June 2013 - Italy, Sea Kayaking Sardinia & Exploring Genoa

The trip by giant ferry for the 12 hour overnight trip to Sardinia ushered in the 2nd half of our Italian sea kayaking adventure trip.  We arrived at 7 am and were met by a van and jeep and taken north along the coast and then into the mountains to a lovely village for breakfast.   Then it was back to the coast and our kayaks.   We launched from a small sand beach and headed north, then west across the end of the island towards the town of Palau.  The coast was striking, with amazing granite rock , sculpted by the wind and sea.  It was a long entire day of kayaking and then we headed out across the strait to the largest island and the town of Maddalena.   There we had our little hotel for the 4 days and nights on Sardinia.  The town was charming and very old, as well as being the largest in the archipelago of islands composing the National Park that had been set aside.

While there we had wonderful Sardinia dinners at special little restaurants that our guide and host had arranged. We did the second day with a 6 hour paddle out east and south to the end of the 2nd biggest island of Caprera.  The 3rd day it was an all day paddle north east along the shore of La Maddalena Island to tiny , secluded beaches along with incredibly clear water and scenic views.  It was finally sunny that day, but the wind came up and we had a real struggle getting back.  In fact, we had to go in to a small harbor on the eastern side of the island and hike back into town.  Then the guides came out and retrieved the kayaks later on.  

The final day there was a very strong north wind or mistral as they called it, and we could not get out in the kayaks to cross back to the mainland .  We ended up taking one of the many small car ferries across the strait to Palau.  We then had a day of touring the mountainous interior of Sardinia on our way back to Olbia for the 7 pm ferry.   We got to see some of the remote villages and ancient ruins in the interior.   All in all it was a busy, and interesting 4 days on Sardinia, with some history lessons of its past thrown in also.  We arrived in the port of Genova at 7am and I will conclude my trip with one more set of pictures and comments on Genova and our last 2 days.  

Port of Olbia & giant ferry that brought us here to NE coast of Sardinia

Some of our party having a late breakfast in charming little village stop  in mountains of  Sardinia's North end

Getting our kayaks ready for launch on the remote, small sand beach

Our group along coast with its wind and sea sculpted granite

a land mark rock named "Pluto"

More of the scenic, rocky coast as we paddled up the North coast and around the end  west towards Palau

After the long day of paddling up the coast and across the strait to Maddalena, we were glad to reach our little hotel

Getting ready to launch on day 2 at Maddalena for the trip to Caprera, the 2nd biggest island in the group

Taking a lunch break on one of Caprera's small beaches with its clear waters

me with Enrico, our wonderful Italian guide on a small sand beach on the beautiful east coast of La Maddalena IS. 

view of the stunning east coast and its amazing waters

another view of the beautiful coast.

Approaching Palau on the ferry from La Maddalena

Day 4 above Palau looking back toward La Maddalena as we start a day tour of the mountains
and interior of the north end of Sardinia and then work our way back to Olbia and the night ferry to Genova

Me  relaxing with Palau to your left and La Maddelena across the strait above my right shoulder.

a tortoise being rescued from the road during our trip into Sardinia's mountains  and interior

rugged mountainous spine of Sardinia and a village  on the mountainside upper left

an ancient stone church perched on the rocky ridge

another mountain view and another village in the distance

Stone church and typical architecture in a village where we took a "gelato" stop

Remains of  this famous ancient stone castle with visitors viewing  it

 I had never been to Genova, by far the largest and busiest port in Italy.  From earlier times and a population of a million, it is now about 600,000.   It is stretched along the ocean,  a narrow band of city that runs nearly 30 km along the sea coast at the base of high, steep mountains.  The birthplace of Christopher Colombus, the city dates back centuries and was a power center of the western Mediterranean through much earlier times under many different rulers.  It is recognized for its classical Italian architecture and culture.  Here is a short sampling of the pictures I took during my day of a walking tour of the Old City and the lovely , modern harbor area.  

Typical street parking of the countless, little Italian motor scooters, which were everywhere

The attractive De Ferrari central square and fountain, with a large group of visiting Italian teens engaged in a wild water
fight, throwing each other in the fountain, and dumping what appeared to be sacks of flour on each other.  An hour later
when I came back by, they were trying to dry out in the warm sun in the square. 

one of the elegant covered walkways along the principal shopping boulevard where many of the flagship stores were.

Another view of the main shopping boulevard downtown with its interesting architecture

a side street that we used from our hotel on the harbor to go up to the main shopping boulevard and city center

another of the beautiful covered shopping walkways in the city center, this one with a Roman era building behind it

The Garibaldi Statue with the Genova Opera House behind 

one of the many beautiful  building facades in old Genova

another of the colorful buildings in old Genova

The Annunziata  Basilica

schooner Neptune of  many movies tied up in Porto Antico 

Palazzo San Giorgio just above Porto Antico and dating back to 1260

View out over the lovely, new Porto Antico harbor development 

T
The next 3 photos were taken here in one of Europe's finest aquariums in the new Porto Antico area
A giant sword fish and sharks in a big marine tank.

an unusual and wonderful tank of penguins of various species, enjoying swimming in the big tank
 and  leaping from the water onto the rocky shelves. 

a nice sample of some of the Mediterranean fish and corals

The front entrance to the huge aquarium at the edge of the harbor.

I hope you enjoyed my sampling of photos and comments.   My wonderful 2 week trip ended here in Genova.   Then I   boarded my Air France flight back to Paris and on to Frankfurt for an overnight.   The following morning it was on to the long flights to Chicago and home to Anchorage to end my latest adventure outing. 

May 2013 - Italy sea kayaking in Cinque Terre

This June I took a solo trip to Italy for adventure, sea kayaking, culture, and great Italian food.  The trip was with Tofino Expeditions and was nominated by both National Geographic and Outdoor Magazine as a top adventure trip for 2013.   Grant Thompson , Tofino owner and the wonderful Italian host and lead guide, Enrico Carrosino, took the 12 of us on an unforgettable 10 days of  sea kayaking Cinque Terre and then Sardinia.
 We flew into Genoa and started the trip there , with a stay at an organic farm and B & B on the mountainside for our 1st night.   Then it was on by train to Monterosso  ( the 1st of the 5 famous villages of Cinque Terre ). 

Map of the Cinque Terre coast and 5 villages

View of Monterroso, our starting point and the only village with a nice sand beach

Leaving Monterroso towards Vernazza, note the crystal clear water.

Me on the trail heading out to Vernazza

View towards Vernazza from highest point in Monterroso, which I climbed up to.

Map of the amazing hiking trail network between the 5 classic coast and the higher villages of Cinque Terre
This is a world class experience.  I hiked part of the lowest or coastal trail from Monterroso to Vernazza
It was unforgettable and so beautiful

After our morning launch from the beach in Monterosso, we leisurely paddled south along the soaring , picturesque shoreline of Cinque Terre, exploring the scenic coast as we went.   We could see our 1st destination in the distance,  the 2nd of the 5 villages,  Vernazza, which was right on the water.  I think it may be my favorite of the classic 5 villages.  The town was built mostly between the 11th and 13th centuries.  A freak, intense rainstorm on Oct 25th, 2011 triggered a massive flood and mud slide that resulted in up to 13 feet of mud deposited along the main street and devastated the village.   A huge cleanup campaign was mounted that cleaned and restored the historic village over the following 6 months.  

Part of our group starting along the coast towards  Vernazza after our 1st morning launch

arriving for a lunch stop at Vernazza's small picturesque harbor

our kayaks hauled out on the beach at our Vernazza lunch stop

Vernazza's  colorful waterfront

The main street of Vernazza just above the waterfront

A scenic setting                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ,  colorful, charming  Vernazza

relaxing on the rocks near the shore end of the small harbor breakwater with the fortress walls of the
old Castello  in the background

Me about to have "dessert" after lunch at a gelato shop, of which there seemed to be many

View of Vernazza from the start of the trail along the coast to Corniglia

Me on the trail above Vernazza.  The trail starts through a series of narrow passageways
off the main street called "carruggi" leading up  and out of town towards Corniglia

leaving the harbor of Vernazza  

 We finished our lunch in Vernazza and topped it off with gelato and returned to the tiny sand beach and our kayaks to relaunch.   We then paddled further south along the amazing Cinque Terre coast towards the 3rd of the famous villages and our  overnight in a tiny hotel, perched high above the ocean in Corniglia.   Corniglia and Manarola are both much smaller, and less visited villages than the other better known and larger 3.    Corniglia has no boat service and only a rocky cliff and narrow concrete landing pad at the ocean.   We had to be very careful bringing in the kayaks one at a time  and even in the calm seas , we got wet on the landings.  The 2 guides were in 1st and skilled in getting us out of the kayaks quickly and then both the boats and us up the slippery concrete slope of the landing area in the tidal surges.  We could not have landed if it was very windy and rough.    Corniglia is set on a rocky point , about 500 feet above the ocean and stretching on up the steep mountainside.   It is served by the railroad with a stop and a narrow winding  dead end road that snakes down a steep valley from an upper village and the main road even further up the mountain.  The village mostly dates from about  1000 and has the remains of  a  16th century castle.   It has a commanding view up and down the coast from its location high on the point.  We stayed 2 nights in the tiny hotel even higher up the mountain.   It was  a near vertical climb up steps set into the rock cliff .  We had a nice dinner in the hotel on an outdoor patio overlooking the coast and ocean.  The next morning we hiked back down the steep trail and steps and were able to launch again in the very calm ocean.  

coming ashore on the concrete pad below Corniglia

View of Corniglia village far above us on the hike up the long steep face

View to sea from about half way up to Corniglia village

a view of Corniglia from our little hotel  , perched on the ridge top and far above the sea

We continued paddling south along the scenic shoreline to our 4th village of Manarola, situated about 100 feet above sea level.  We paddled into the tiny , rocky landing and took pictures, but did not land .  Manarola and the villages just above it are the biggest producers of the wine grapes of the Cinque Terre.  The town mostly dates back into the 12th and 13th centuries and was important in its earlier days.   It is reached by rail, a steep , deadend road from the upper villages and does have boat service to a concrete ledge on the point.  After taking pictures of the rocky landing area and lower parts of the village, we continued paddling south to Riomaggiore.  There in late afternoon, we beached the kayaks for the night.  We then visited RioMaggiore for dinner before taking the train two stops back to Corniglia to overnight a 2nd night in our little hotel.  We left the kayaks in Riomaggiore  overnight. 

Manarola:

approaching Manarola

Manarola 

approaching the rocky slot and a tiny place to beach at Manarola

leaving Manarola for  Rio Maggiore

Riomaggiore:

approaching magical Maggiore

small harbor area at foot of main street.

main street half way up village near rail station

another view of bustling main street

more scenes of the village 

scene as we prepare to head out towards Porto Venere

 Riomaggiore has a population in the off season of about 2200 and is the largest and most popular of the 5 villages.   It dates back to a similar age with the other villages.   It is easily reached from the higher villages and the main highway with a bigger road, as well as by rail and the coastal boat service.   It was already a little crowded with tourists on the sunny days we were there.   We took the train two stops from Corniglia to Riomaggiore where we gathered our gear and launched from the small beach where we had left our kayaks overnight.  Our plan was a long paddle south along the coast and around the point to Porto Venere.  One paddles along and through a National Park and Marine reserve to Porto Venere, a World Heritage Site of about 4000 population .   It has a huge, beautiful harbor and was an important port thru earlier times.   We were planning about a 10 hour day of paddling to Porto Venere and back, but the weather forecast was for winds to become strong from the north in the afternoon, so after getting about half way, we returned to RioMaggiore, beached the kayaks, and caught a coastal boat back to Porto Venere.   We had time for lunch in the wonderful old and picturesque town, as well as time to hike and explore the streets, the church on the point, and I then climbed to the top of the highest hill to the ancient fortress or castle with its dominating but lovely views of the entire area, town, and harbor.   I loved Porto Venere.  We then boarded a 5 pm coastal boat for the ride back to Riomaggiore and a splendid dinner at oceanside. Then it was a short train ride back past Manarola to our last night in the little hotel in Corniglia.  The next day was back to Riomaggiore  and our kayaks.  We then had a days kayak along the coast to Monterroso for our haul out and a night in a wonderful little hotel just off the beach.  We didnt catch the train into Genoa until after noon.  We had until 6 pm to  board the big ferry boat out to Sardinia, so we had time to expore Monterroso.  I liked it very much and walked and saw nearly everything.  I even hiked out the lower or sea trail towards Vernazza and it was unforgettable.  Monterroso has the only real stretch of beach along the Cinque Terre coast and is where I would stay as a base if returning to Cinque Terre.

view as we depart Rio Maggiore  for Porto Venere on a coastal boat just after our return at noon
because of the increasing wind and seas predicted for the afternoon

approaching entry channel to Porto Venere harbor

about to dock in harbor of Porto Venere

fresh Basil at a stand in village

entry gate into ancient walled portion of old village

Stunning view from castle on highest point of village looking to sea with famous church on rocky point
at  mouth of the harbor.

opposite view towards huge inner harbor showing village
and a coastal boat at the harbor dock.  We then retraced our
route back the length of Cinque Terre for an overnight in
Monterroso and then into Genoa the next day to catch  the giant ferry overnight out to
 Sardinia and the 2nd part of our adventure