Cinque Terra

Our plan was to take the ferry from Lerici to Cinque Terra. From Terenzo the 30 minute walk was to be at a leisurely pace so we set off straight after breakfast. When we arrived at the wharf lagre groups were milling and queueing at the ticket office. The numbers of tourists indicated that Cinque Terra was indeed a popular tourist destination. 23 euros each was paid before we boarded the ferry. No sooner were we seated when the ferry set off at a brisk rate of knots across the marina and out onto the open sea. So crystal were its waters. So blue. The hoards of tourists disembarking at each port amazed us. The ferry's upper deck had a large contingent of cruise ship tourists. They seemed to file endlessly up the gangway. The ferry's master eased his vessel with ease and precison into every port along the way. On one occasion so great were the numbers disembarking that a full fifteen minutes passed before all those going ashore had climbed the metal ramp to the concrete below. Tourists swelled each town's population beyond capacity or so it appeared. Like swarming ants tourists made their way along the carefully tended pathways all the while soaking in the breath taking views. The natural beauty of the cliffs enticed the amateur photographers to snap all within range. Rock slips too great to describe fell hundreds of metres to the foot of the cliffs. The water's edge was littered with massive eruptions of boulders from the above, dizzying heights. Homes clung to the faces of the steepest escarpments. Precarious permanency for those cliff dwellers must at best, be considered, temporary. Rocks and boulders had torn and gouged vegetation to run like rivers down the mountainside clearing all in their path. Some homes stood between such slips unscathed for the time being. Manarola was where we paused our journey to retreat from the heat. The cool gelato inspirational and refreshing in the day's intense heat.