Slide 1

Cinque Terre The Italian Riviera Where the Apennine Mountains drop into the sea Cinque Terre The Italian Riviera Where the Apennine Mountains drop into the sea For many generations, these 5 small villages sit on the water line at the bottom of a very deep narrow valley. Narrow, winding, roads lead to these villages from the highway way up on the top of the ridge Yafa kfir 2005 www.yafakfir.co.il yafakfir@gmail.com Slide 2 Slide 3 The villages are picturesque - Tourism revived them Slide 4 Today the villages are connected by train. The railway in between the villages runs in a tunnel. The train comes out of the tunnel only for few minutes, stops on he beach and continues inside the mountain. Sometimes one should continue walking within the tunnel in order to get to the village. Slide 5 This is one of the villages train station the Eastern one This is one of the villages train station the Eastern one Slide 6 The villagers make liquors from coffee and fruit Slide 7 Especially from lemons (Limoncelo, Limonte) and mandarins, just what the Italian like Slide 8 Women are busy at traditional tasks Slide 9 And men - they are not fishermen as they used to be Slide 10 But are doing more simple works. Slide 11 This is the billboard of a local entrepreneur renting out rooms, overlooking the sea, to tourists Slide 12 This is how tourists are greeted once off the train with a painting depicting life gone bye - life we all regard as more beautiful, more simple, healthier Slide 13 In Cinqueterre there are five villages, a narrow footpath partly chiseled in the rocks, connect them. This is the historic footpath that connected the villages before the train tunnels were dug. It was used to move produce and visit neighbors. While I walked this footpath, it was a bit hard to walk up and down the steep slopes, I kept thinking of all these Italian women walking this footpath carrying heavy baskets of grapes and olives. There are four walks between the five villages: The first, like young love, is the easiest, and most frequented by tourists - hanging above the sea - called: Via del Amor Slide 14 The weather is pleasant and the walk is open to the public as the sign say Slide 15 Slide 16 Slide 17 To my delight, the day was very pleasant, lots of sun and light Slide 18 I enjoyed the sea, the mountains, the unique agriculture and the colors, especially the colors Slide 19 Strong Mediterranean colors: the fruit and vegetables, the goods in the shops and the houses. Slide 20 As expected, like all over Italy, there is a selection of local wines, made of dark grapes and white grapes, growing on the sunny slopes Slide 21 But they dont have beaches with golden sand so they make do Slide 22 After the first part, the Via del Amor, which was nice and easy, came two more walks which were not that easy clearly the number of those who walked them dropped, so did age I was among the oldest. Slide 23 Many, very many, steps brought me to the one village before the last Slide 24 That justified a delightful rest on a stony bench That justified a delightful rest on a stony bench Slide 25 Evening was falling the villagers opened the blinds to let the wind in Slide 26 I slowly walked to the train station, passing through the small village square Slide 27 Trying to guess what these Italians ladies were talking about. Slide 28 I took the train to the last village, from afar I could see the previous basking in the sunset Slide 29 The sun was down, low, and on the beach the parasols were down too Slide 30 They were still few people around, among them a little boy with his mother Slide 31 and I think she felt a bit cold.... Slide 32 The sea was beautiful, as it always is in the evening, on our beaches too.. Slide 33 And I ? As always, I was thinking how different it all could be, As it will never be And how the Mediterranean is always surrounded by people who, in spite of this magnificent beauty, fought, conquered, destroyed And built. Brought children to the world and killed the children of others. And how the good and the horrible dwell together on these shores. I felt good that beautiful evening. Wonderful, actually. And I felt terrible. As always. Yafa Kfir www.yafakfir.co.il yafakfir@gmail.com