an angled cutout in a stone wall with an inch to spare on each side of the car. After schlepping all of our luggage down the hill to the harbor, we hauled it back up a narrow steep staircase to our fourth floor room at ‘Rooms di Martina Callo‘ right on the harbor. It was a simple but nice room with two beds overlooking the harbor.

Our room was on the top floor of the yellow building in the center

Before going to dinner, we had some focaccia and wine at the Blue Marlin bar. Our dinner that night was the best meal of the entire trip. We ate at Ristorante Incadase da Piva in Vernazza just up the street from the harbor. We ordered Piva’s signature risotto con frutti di mare (seafood risotto) and it was to die for. It was a divine savory rice stew with bits of seafood all served in a hot crock. All in all, the dish was like a big warm hug. Along side the risotto, we had some pesto gnocchi that was also top notch. Of course, this was washed down with some great Cinque Terre white wine.

Piva serving his seafood risotto

The next morning, we woke up and wandered up the street to Il Pirata delle Cinque Terre for pastries. We tried to get going early so we could hike the length of the Via del Amore’- but we missed the train and decided not to wait the hour for the next one. To make sure we didn’t finish in the dark, we postponed the rugged Vernazza – Monterosso al Mare leg of the trail for the next day. Our new plan was to hike from Vernazza to Manarola where we’d meet mom & William – then we’d all stroll together down the easy section to Riomaggiore.

The Corniglia harbor at night

That’s a story for another day..

All pictures are now online at: link

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It’s been a great end of the year for my pinball addiction hobby.� In October, I managed to acquire a pair of 1988 Williams Cyclones (or the CyCLONES as I jokingly call them).� Cyclone was a game from my past – the Bowling Alley in Waseca had one.� I spent many a night when I was home from college for the summer feeding quarters into that Cyclone.� It’s always been a goal to own one.� Well, I found two – rescued from campgrounds in Southern Minnesota.� I found them dirty and broken – and I’ve now restored one to rights.

Williams Cyclone�

This week, I ran across something even better – a 1988 Williams Banzai Run.� They made almost 10,000 Cyclones – but they made only just over a thousand Banzai Runs.� It’s a must-have for any pinball collector.� It’s an amazingly unique game – two playfields, one vertical.

Williams Banzai Run

On the downside, I said farewell to a couple of old friends – my Black Knight 2000 in October and my Funhouse in December.� Both went to good homes – and I’ve got visitation rights if I need a fix.

Stop on by if you want to give ‘em a whirl!

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Boy, does this blow the doors off of my 350D..

Canon 40D, Canon f/1.8 50mm�

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I’ve now got about half of the pictures from Italy up on my SmugMug site – and I’ll get the rest up this coming week.

See the pictures posted so far here: (link)�

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Our Italian adventure started with a flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam on Thursday evening, November 15th – then from Amsterdam to Venice on Friday. It was a pretty uneventful flight and William weathered the flight very well – he slept almost the entire trip. We can thank lots of books, milk, and popcorn for that one.

There is one Italian woman that probably isn’t too fond of him and his love of popcorn, however. On takeoff from Amsterdam, William choked on a piece of popcorn and spit up into Heather’s hand. Heather dumped it into a flight sickness bag and carried on. He wasn’t phased by the experience and he proceeded to squirm around, read books, and play. The woman in front of him went nuts complaining that “It STILL STINKS” and “HE’S STILL KICKING ME!” Heather made me switch places with her and William so that I was behind the lady. I didn’t realize what was happening and just thought Heather wanted me to move. After realizing the situation, I should have moved to the only open spot – right next to the woman in front of me.

Our landlord Pierre met us at the vaporetto stop in Venice and escorted us to our apartment north near San Giovanni e Paolo and the Hospital. It was a nice (but small) apartment up four really steep flights of stairs. When he noticed that we were using a stroller, he volunteered his backpack carrier since he had small children as well. To get the carrier, had to follow him all over Venice. At least we got a guided tour along the way.

Our dinner that night was entertaining. We went to a neighborhood place that Pierre recommended. We ordered “Escalope” and we all thought we were getting scallops. Imagine our surprise when we got Veal Scallopini! Fortunately, it was delicious. On the trek back, we got fantastic blackberry and whipped creme crepes and tried not to freeze – it was a very cold walk back as temperatures were near freezing.

The Rialto Bridge in Venice

Saturday was spent touring Venice. We started the day by hiking to the Rialto bridge and market area, then over to St. Mark’s square. William was fascinated by the pigeons and started chasing them yelling “Dogie!Dogie!Dogie!” He hadn’t yet figured out that all animals aren’t “Dogies”. It was all fun and games until one landed on his head. The Asian tourists were as fascinated by William as he was by the pigeons – and he got mobbed by requests for photos.

This isn’t funny anymore!!!

After we toured St. Mark’s, we made our way to a pizzeria and had some late lunch / early dinner. We had intended to tour the Doge’s palace next – but we ran out of time before it closed. As a substitute, we took an evening cruise on the Grand Canal in the vaporetto and we got off near the train station. We hiked all the way back home that night enjoying the street scene in Venice.

After we returned, everyone wanted crepes again. I set off to quickly get the crepes and take some pictures while everyone else did some laundry in the apartment. After about two hours, three miles, and lots of looking – I finally found a crepe place and brought them home to a very hungry group. So much for my naviguessing! At least I got some great pictures. I also got home to find that the “combo washer/dryer” that Heather and mom were so excited about was really just a washing machine. Thus, the laundry hung all over the apartment for the night to dry.

Night scene near our apartment in Venice

We left Venice early on Sunday the way we came in – by vaporetto to the airport. Before we left, we strolled back to St. Mark’s Square to get some more pictures of William with the pigeons. We picked up some breakfast and our luggage on the way out and rushed to the boat so that we could get to the airport to pick up our rental car. It seemed like miles from the boat dock to the apartment when we arrived – but we laughed when we realized on the way out that it was less than 5 minutes from our apartment. We picked up our rental car, got some quick directions on how to get on the Autostrade, and took off for the Cinque Terre.

At the Bridge of Sighs in Venice

See more photos here: (link)

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I’ve always maintained that there are three ‘cornerstone’ foods.� A cornerstone food is something, that when added to another food, improves it.� I have successfully identified two of the three cornerstone foods:

• Bacon
• Peanut Butter
• ????

So, what I’m saying is that there aren’t any foods that aren’t improved by the addition of either bacon, peanut butter, or the third food.� Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out the third yet.� I suspect it’s Golden Raisins, but it doesn’t fit everything – yet.� Maybe that means there are four cornerstone foods.

As examples:

• Chocolate = good, chocolate plus peanut butter = better.
• Chicken = good, chicken plus either bacon OR peanut butter (think Thai food) = better

Just to prove my point:

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As I alluded to in my last post, the T3sk3y family just got back from a nearly two week Italian tour.� This was my second trip to Italy – and each time it amazes me as to how much there is to do, how much there is to see – and how much there is to EAT!

This trip was a little different than others – Heather and I brought 15-month-old William and my mother along.� It’s always been someplace she’s wanted to go – and we were excited to see how well William would travel.

William chasing pigeons in Campo San Marco

It was also in the midst of the freefall of the dollar.� When we booked the trip, it cost $1.30 to buy one Euro.� By the time we landed in Italy, it was over a dollar-fifty.� Though it didn’t stop us from doing anything, it certainly influenced our choice of foods.� There were a lot more 7 Euro pizzas than there was 15 Euro Secondi courses.

The trip was also very off-season being that it was the second half of November.� We weren’t sure what the weather was going to be like, and we over-prepared for cold, wet weather.� As it turned out, the weather was nice for the most part.� Venice was pretty chilly with a high in the upper 40s and the lows in the mid-30s, and Rome was pretty temperate with highs in the 60s and lows in the upper 40s.� As luck would have it, it rained only once – the afternoon we went to Assisi.

The nice part about going off-season was that there were much smaller crowds and hotels were cheaper.� We also didn’t have to worry as much about the chaos in Rome – it was easier to avoid the scams, pickpockets, and tourist traps.� We were able to relax a little and take in more of the local culture.

A HDR shot of the interior of the Colosseum

Some other unique aspects of the trip were the methods of transportation and lodging.� I used VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals By Owner) to find apartments where ever possible – and we were very successful.� You feel more like a local staying in an apartment rather than a hotel.� We also rented a car – which is a little suicidal but very entertaining.� It gave us the freedom to go when we wanted to rather than be a slave to the train schedule.� With a 15-month-old in tow, that was important.

Our trip schedule was as follows:

• 11/15/07 – Fly from Minneapolis to Venice with a connection in Amsterdam
• 11/16/07 – Arrive in Venice
• 11/17/07 – Venice
• 11/18/07 – Drive to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre
• 11/19/07 – Vernazza
• 11/20/07 – Vernazza, then drive to Florence passing through Pisa
• 11/21/07 – Florence
• 11/22/07 – Florence, then drive to Siena
• 11/23/07 – Siena
• 11/24/07 – Day trip to Assisi
• 11/25/07 – Drive to Orvieto, then on to Rome in the evening
• 11/26/07 – Rome
• 11/27/07 – Rome
• 11/28/07 – Flight back to Minneapolis

Stay tuned over the next few weeks as I break the trip down into a multi-part travelogue.� Until then, I’ll be uploading more pictures to my SmugMug site every few days.

You can see my photos from the trip here: (link)

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