We didn't sleep too well last night since the bed was a bit uncomfortable and on the harder side. We were up at 6 am but remained in bed till 7 am, trying to fall back asleep unsuccessfully. We got ready and left the apartment at 8 am, dropping off our suitcases with the hotel luggage storage.
Breakfast wasn't included in our apartment stay so we stopped at a cafe and had scrambled eggs and croissants. I had a latte as well. Then we leisurely walked, with lots of photo stops along the waterfront, to the Villa Melzi Gardens that were supposed to open at 9:30 am. We got there at 9:15 am and waited outside the gate. The person who was supposed to open the gates saw us waiting and let us in 5 minutes before the opening time! There was no one in the gardens at that time so our walk was even more peaceful.
The gardens are part of the Villa Melzi that's located along the Lake Como waterfront, similar to our hotel Villa Serbelloni. There are various gravel walkways at the "ground level" and cobblestone pathways along the hilly green spaces on the side opposite to the waterfront. There were different types of green trees lining the walkways, a couple of bridges over mini water canals/ponds and some statues, most of them next to the villa. There were flowers of various colors - I spotted red, purple and white. The gardens are very nice and super peaceful but perhaps the best part is the view of Lake Como with the town of Menaggio to be seen in the distance on the other side of the huge lake at the base of mountains covered in green. The view was very similar to the one that we got yesterday from the bench in the gardens of our hotel and you could catch a glimpse of the Swiss Alps too, although they appeared closer from yesterday's vantage point.
Once we had reached the villa, we turned back and were out by 10:10 am. We walked back to the ferry terminal where Samia decided to rest on a bench by the waterfront to take in more of the serene lake view. I walked back to our hotel and picked up our suitcases and then joined Samia at the ferry terminal. Our ferry arrived at the Bellagio dock on time at 10:50 am and after another breezy ride over magnificent Lake Como, we arrived in Varenna at 11:10 am. We shared a thin-crust cheese pizza at a boat-themed cafe across the ferry terminal and then walked our way to the Varenna train station.
The first train took us from Varenna to Milano Centrale in exactly one hour. Our compartment didn't have air conditioning so it reminded us of warm summer rides from school to home in Pakistan where the combination of outdoor heat and sitting in a shade makes you sleepy. Both of us had quick 15-20 minute power naps before reaching Milan. At Milano Centrale, we changed platforms and bought orange juice from the vending machine to freshen up. The next train ride to Levanto was almost three hours and was way more comfortable since we had air conditioning and bigger seats. During the ride, we bought chips from the snacks trolley for munching, then Samia got some sleep while I wrote part of this update and then read a couple of chapters of the first Game of Thrones book. In Levanto, we changed trains to catch a 20 minute ride to our final destination of the day, Riomaggiore and reached there around 5:30 pm.
Riomaggiore is the eastern-most of the 5 towns that make up the Cinque Terre region (pronounced Chinkua-Tayray) along the Italian Riviera. Cinque Terre means "the five lands". All five of them have distinct dialects and slightly different cultures but they all share the common geography of being hilly towns next to the Italian Riviera. The characteristically colored yellow, pink, green and blue houses nestled next to the Ligurian Sea are a magical sight. We'll be staying in this region for three nights and for the very first time, we've booked lodging through Airbnb which is a service that allows regular people to list their apartments and houses as vacation rental spaces. We have been communicating with the owner of our temporary apartment since January and Sandro and his cousins have proven to be extremely helpful. It's like having a friend who is a local of Cinque Terre so we plan on using his local knowledge to make our stay more authentic. Sandro's cousin Colette met us at the Riomaggiore train station and helped us with carrying our bags to the room which is almost right next to the train station. We got some dinner recommendations from her as well. We also met Sandro's brother Andrea when we asked for something else a little while later. It's a very cosy and comfortable room that has a pretty big terrace overlooking the town. The room has all the basic amenities you hope to find in a professional hotel. So far we are extremely pleased with our first Airbnb experience!
We rested in our room for a little while and then headed down to the town for dinner. We explored the marina area for a bit before heading to one of the recommended restaurants. We had salt-cured anchovies fish for appetizer, Ligurian trofie al pesto pasta for Samia and mixed seafood spaghetti pasta for me. The Liguria province (where Cinque Terre is located) is where pesto was invented and the trofie pasta is native to Cinque Terre so the Ligurian trofie al pesto pasta is a truly local dish. We had creme brûlée and a slice of peanut lemon pie to cap off our meal and then walked back to our hotel. Our plan was to buy some stuff for midnight snacking from the local grocery store next to the restaurant but it was closed by the time we were done with dinner. Now we're sitting on our terrace while it gradually gets dark - I'm finishing this update and Samia is browsing on her phone. We're going to do some research to finalize what to do in our two upcoming days in Cinque Terre and then we'll call it a night. Till tomorrow's update, take care and goodbye!
Breakfast wasn't included in our apartment stay so we stopped at a cafe and had scrambled eggs and croissants. I had a latte as well. Then we leisurely walked, with lots of photo stops along the waterfront, to the Villa Melzi Gardens that were supposed to open at 9:30 am. We got there at 9:15 am and waited outside the gate. The person who was supposed to open the gates saw us waiting and let us in 5 minutes before the opening time! There was no one in the gardens at that time so our walk was even more peaceful.
The gardens are part of the Villa Melzi that's located along the Lake Como waterfront, similar to our hotel Villa Serbelloni. There are various gravel walkways at the "ground level" and cobblestone pathways along the hilly green spaces on the side opposite to the waterfront. There were different types of green trees lining the walkways, a couple of bridges over mini water canals/ponds and some statues, most of them next to the villa. There were flowers of various colors - I spotted red, purple and white. The gardens are very nice and super peaceful but perhaps the best part is the view of Lake Como with the town of Menaggio to be seen in the distance on the other side of the huge lake at the base of mountains covered in green. The view was very similar to the one that we got yesterday from the bench in the gardens of our hotel and you could catch a glimpse of the Swiss Alps too, although they appeared closer from yesterday's vantage point.
Once we had reached the villa, we turned back and were out by 10:10 am. We walked back to the ferry terminal where Samia decided to rest on a bench by the waterfront to take in more of the serene lake view. I walked back to our hotel and picked up our suitcases and then joined Samia at the ferry terminal. Our ferry arrived at the Bellagio dock on time at 10:50 am and after another breezy ride over magnificent Lake Como, we arrived in Varenna at 11:10 am. We shared a thin-crust cheese pizza at a boat-themed cafe across the ferry terminal and then walked our way to the Varenna train station.
The first train took us from Varenna to Milano Centrale in exactly one hour. Our compartment didn't have air conditioning so it reminded us of warm summer rides from school to home in Pakistan where the combination of outdoor heat and sitting in a shade makes you sleepy. Both of us had quick 15-20 minute power naps before reaching Milan. At Milano Centrale, we changed platforms and bought orange juice from the vending machine to freshen up. The next train ride to Levanto was almost three hours and was way more comfortable since we had air conditioning and bigger seats. During the ride, we bought chips from the snacks trolley for munching, then Samia got some sleep while I wrote part of this update and then read a couple of chapters of the first Game of Thrones book. In Levanto, we changed trains to catch a 20 minute ride to our final destination of the day, Riomaggiore and reached there around 5:30 pm.
Riomaggiore is the eastern-most of the 5 towns that make up the Cinque Terre region (pronounced Chinkua-Tayray) along the Italian Riviera. Cinque Terre means "the five lands". All five of them have distinct dialects and slightly different cultures but they all share the common geography of being hilly towns next to the Italian Riviera. The characteristically colored yellow, pink, green and blue houses nestled next to the Ligurian Sea are a magical sight. We'll be staying in this region for three nights and for the very first time, we've booked lodging through Airbnb which is a service that allows regular people to list their apartments and houses as vacation rental spaces. We have been communicating with the owner of our temporary apartment since January and Sandro and his cousins have proven to be extremely helpful. It's like having a friend who is a local of Cinque Terre so we plan on using his local knowledge to make our stay more authentic. Sandro's cousin Colette met us at the Riomaggiore train station and helped us with carrying our bags to the room which is almost right next to the train station. We got some dinner recommendations from her as well. We also met Sandro's brother Andrea when we asked for something else a little while later. It's a very cosy and comfortable room that has a pretty big terrace overlooking the town. The room has all the basic amenities you hope to find in a professional hotel. So far we are extremely pleased with our first Airbnb experience!
We rested in our room for a little while and then headed down to the town for dinner. We explored the marina area for a bit before heading to one of the recommended restaurants. We had salt-cured anchovies fish for appetizer, Ligurian trofie al pesto pasta for Samia and mixed seafood spaghetti pasta for me. The Liguria province (where Cinque Terre is located) is where pesto was invented and the trofie pasta is native to Cinque Terre so the Ligurian trofie al pesto pasta is a truly local dish. We had creme brûlée and a slice of peanut lemon pie to cap off our meal and then walked back to our hotel. Our plan was to buy some stuff for midnight snacking from the local grocery store next to the restaurant but it was closed by the time we were done with dinner. Now we're sitting on our terrace while it gradually gets dark - I'm finishing this update and Samia is browsing on her phone. We're going to do some research to finalize what to do in our two upcoming days in Cinque Terre and then we'll call it a night. Till tomorrow's update, take care and goodbye!
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