June 14-15 TuesWed Santa Margherita & Cinque Terre

Goodbye Venice; we could easily have used another couple of days here, but feel so lucky to have seen as much as we have. Now on the train from Venice via Milan to Santa Margherita at the North of the Cinque Terre.

No sooner had we left Venice than the rain started, but no worries as we flew along the tracks at 300 miles an hour - so fast that often it's impossible to focus on the countryside you're passing through, though each time I did look up from the computer which I was able to plug in and use, most of what I saw were acres and acres of corn fields which we decided were to feed the cattle kept in feed lots.

Milan is a very big bustling railway station but we found the train systems (apart from the weird seat numbering sysyem which sees consecutive seat numbers sitting in different rows!) and stations very straightforward to use and soon we were on the Regional train wending our way South through Genoa. This was our fist experience of a compartment of six (thought of you travelling Rail Italia with your bikes Link and Mel!) and the company was mixed; a delightful and very interesting Hong Kong Chinese couple doing a spur of the moment trip and an Aussie couple in the middle of an extended trip. Since leaving Tuscany and being in more tourist locations we've heard a lot more English speaking tourists and met several Aussie and Kiwi travellers.

Santa Margherita, (near Portofino) with population 10,000 (swelling to 100,000 in peak season ) is a coastal holiday haven with many villas owned and used only occasionally by their wealthy Italians owners. Bruce and Diana kindly met us at the station and walked with us to the little hotel we were all booked in. Here we were enthusiastically welcomed and shown our pleasant room by our host Guisseppe and his adult daughter Christina and son Jeanclaire.

There was plenty of time before dinner to quickly explore this very pretty town of stucco villas and apartment with terracotta tile rooves and all painted in corn and brick colours with green accents - some even boasting paint jobs done to resemble ornate Greco/Roman detail!

For dinner we sat outside at a little retaurant which offered a lot of fish dishes. I still had a picture of those clams from Venice in my head so had Spaghetti Vongolese (had to do it Lincoln and while this was delicious I have to say yours stacks up very well in comparison!) while the others had various other fish meals.

Wednesday was the day we had available to take in the delights of the Cinque Terre which is a National Park along the rugged coast South of here, with a walk along the cliff faces between 5 tiny villages which have clung for centuries to their rocky promontories. This is a World Heritage site and only relatively recently has the infrastructure been set up to enable tourists to visit and take in the spectacular scenery and appreciate the valour and tenacity of the locals who have built these villages, catching fish from along this wild stretch of Meditteranean sea and growing grapes and veges on the terraced gardens and vineyards they've hewn out of the steep hillsides.

Our hotel tarriff included a breakfast which is unlikely to be surpassed anywhere we go! Unlimited servings of yoghurt, tea, coffee or hot chocolate, croissants (brioche here), chunky bread, packets of toast, and spreads, plus slabs of cheese or a boiled egg! All the while we were hovered over by Guiseppe to ensure everything was to our liking.

So, we were well fortified when we set off(in teaming rain!) on the train for the Cinque Terre. The combination of schedules for the two train services running through the area is a real mind bender but we managed to get ourselve safely to the park and then on to the next train to ride through to the last village, Riomaggiore. With only one day to make the most of the area we'd decided to start from the far end then work our way back by foot or train spending as much time as we wished (or could afford) at any of the villages.

Riomaggiore is a tiny fishing village with a cluster of old brick or stone and plaster homes perched precariously on the cliff face above the sea. The homes are linked by the narrowest of streets which often are just very steep steps with the tiniest of treads and no handrail. Most homes then have their own narrow access of more steps! By this time the rain had cleared but the exploration was treacherous; amazing to think that so many of the inhabitants here are very elderly! We were fascinated by this amazing place and the people who live here. We explored it thoroughly, from the tiny Marina, up past the cottages, through the town and to the terraces of vineyards, citrus and fruit trees and gardens before setting off along the cliffside path to the next village Manarola.

This famous part of the walk is known as the Dell d'Armour, The Walk of Love and is breathtakingly beautiful with stunning views to the sea below as well as along the Coast and close ups of the amazing variety of hardy, colourful vegetation which survives here - from all sorts of cool cactus about to burst into flower to fragrant herbs and dainty flowers. We were intrigued by the collections of padlocks locked to seats and protection netting everywhere and eventually realised this it's tradition of commitment on the Dell d'Armour to make this walk with your partner and lock and leave the padlock here on the trail (we hadn't got that worked out early enough to take part, but heaps of others had!)

Manarola is an even tinier village and being right on a promontory and on the sea edge is constantly buffetted by the any wind. Out picture of the Meditterranean had been calm, serene and dreamily blue, but today and in this location we saw a different face; grey and strong - more like on a rocky NZ West Coast. Here again the way of life revolves mainly around fishing and terraced gardens came later.

The next village, Corniglia, on the other hand is up the hillside a little (a little being 323 brick steps......you remember that and the lemoncello don't you Emily and Paddy!) and was originally based around horticulture with the homes and industry gradually creeping down to the sea.

Time was running out and we didn't really do justice at all to the last two villages Vernazza and Monterosso; once again we needed another day, but were thrilled to have seen as much as we did. We have come away with such a respect for the hardy, tenacious, proud people of this region!

When we eventually arrivde back to our hotel Bruce and Diana had spent some time exploring outside the usual tourist areas of Santa Margherita and had lined up a restaurant they though tmight be good for dinner. Great choice! It was superbly authentic Italian food and cooked beautifully. Diana had pasta with smoked salmon and asparagus, Fred had lemon and saffron pasta with shrimps, Bruce had a kebab of scampi and calamari and I chose the fish chowder which was whole steamed mussels and clams in a tasty tomato base - I'm not a huge fan of mussels in NZ dishes but the Meditterranean mussels are half the size of our green lipped mussels and very tender and sweet!