We woke up around 8:30 am in our Airbnb room in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre. Initially our plan was to take the ferry to visit different towns but the ferry wasn't operational because of the rough sea so we reverted to our plan B - using the train instead of the ferry. We got ready by 10:30 am and went down to have breakfast at the cafe. While we were leaving, we ran into our host Sandro who was showing some new guests their room and he mentioned to us to check the timings of our train out of Riomaggiore. We didn't really understand at the time why he said that but we found out when we went to the ticket office after breakfast. There was going to be a national rail strike all over Italy starting at 9 pm that would stay in effect for 21 hours till 6 pm the next day. That meant that our trains from Riomaggiore to Pisa (two trains really since there was a stop at La Spezia) and then onward to Florence were all going to be affected by the train strike!
Making sure that we had a way out of Riomaggiore the next day remained a major focus for the rest of the day along with our sightseeing. We formulated a couple of plans after extensively discussing and researching all available options. We curtailed our plan for the rest of the day to ensure that we were back in our room latest by 6 pm so that we had time to finalize the plan for tomorrow.
The ride from Riomaggiore to the adjacent town of Manarola was just ten minutes but including the wait at the train station, it took us over an hour to get there. It's a shame that the hiking trail between Riomaggiore and Manarola is closed for repairs so we couldn't do the hike. It's the easiest and shortest hike amongst all the trails between the five towns, requiring about 20 minutes for a distance of about 700 meters. It's supposed to be romantically beautiful and is termed Via del Amore or Lovers' Way. Once we were in Manarola, we made our way from the train station down to the harbor. Manarola is perhaps the most picturesque of all five towns and we were able to capture the quintessential picture of the Cinque Terre region by walking a few meters up a trail that gives the best vantage point of the townscape. Thanks to the selfie stick gifted to us by our friends Madiha and Ali, we didn't have to walk any farther and were able to get the best view and picture at a spot that wasn't crowded.
Then we made our way back to the train station by passing through the pastel colored buildings of the town. There was still time for the next train so we decided to check out the 100 or so meters of Via del Amore that's still open to provide access to a restaurant that's located on the hiking trail. Our train was delayed so it took us over an hour to get to the next town of Vernazza. The sun was baking hot and we couldn't find sitting space in the shade so waiting for our train was quite tiresome.
Once we reached Varnazza, it was almost 2 pm and we were hungry and tired so we stopped at the first shady restaurant that we spotted which had its outdoor tables under large white umbrellas. We both got lemon sodas to replenish our electrolytes and then ordered our lunch - beef steak for me and fried calamari for Samia. The food was average but we were thankful that the break provided us a chance to recharge. Then we walked through the town towards the harbor and found a nice place to sit and relax while observing the townscape. We got gelato - pistachio for me and Samia got a mix of honey and yogurt - it was just perfect for cooling down in the hot weather. After finishing our gelato and taking a few pictures, we slowly made our way back to the train station. This train was also delayed and it took us another 60+ minutes to get back to Riomaggiore.
We headed back to our room to finalize our plan for tomorrow. There was a very slim chance of being able to get out on a ferry since they had been cancelled for two days in a row. Trains were cancelled because of the strike. One option was to take a taxi but since there are only a couple of taxi drivers in the remote town of Riomaggiore and they knew about the train strike, they were asking for exorbitant amounts of money. Another option was to get our tickets changed to the first trains available after the strike and spend the day in Riomaggiore. There are only a few roads, no buses and no rental cars. We also considered some outside-the-box options like taking a train to the relatively larger town of La Spezia that night before the strike started and getting a hotel there. We were beginning to realize the mistake of staying in a small town and in retrospect, if we had a chance to do it all over again, we would get a hotel in La Spezia.
We found out that even during train strikes in Italy, a few trains do run and some are even guaranteed to not be cancelled. We decided to stop relying on information on the Internet and decided to visit the ticket counter at the Riomaggiore train station to find out the official verdict. We were told that during strikes, regional trains get affected the most whereas some intercity and high speed trains still operate on schedule (which in Italy means with a delay of 5-25 minutes). We were asked to visit the TrenItalia ticket office in the larger town of La Spezia to get our tickets changed. It was almost 6:15 pm and the strike was going to start at 9 pm. We quickly went back to our room to get our jackets and then got on the first train to La Spezia. We reached there at about 6:40 pm and made our way to the ticket office. The railway official was quite helpful and wrote a note on our existing tickets that the same tickets would be valid for the first trains after the strike was over. The last train back to Riomaggiore was at 8:10 pm so we sat at the train station nervously waiting and hoping that it wasn't cancelled already. Thankfully, the train was running and we were able to get back to Riomaggiore by 8:30 pm. We went back to our room to freshen up. We had a solid plan for the next day now - wait to see if our trains were the exceptional ones that were not cancelled and if they were, then spend the day in Riomaggiore and get the first train after the strike is over. To make things uncertain, there was also the possibility that the strike could be called off early. Anyway, we had done the best we could so we decided to not dwell on it too much and walked to the town center to have dinner.
We went back to the same restaurant La Lampara where we had dinner last night since it was exceptional and we didn't feel like experimenting. This time, we shared an arugula salad with walnut and tomatoes, rigatoni pasta with garlic and eggplants, and finally the same pizza that we had last night - thin-crust tomato sauce pizza with mushrooms. The dinner was exceptional again and we were thankful that we had a good meal before what could be a very uncertain and frustrating day. We decided to deal with that in the morning and went to bed to get some much needed rest and sleep. You'll have to wait for the next update to find out if we got stuck in Riomaggiore or if we were able to get to Pisa. Till then, take care!
Making sure that we had a way out of Riomaggiore the next day remained a major focus for the rest of the day along with our sightseeing. We formulated a couple of plans after extensively discussing and researching all available options. We curtailed our plan for the rest of the day to ensure that we were back in our room latest by 6 pm so that we had time to finalize the plan for tomorrow.
The ride from Riomaggiore to the adjacent town of Manarola was just ten minutes but including the wait at the train station, it took us over an hour to get there. It's a shame that the hiking trail between Riomaggiore and Manarola is closed for repairs so we couldn't do the hike. It's the easiest and shortest hike amongst all the trails between the five towns, requiring about 20 minutes for a distance of about 700 meters. It's supposed to be romantically beautiful and is termed Via del Amore or Lovers' Way. Once we were in Manarola, we made our way from the train station down to the harbor. Manarola is perhaps the most picturesque of all five towns and we were able to capture the quintessential picture of the Cinque Terre region by walking a few meters up a trail that gives the best vantage point of the townscape. Thanks to the selfie stick gifted to us by our friends Madiha and Ali, we didn't have to walk any farther and were able to get the best view and picture at a spot that wasn't crowded.
Then we made our way back to the train station by passing through the pastel colored buildings of the town. There was still time for the next train so we decided to check out the 100 or so meters of Via del Amore that's still open to provide access to a restaurant that's located on the hiking trail. Our train was delayed so it took us over an hour to get to the next town of Vernazza. The sun was baking hot and we couldn't find sitting space in the shade so waiting for our train was quite tiresome.
Once we reached Varnazza, it was almost 2 pm and we were hungry and tired so we stopped at the first shady restaurant that we spotted which had its outdoor tables under large white umbrellas. We both got lemon sodas to replenish our electrolytes and then ordered our lunch - beef steak for me and fried calamari for Samia. The food was average but we were thankful that the break provided us a chance to recharge. Then we walked through the town towards the harbor and found a nice place to sit and relax while observing the townscape. We got gelato - pistachio for me and Samia got a mix of honey and yogurt - it was just perfect for cooling down in the hot weather. After finishing our gelato and taking a few pictures, we slowly made our way back to the train station. This train was also delayed and it took us another 60+ minutes to get back to Riomaggiore.
We headed back to our room to finalize our plan for tomorrow. There was a very slim chance of being able to get out on a ferry since they had been cancelled for two days in a row. Trains were cancelled because of the strike. One option was to take a taxi but since there are only a couple of taxi drivers in the remote town of Riomaggiore and they knew about the train strike, they were asking for exorbitant amounts of money. Another option was to get our tickets changed to the first trains available after the strike and spend the day in Riomaggiore. There are only a few roads, no buses and no rental cars. We also considered some outside-the-box options like taking a train to the relatively larger town of La Spezia that night before the strike started and getting a hotel there. We were beginning to realize the mistake of staying in a small town and in retrospect, if we had a chance to do it all over again, we would get a hotel in La Spezia.
We found out that even during train strikes in Italy, a few trains do run and some are even guaranteed to not be cancelled. We decided to stop relying on information on the Internet and decided to visit the ticket counter at the Riomaggiore train station to find out the official verdict. We were told that during strikes, regional trains get affected the most whereas some intercity and high speed trains still operate on schedule (which in Italy means with a delay of 5-25 minutes). We were asked to visit the TrenItalia ticket office in the larger town of La Spezia to get our tickets changed. It was almost 6:15 pm and the strike was going to start at 9 pm. We quickly went back to our room to get our jackets and then got on the first train to La Spezia. We reached there at about 6:40 pm and made our way to the ticket office. The railway official was quite helpful and wrote a note on our existing tickets that the same tickets would be valid for the first trains after the strike was over. The last train back to Riomaggiore was at 8:10 pm so we sat at the train station nervously waiting and hoping that it wasn't cancelled already. Thankfully, the train was running and we were able to get back to Riomaggiore by 8:30 pm. We went back to our room to freshen up. We had a solid plan for the next day now - wait to see if our trains were the exceptional ones that were not cancelled and if they were, then spend the day in Riomaggiore and get the first train after the strike is over. To make things uncertain, there was also the possibility that the strike could be called off early. Anyway, we had done the best we could so we decided to not dwell on it too much and walked to the town center to have dinner.
We went back to the same restaurant La Lampara where we had dinner last night since it was exceptional and we didn't feel like experimenting. This time, we shared an arugula salad with walnut and tomatoes, rigatoni pasta with garlic and eggplants, and finally the same pizza that we had last night - thin-crust tomato sauce pizza with mushrooms. The dinner was exceptional again and we were thankful that we had a good meal before what could be a very uncertain and frustrating day. We decided to deal with that in the morning and went to bed to get some much needed rest and sleep. You'll have to wait for the next update to find out if we got stuck in Riomaggiore or if we were able to get to Pisa. Till then, take care!
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