Cinque Terre, Lake Como and Milan

This weekend we all went on a trip that Dr. Baker had been planning since the spring semester, at least with the minor details. We took a train out to La Spezia, on the coast somewhat near Genova, to stay for two nights and use as a jumping off point for hiking the Cinque Terre.  The Cinque Terre are a series of five villages that cling to the coast and are inaccessible by cars. The easiest way to get from the cities are by train or by boat, but of course the draw that brings so many tourists in is that the villages are all within a few kilometers of each other and really scenic hikes. That makes it really inconvenient to live there, I imagine, but it is stunning. We took a train to the “last” of the fifth towns, Monterosso, which by most people’s accounts is the toughest part of the hike. Due to a train strike, rumors had been flying around every which way, but the consensus was that there would only be a few trains that would be running between 9 AM and 9 PM country wide. To be safe, we got on the 7:55 train to Monterosso and planned on catching the 6:35 train back from Riomaggiore to La Spezia, which was supposed to still run despite the strike. This gave us 9 hours to hike what generally is considered a 5 hour trail, building in some much needed wiggle room for stopping to see the towns, grabbing some food, snapping pictures of everything and walking at our own pace. There was certainly no lack of picturesque views along the trails, with each new turn or clearing bringing yet another spectacular shot of the waves crashing into the rocks, houses and villages built on the most unaffectionate of landscapes, and the rich, blue sea stretching out to meet the horizon.

We stopped for lunch in Corniglia, where we found a little place to eat and rest for a while. I had lasagna, but Gnocchi and full pizzas were popular options with the others. Once we had been sitting for a while and Dr. Baker finally caught up with us to eat as well, we ended up just sitting and talking for a while, figuring that we had plenty of time and with a few people needing some time to recover or even power nap at the table. Finally content, we began to game plan for our hike to the next town. We talked to some people heading into the town and confirmed the rumor that we had been hearing during the morning – due to a landslide on the trail to the next town that morning, it was unwalkable. Kelly had a brilliant idea to take a ferry instead, which everyone seemed content with – it would be a nice change of pace and not ruin the serenity of the experience. But, of course, with a little exploration we discovered that the ferries weren’t running that day due to rough waters. A little groan and a realization that we actually hadn’t seen any ferries on the water later, Dr. Baker asked at a local Tabaccahio and learned that the only way to the next town was, in broken English, “by train or by foot.” Down the typical trail due to landslide and down the train option due to the strike, we had no other option than to take the trail that we had spoken to the other hikers about: Trail 6D, which went much higher up the cliffs and was both “brutal” and “about a two and a half hour hike.” Fantastic. We begrudgingly set off on the trail, which some struggled with but I actually found to be completely invigorating. It was certainly a challenge – a steep initial climb littered with awkwardly spaced steps, a dirt trail with rock face to the left and just some brush preventing a deathly plummet to the right, narrow staircases only wide enough for one foot at a time, sharp rocks unevenly placed that had to be balanced on, and literally holes in the trail that forced us to step over the cliff to continue on our path. As tough as it was, it brought people together. My overprotective side kicked in as I tried to make sure those who wanted to continue on kept together or trying to stick with the back of the pack to prevent anyone from getting left alone, even if that meant us just going at their pace. I was so wrapped up in trying to calm others and keep them going, that I really didn’t even think about the effort I was putting into it. Once we eventually made it to the top, it made it all worth it. The trail went directly through a vineyard, with thousands of green grapes hanging just off the path, growing on the cliffs as far as the eye could see. I may or may not have snagged some – ok, let’s be real, I did. They tasted like grapes, though a little sour. That was no problem with me, as I personally love sour grapes. The strange thing was that they in no way felt like grapes, either in my hand or my mouth. They were tough, almost like a nut, to hold, and once I bit down they were crispy and so unlike any grape I’ve ever eaten before. Needless to say, the views here were astounding as well, but that was no different than the rest of the trails – maybe it was a bit more spectacular, or maybe we just appreciated it more because of all it took to obtain that view, who knows. The descent down was literally twenty minutes of stairs leading to a road meant for cars that went up to the entrance of the town. Just going down was tough, it is no wonder the trail got so many rave reviews from others who were forced to walk up them in order to meet us.

Hey, if you don't want your grapes eaten, don't plant them next to a trail.

Once in the town, we got some gelato and sat by a little lagoon-esque area to wait and meet up with everyone. There were some sunbathers with no shame and some kids working up the courage to jump off the rocks, and eventually Kevin, Jon and Katie went down to show them how it was done. Learning that Allie had had a scare with her asthma and actually found a train back to La Spezia with Laura and Ryan, and seeing an exasperated but beaming Dr. Baker after having defeated 6D as well, we headed off to the final town of Riomaggiore. It honestly resembled more of a boardwalk than a trail based on what we had been doing all day – no shops, but metal walkways and railings some of the way, followed by Via dell’Amore, where many people have signed the walls with them and their significant others or attached locks as a sign of love. I guess it is kind of a more touristy way to welcome everyone who walks the trails the standard way, but it was honestly kind of a letdown. After the initial steep climb from Monterosso and our adventure to come as far as we did, it ended with an easy stroll along manmade structures until we arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare. Once back on the train, the rest of the night was not all too eventful. In order to avoid trying to find some place that could accommodate all of us, we split up for dinner. Some people went to get sushi, but I ended up going to a little restaurant with some others that had three full pages of different pizza styles. Intrigued, I went with the “del Demonio” pizza – I was expecting something much hotter, but it was good regardless. While waiting for everyone to reconvene, some of the girls did some shopping and then we all met up at this cool bar off the main square. They played metal music, had stone walls and lit the entire place by candlelight, including a candle at the bar that had been melting down and reshaped seemingly hundreds of times. I wanted to expand my country list and try a Czech Republic beer, but they were out of stock so I settled for some Hofbräuhaus beer – always a solid decision. Knowing we had to be early to catch a train to Milan in the morning, we called it a night.

The next day was filled with travelling. As per Dr. Baker’s suggestion, we planned to go up to Lake Como and ride the ferry to the town of Bellagio, which sits in the center of the Y shaped lake. We got on a train in La Spezia and headed to, as I’m sure my architecture friends will be delighted to read, Genova to switch trains and finally board a train for Milano Centrale. I feel like train stations make a big statement about your city. In the past when the Catholic Church was at the height of its power, the cathedrals held this position. To a certain extent, town squares and fountains make this statement as well – but in the modern era, I feel like the train station is the most prominent figure in this regard. For some places, I’m sure just having a stop on the main drag is incredibly helpful. There are some places I literally only know because I see trains going there as their final destination, have had to change trains there, or just notice it as we whiz by. For the main cities, though, and even the up and coming ones like Perugia or Assisi, a nice train station sets a great example for travelers as they go by. An interesting station might draw someone in to come back and visit one day or remember a place they normally wouldn’t. The reason I go on this tangent is because of how amazed I was by the Milan station. Milano Centrale was unlike any train station I’ve been in before. Whereas Firenze Santa Maria Novella and Roma Termini are so modern looking, Milano Centrale used overhead archways and wide open spaces to give off a very open and spacious feel. The entrance is decorated with huge statues of soldiers and their horses, and it is a very classic look to a much more modern city than anything I have seen in Italy so far.

After a short break to drop our stuff off at the hotel, we all made our way back to the train station to catch the Metro to the Garibaldi train station, where we would then take a train up to Como, from which we could get on a ferry to Bellagio…yikes! Way too much traveling for one day. It was definitely worth it though – we had some good bonding time on the train up to Como, walked around for a little and then got our tickets for the ferry. Just our luck, it started to rain, but then it cleared up, and we thought we might be in the clear…not a chance. Not long into the ride it started raining harder than I have ever seen it in Italy (which to be honest was not a common occurrence), forcing everyone off their desired deck seats as we crammed ourselves indoors. I have to admit it was fun to see the fog rolling in through the mountains – the Alps bee tee dubs – and eventually the sun came out again so it was all good. We took way too many pictures, but again we were treated to beautiful views. The whole ferry ride I just could not stop thinking about how much I wanted to visit Germany or Switzerland to take in beauty like this as a normal occurrence, not to mention to know the language and test my skills with it. Lake Como is a very posh area where George Clooney used to have a house and one of the James Bond movies was filmed. Again, many of the houses are perched right up against the water as the mountains rise behind them, the lake resting in between. Once we got to the town of Bellagio, we had some time to walk around and eat dinner before catching the last ferry back. Ryan, Allie, Jessica, and I found a little snack bar to hold us over, went out walking a bit and finally decided to head back to the same bar for a real dinner went we didn’t see any other appealing option. We got the same table, same seats, and cracked a few jokes with the staff about how we couldn’t stay away. Afterwards we did some (mostly window) shopping and decided to head back down to the water. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable night after a long day of train rides. I wanted to go out and explore Milan a little at night, but the rain had moved into town and quickly derailed that plan.

Lake Como from Bellagio

In the morning a chunk of us headed to San Siro with Dr. Baker, the stadium where AC and Inter Milan play. To be honest and completely nerdy, I instantly recognized the stadium as Italy’s “official” stadium from one of the first computer games I used to play, FIFA 98. It would have been unreal to take in a match, but unfortunately Series A is not in season during July. Still, we saw the museum and took a tour of the stadium, and it was honestly one of the highlights of my trip. I was just a kid in a candy store looking at all the trophies, jerseys, and artifacts, then getting to walk around the stadium and see the locker rooms, and sit in Kaka’s seat. No. Big. Deal. The whole time I was comparing it to my experiences of being behind the scenes at Giants Stadium, but San Siro just had so much more of an impressive feel to it than I ever got out of the Meadowlands. Not that my experiences at the Meadowlands were bad, there was just so much history, rivalry, talent, energy, and excitement that was in or has been in this stadium that a football stadium of a team I hate that happens to have an MLS team play in it for ten years or so has never given me.

The only downside to all of the exciting weekend adventures was that after the tour I really only had about five hours or so in Milan before my train left. Although the area we stayed in was the “center” and very close to the train station – a huge plus – for the most part it was relatively dead. There were a lot of interesting, modern skyscraper-esque buildings around, and of course the train station was always busy, but down the streets there really weren’t many people milling about. It was an eerie feeling. The fusion between classic buildings and modern capitalist based towers filled with offices was something that I had been missing in Italy so far and really looking forward to seeing. Just pile on another reason to why I really need to go to Germany. I had heard that Milan is similar to New York before coming, and my initial impression first walking down the street from the train station was that, yes it was very similar. Then I noticed the complete lack of people in comparison to the absolute craziness you see when you try to go anywhere in New York, and that feeling kind of faded. I don’t doubt that Milan is the closest thing Italy has to New York, and there were certainly similarities I picked up on, so maybe it is not a bad comparison once you keep it in perspective. Once we got on the Metro and went out a few stops (Milan is arranged in a series of circles), things really picked up to the lifestyle I was expecting. There were high end fashion stores, a gigantic cathedral right outside the metro, statues and monuments everywhere you looked. The pace of life here was much faster paced, right down my alley. It was such a strange concept that things could be so quiet in the true “city center” where the station was, when just a short distance away this non-stop lifestyle was raging on. The train ride rolled around far too soon. With most of the others deciding to go see Jack Johnson who was playing outside Milan, it was only Dr. Baker, Jeff, and I on the train back Sunday night. It was a long ride, but it gave me plenty of time to organize my thoughts, daydream, figure out what the hell I was doing, and make some tough internal calls. I do not regret the events of the weekend at all – the Cinque Terre and Lake Como were both unbelievable experiences. However, the next time I’m in Italy, I will make sure that Milan plays a much more featured role in my travel plans.

P.S. I apologize for the delay on posting – I have pretty much been going non-stop since Monday and though I wrote a little at a time, I couldn’t get it all together until now.