The Little Things In Life: Project WWWT Day 21 of 72

8th June 2017

While we are staying in Pisa, this place is really a leaping point for us to visit other nearby location. We have Florence and Cinque Terre in our mind and my thought was to visit the latter on the 10th of June but there is a slight change of plan and we proceeded to head to the 5 fishermen town - Cinque Terre.

You can get there by train from Pisa Centrale station to La Spezia and from La Speciz to Riomaggiore, Manarola and the other towns. The trip should costs around €27.25 for a return trip but since we have already rented the car, we drove there instead and parked at La Spezia station. We bought a ticket to head into Manarola and it costs around €8.00 per adult and €4.00 for children aged 4-12 years old.

One thing to beware though is that my MIL and I both had a similar experience, so we kinda concluded that this is the modus operandi in Italy. When I purchased the train ticket, the attendant told me it is €40.00 and I paid accordingly. Then, while I was making my way to the platform, I have a look at the ticket and it shows me the pricing that I have mentioned earlier, so that means the price for 3 adults and my boys would be €28.00 and that I was overcharged by €12.00. Now if I would have not taken a look at my tickets or jumped on the train already, the attendant would have made a cool €12.00 just like that. So I went back to her and she apologise saying that she has made a mistake on the pricing and that I have walked away and there is no way she could vacate her station to look for me... As for my MIL, we had a quick bite at a cafe in Manarola. The total bill was €8.50 and my MIL initially thought it was €18.50 and hence paid €20.00, but the cashier did not give her any change. So she thought WTH, its only €1.50 so treat it as a treat. While she walked away, she realised that the total bill is €8.50, so she went back to the cashier and she retorted that she wanted to give my MIL the change but she has walked away. Coincidence? Nah.

Oh, we also took a wrong train and the details are posted in my Misadventure Journal. Anyway, we only reached Manarola around 5PM but it was really a blessing in disguise for us as the sun was scorching hot! I alone has darkened by at least 4 tones! The kids are also not spared from the sun and Naaman has a sun burn on the back of his right ear that got worsen by his rubbing of the skin.

Anyway, Manarola is beautiful! I can only imagine the beauty in the break of dawn and the dusk of the day. I'd like to return and stay here next time. There are many people swimming in the waters right in front of the village, but I give that a skip any time of the day. The reason? It is dirty. Yes, the waters looked pristine and clear, but you can also see the garbage and waters flowing out right from the village itself. Not convinced? There is a filtration system? Whatever. I also noticed brown foams floating nearby and being someone whom has lived in a fishermen's vilage before, I know where those brown floating foams comes from and how they looked like before they reached the foam form.

Each villages are accessible by legs and if you have the stamina, does not have children or elderly folks with you, or in the company of someone whom are not physically fit. There is a cafe if you scale up the staircase at the edge of the walkway where you will have a full elevated view of Manarola. There is also a play ground up there, what are the odds??? My boys had a good time there with plenty of travelling friends. There is also a toilet up there but you will have to pay €1.00 to access the toilet, a common practice in Italy.