Early Sunday morning and Manarola is quiet. The streets are lined with fishing boats and the only sound is that of the stream rushing through underneath the town to the sea.
The path to Corniglia leads up through vineyards, with drystone walls creating a narrow pathway. The entire mountain side here is covered in vines or olive trees, often terraced with rock.
A dark cloud hangs over the mountain, and a haze over the sea. It's much more humid than yesterday and a few drops fall. The humidity makes the climb harder, and I stop more frequently to catch my breath, but it allows me to enjoy the changing vistas.
I reach the small village of Volastra and wander past houses, flower pots and vegetable gardens. Most of the height has been reached and the path now meanders across the mountain like a goat track, often in parallel with the tracks through the vineyards. Some of the groves of olives have large orange nets covering the ground, about half a metre above the dirt, to catch the olives as they fall. The trees are covered in green olives with black ones scattered among them. For some reason I assumed they would all ripen at the same time, but they obviously ripen over several weeks or months.
The path then leads into a wooded area and I feel like I've wandered into a Lord of the Rings set. The oaks and other trees have vines clinging, and for part of it a moss covered stone wall is on the upper side.
At this stage I have met only a few people coming the other way but I hear voices behind me and look back to find a group of about 20+ coming along, loud American voices disturbing my peaceful meditation. A quick spurt to place some distance allowed the peace to resume.
As I start the descent to Corniglia I encounter many more coming up the path. As we pass we greet each other in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish.
Corniglia is now bathed in sunshine creating 'Kodak moments' on every curve of the path, but if I linger too long the hordes start to catch up again.
Arriving in the town I am overwhelmed by the number of people and the noise. The 2 hour walk had been done in virtual silence and had put me into a peaceful, meditative state, and the square was filled with tour groups of mostly Americans. I don't seem to be affected by the locals as much, probably because I can't understand what they are saying so their conversations fade into the background.
I see a sign 'ad mare' and head down the steps. It's surprisingly quiet along the path, then I realise that it does take me via many steps to the sea, but that's all. To get into the town I will have to make my way back up again.
As I return up to the town I visit the church and see a sign for a procession of Maria Santa ... today at 3:30. This gives me an excuse to while away a couple of hours until the procession. At 2:30 the church bells start ringing for about 10 minutes in a melodic pattern and tourists gather in the small square outside the church. Nothing happens and they fade away again. At 3:00 the bells ring again for about 5 minutes. Then the service starts at 3:30. Some of it is in Latin so I can follow bits. At the end of the service they carry the Madonna out of the church singing and carry it through the town. Photos coming later.
The path to Corniglia leads up through vineyards, with drystone walls creating a narrow pathway. The entire mountain side here is covered in vines or olive trees, often terraced with rock.
A dark cloud hangs over the mountain, and a haze over the sea. It's much more humid than yesterday and a few drops fall. The humidity makes the climb harder, and I stop more frequently to catch my breath, but it allows me to enjoy the changing vistas.
I reach the small village of Volastra and wander past houses, flower pots and vegetable gardens. Most of the height has been reached and the path now meanders across the mountain like a goat track, often in parallel with the tracks through the vineyards. Some of the groves of olives have large orange nets covering the ground, about half a metre above the dirt, to catch the olives as they fall. The trees are covered in green olives with black ones scattered among them. For some reason I assumed they would all ripen at the same time, but they obviously ripen over several weeks or months.
The path then leads into a wooded area and I feel like I've wandered into a Lord of the Rings set. The oaks and other trees have vines clinging, and for part of it a moss covered stone wall is on the upper side.
At this stage I have met only a few people coming the other way but I hear voices behind me and look back to find a group of about 20+ coming along, loud American voices disturbing my peaceful meditation. A quick spurt to place some distance allowed the peace to resume.
As I start the descent to Corniglia I encounter many more coming up the path. As we pass we greet each other in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish.
Corniglia is now bathed in sunshine creating 'Kodak moments' on every curve of the path, but if I linger too long the hordes start to catch up again.
Arriving in the town I am overwhelmed by the number of people and the noise. The 2 hour walk had been done in virtual silence and had put me into a peaceful, meditative state, and the square was filled with tour groups of mostly Americans. I don't seem to be affected by the locals as much, probably because I can't understand what they are saying so their conversations fade into the background.
I see a sign 'ad mare' and head down the steps. It's surprisingly quiet along the path, then I realise that it does take me via many steps to the sea, but that's all. To get into the town I will have to make my way back up again.
As I return up to the town I visit the church and see a sign for a procession of Maria Santa ... today at 3:30. This gives me an excuse to while away a couple of hours until the procession. At 2:30 the church bells start ringing for about 10 minutes in a melodic pattern and tourists gather in the small square outside the church. Nothing happens and they fade away again. At 3:00 the bells ring again for about 5 minutes. Then the service starts at 3:30. Some of it is in Latin so I can follow bits. At the end of the service they carry the Madonna out of the church singing and carry it through the town. Photos coming later.
No comments:
Post a Comment