Festival Season!

May brings the start of summer, sun, and weather a little bit more beach worthy.  It also brings the first of our summer sagra, or festival, here in the village - the lemon festival!  These festivals celebrate everything from religious holidays to cultural significance (lemons and anchovies) and things important to the villagers throughout history.  Monterosso and the Cinque Terre are famous for their lemons, and visitors will often note the trees full of their bright fruit looming overhead throughout the year, as our warm Riviera climate keeps them growing even in the winter.

The Sagra dei Limoni (the "festival of lemons") celebrates this important part of Monterosso cultural and gastronomic history.  Visitors will find stands selling typical lemon products of the area, ranging from limoncino (as it's called here in Liguria, also known in the south part of Italy as limoncello), local lemon cake, lemon soaps, lemon favored pastas, lemon gelato and sorbetto and granita (all icy cold desserts, tart and sweet).  For those who haven't tried anchovies, the fresh fish preserved in lemon juice and olive oil is a great way to taste the famous, non-salty fish mascot of the village along with fresh local lemon.

The community also has a contest to judge the best decorated storefront, as local businesses and restaurants adorn their windows and doors with lemons, fishing nets, and other things important to the story of the village.  There is also a gastrotour at 11:30, which is a walking tour through the village explaining the cultural and gastronomic history of the lemon and Monterosso...and also a contest to judge the biggest lemon in the village.  It's a lot of fun, and a great way to see a little bit of cultural traditions and folklore that you might not get to see every day from our tiny little village.

Enjoy!

The schedule below is posted in Italian, but here it is in English...

Saturday, May 18th - the Lemon Festival of Monterosso al Mare

9am:  opening of artigianal merchandise booths along Via Fegina under the train station

11:30:  beginning of the cultural-gastro walk through the village.  Please inquire at the Pro Loco office under the train station for more information

12:00 noon:  lunch time! opening of the food stands along Via Fegina and in the piazza Garibaldi in the Old Town

2pm: Folk music concert for the village

4:30pm: Judging of the most beautiful window and storefront in the village

5pm: weighing and judging of the biggest lemon in the village in the piazza in the Old Town center

7pm:  awarding of winners

9pm: concert in the main church of St. John the Baptist in the Old Town

Trail 2 Monterosso-Vernazza is OPEN!

Today the trail 2 coastal trail from Monterosso to Vernazza has been reopened for hikers (only this section of the trail is open at this time).  The sun is shining, there is a little breeze, and it's a wonderful day for a hike!

Traveling in the Cinque Terre - Spring 2013

Below you can find train and boat schedules for travel within the Cinque Terre and Levanto (as well as Portovenere for the ferry boats). Shown also below is the schedule for buses in Monterosso.
Bus schedules for Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola (Manarola Monday through Saturday schedule and Manarola Sunday and holiday schedule), and Riomaggiore can be found by clicking on the name of each town above.
For further information regarding train schedules in Italy, click here. To get more details about the ferries in the Cinque Terre and surrounding areas, click here.

Ferry boat schedule:

The ferry boat dock is located on the old side of town in Monterosso. Tickets may be bought at the desk on your right hand side as you walk out to the dock. FYI, there are also pay bathrooms and an ATM machine in the same area as the boat ticket booth.

Train schedules direction La Spezia -> Levanto

 Train schedules direction Levanto -> La Spezia

Bus schedule for Monterosso

The number 2 trail (the 'blue trail' or 'sentiero azzurro') is still under maintenance and therefore officially closed to the public. For this reason, we discourage visitors from buying the Cinque Terre Card at this time unless you plan on extensively using the trains between Levanto and La Spezia and/or will be utilizing other park services such as internet or Park buses.
We remind you that there are still many other trails that are accessible by foot or by using the park busses and encourage you to discover these uncrowded and beautiful alternatives. You can find an updated map of the current trail status by clicking here.

If you have any questions, the Cinque Terre National Park has information centers in all of the Cinque Terre village train stations as well as in the La Spezia and Levanto train stations.

Tunnel Opening Thursday

The landslide that divided the village in two, closing the street between the historical center of Monterosso and the "New Town" of Via Fegina, will be open for foot traffic by Thursday.
The article in Italian can be found here.
Back to business, just in time for Easter!

Landslide temporarily closes the tunnel from Old Town to Fegina

Last night around 2 am a sudden landslide crumbled the terraced gardens of the Cappucin monks down into the road connecting the old and new towns in effect dividing the village in two.  The centuries old garden was maintained by the monks and our priest Padre Renato and called affectionately by locals "paradiso" or "heaven".  It was one of the most beautiful parts of the village, a lush green hanging over a blue sea filled with lemon trees.  It's a sad loss for the village, but we are happy that it happened overnight and no one was injured.

Due to the damage to the overhead terrain, the street connecting the Old Town and Via Fegina is now closed to all traffic, including pedestrians.  The train station is located in the New Town, and the tourist ferry in the Old Town, so those arriving in train who wish to see the Old part of town or who have reservations in the Old part of the village have a few options on how to arrive there, and vice versa for those arriving in boat who need to get to the new part of town and Via Fegina:

1. The town has set up a boat service bringing passengers from the Old Town harbor to the New Town.  You can get this boat by walking down Via Fegina past the Giant statue in the dock behind Circolo Velico (through the arch underneath the Giant statue).

2.There is also a small green bus that is operated through the National Park that stops in the piazza in the New Town on Via Fegina (across from the parking lot and soccer field) that is bringing people up the mountain and then down into the Old Town via the main road that passes up Via Padre Semeria.

3.  Cars (and taxis) can also go from the New Town to the Old Town if you are arriving via car.  This does not change your arrival, fortunately.  If you arrive in train and wish to take a taxi, go to the same piazza where the National Park green bus is.  You can find taxicabs there to take you to the Old Town.

4.  Many hotels and accommodations in the Old Town have set up shuttles and will come get you in the piazza in Via Fegina themselves.  Call them directly to find out if they have set up any service for their guests arriving via train.






5.  If you're really in the mood for it, you can always walk.  It should take you about an hour, following the same road that the cars take to sweep up over the village and to arrive on the other side.

Work to repair the damage has started immediately, and though the street LOOKS clear, keep in mind the terrain is still being stabilized and the village is taking all the precautions available to make sure the landslide is repaired safely and as quickly as possible.  In the meantime, you have the above options available to you if you are visiting in the next week or so.

It won't impact your visit to the village other then taking you a little longer to get to where you need to go.  Most restaurants are planning on opening in the following few days, as Easter falls very early this year.  Though it is an inconvenience, it is being handled as best it can, and you will still be able to enjoy the village.  And look on the bright side - to boot, you get a scenic boat ride or stunning views from the road that winds its way up and back down into the Old Town.




And some pictures of paradiso before the landslide, to give you an idea of how beautiful and special this little slice of heaven was for Monterosso:

Monterosso on holiday

Here in Monterosso, we're in the dead middle of winter. We had a lovely fall and then a joyful holiday season with many visits from tourists coming in to enjoy the mild weather and small-town celebration.
This is a slow time for the village, most hotels and restaurants are closed or will be closed until the beginning of March, when the tourist season starts to pick back up.
For many Monterossini, this is a blessing. Most people forget that when the tourist season starts, it does not finish until mid-November, and many stay open until after the Epiphany (6 January). If you are a business owner, this could easily mean 10 months of non-stop work.
Last year, the 25 October 2011 flood meant that nearly everyone was forced to forfeit their holidays and work straight through the winter to prepare for the 2012 tourist season.
Monterosso is now just going on holiday for the first time since March 2011. Almost 2 complete years of work.
That doesn't mean that all will be closed if you decide to visit during the winter months. The businesses take turns staying open. This is, above all, an inhabited village and services must be provided to the townspeople as well as visitors.

We thought that you might enjoy the videos below of Monterosso in 1962 and the Cinque Terre in the 1950's. By watching these, you get a good idea of how the strong character and will of the Monterossini would not allow a mere flood to knock them down. The videos are narrated in Italian but the images are incredible!

Thanks for all of your continued support in 2012. We look forward to seeing you in Monterosso in 2013!

The Wall, Part 1

For those of you who donated a block to the Wall to Rebuild Monterosso, you'll be as happy as we are to know that phase 1 of the wall construction is complete, and the handcrafted stones are in place, gazing over the still sea.
As we go on, more stones will be added and the wall behind cleaned - you still have time to buy a block to donate to the reconstruction of our village after the flood.  The wall is not yet finished, but we are ecstatic about how amazing it looks, and moved by the messages of hope and support that mean so much to this tiny village, almost one year after we were nearly destroyed.
For more information about donating by buying a block, follow this link.