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The
Cinque Terre
Monterosso:
8km (5 miles) E of Genoa, 10km (6
1/4 miles) W of La Spezia.
The Cinque Terre literally means “The five lands”, and
these five are the communities of
Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore,
and Vernazza along with their
urban relative Monterosso. The
northernmost of these five is
Monterosso and it is the tourist
hub of the region, with traffic,
crowds, and the only notable
example of contemporary urban life
here. The other four are
inaccessible by road, and are pure
rural villages in an agricultural
belt lush with gardens and
vineyards.
All the five are situated
among olive and chestnut groves on
steep, rocky terrain overlooking
the gulf of Genoa.
This whole area is a gastronomist’s paradise. Its culinary
delights are dishes based on the
produce of from forest, field, and
sea. The land here yields an
incredible variety of edible
mushrooms; and oregano, borage,
rosemary, and sage grow in
abundance. The pine nuts necessary
to pesto are easilygathered from
the forests, as are chestnuts for
making flour and olives for the
oil that is the foundation of all
dishes. Garlic and leeks form the
essence of sautéed dishes, and
beets turn up without warning in
ravioli and other dishes. Fishing
boats add their rich catches of
anchovies, mussels, squid,
octopus, and shellfish. To wash it
all down, vineyards produce
Sciacchetra, a DOC wine, rarer
than many other Italian varieties
because of the low 25% yield a
feature of the Vermentino, Bosco,
and Albarola grapes from which
it's derived.
Tourists normally go to the villages by the guided excursion
boats, but if you really want to
get to know the region it is much
better to trek along the paths
that wander picturesquely for
miles across the hills and through
the forests.
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