![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-and-me-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nManarola<\/strong> is another gem of the Cinque Terre. The second village,\njust 3 minutes by train from Riomaggiore. (There are only 500 meters between\nthe two villages!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Riomaggiore,\nManarola is the village with only one street. Well, what more does it need?…<\/p>\n\n\n\n And just like Riomaggiore,\nit has a small harbor where you can swim (well, actually where you can jump\nhead-first), it has colorful tower houses, intertwined with each other, narrow\nstreets with many steps up and a pedestrian tunnel that connects the city to\nthe train station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Somehow, the scheme of most villages is simple: a main street, a harbor, a church. And other common things. But each one has its own charm. And its vibe. From this point of view, Manarola is a bit higher than Riomaggiore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the train station you immediately enter the tunnel that takes you to the city \u2013 I would later realize that this tunnel is the only straight road I came across around here J).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You look from above,\nfrom a terrace, to see the main street, you definitely take some pictures, and\nthen you go down, greeting the old woman who came out on the doorstep to see\nsome new faces. (My God, how many generations of tourists she must have seen\nduring her life!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you take the main\nstreet towards the harbor. You can’t get lost here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main street,\nalthough not very wide, is full of boats. Boats and clothes hung out to dry\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a very nice\nimage, which makes you ignore the shops or restaurants on the street. Never\nmind, this is yet another good reason to come here again and again\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n You also go on the side\nstreets on foot, because it’s a shame not to go to the heart of the town and to\nbreathe your heart out on the stairs rows between the houses J). Then a jump into the sea would seem\nappropriate, to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well\u2026 there’s no beach\nin Manarola! There is, however, a boat\nramp<\/strong>, which some people, inventive as they were, turned into a beach. You\ncould even say that the wooden perches that help lower the boats to the water\nare clear plots for the beach towels\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The water is not very\nclean here, say some critical voices, but people boast about having one of the\nbest diving areas. For me this is just hearsay, I didn’t test it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definitely, the No. 1\nattraction of the harbor is jumping into the water, from the rocks! Even\ntourists are happy to do it (the one in the photo was an Asian).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stayed there for tens\nof minutes to watch this regional sport, fascinated by how easy it was for some\nchildren to climb on the cliffs (you will see in the movie at the end). There\nis just a string that helps when you get out of the water, then people climb to\nthe top without any help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Giovani’s mom,\nwill you let Gianni come with us to jump from the rocks?” \u2013 I expect to\nhear from one moment to the next\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, after a few hours during which the children kept climbing the rock and jumping into the sea, I am expecting to see the mother of the green swimming shorts boy coming out on a balcony and to hear her voice in the entire harbor: “Gianni, come home immediately to do your homework, you damn child! Adesso mi tolgo la ciabatta!” (I mean, they also believe in “I’ll smack your face” and in using the slipper J).<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, for now, I only see the jumps and the joy of a summer afternoon. And new people coming to bathe in the sun, on any free inch of concrete they find on the boat ramp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you go back on the main street, to the tunnel that takes you to the train station, don\u2019t go to the train. Go on farther, up. (This road really helps your gluteal muscles\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step by step, after about 400 meters, you reach the main square of the city, which is up there. Here you find the San Lorenzo Church<\/strong>, from 1338 and, in front of it, the bell tower<\/strong>, used in the 14th century as a watchtower. They watched the sea like hawks, so that no enemy could get close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the bell tower, you have a view of the sea that really\u2026 cools you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since we are still at the top of the city, the paths for hiking enthusiasts also come to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are paths on the\nhills, between the courtyards of the people, in the middle of the vineyards, on\nthe edges of the rocks, paths that connect the villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hikers sometimes\nspend a few hours travelling between two villages, but I see how excited they\nare!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also took a path,\nwithout intending to go to the neighboring village, just to feel it a little\nunderfoot and see the city from above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting near the\nterraces with vines, I remembered what I had found out, that the locals make a\nvery good dry white wine<\/strong> here! I didn’t\ndrink, because I had come by\u2026 train J<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I kept going on the\ndusty path, until I got to a point above the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also came across the cemetery in Manarola. Lots of flowers, lots of peace. And many thoughts\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I was not going to\nget to the neighboring village, I was walking, taking pictures, walking again,\nfilming a bit… I was the only one on the path (it was getting dark, that’s\nwhy I think I didn’t cross paths with any hikers anymore).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was trying to be\ncareful not to break my legs, as the way was as it was… By the way, the local\nguides repeatedly ask tourists not to walk on these paths in slippers<\/strong>! As there are such people. I\ndid not see them. I even saw a lot of people in professional hiking boots. And\nwith sticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I found out a\nvery cool thing: Manarola is in the Book\nof Records<\/strong>!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the winter\nholidays, on a hill here, the scene of the Lord’s birth is reproduced. All over\nthe hill! For this, Manarola entered the Guinness Book in 2007 (“world’s\nlargest nativity scene”). Cool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s just that it’s not\nChristmas now and the sun is disappearing from the sky, so I take it back to\nthe town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just when the sun goes down I get to the harbor! Two minutes after it went down, I see some Chinese women running desperately to take pictures. I felt like telling them \u523a\u7a7f. At that time I didn’t know how to Google translate the words “the joke’s on you”\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be honest, I noticed\nthat the sunset is so beautiful in Manarola, that I waited for it during the\nsummer vacation and a year later, during my autumn vacation\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I discovered the\nsurprise after sunset: the unique show of photographers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Up on the hill, many\nphotographers with cameras mounted on tripods, wait to catch the switching on\nof the lights in the tower houses. They try to get the most beautiful pictures!\nThe truth is that this angle is the most photographed in the entire Cinque\nTerre area! Both during the day and at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People with professional\ndevices move either to the left, or a bit to the right, they adjust their\ncameras, change their lenses. They all wait patiently for the locals to gather home\nand for the windows of the houses to light up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also stayed here for a\nwhile, catching four phases, from day to night:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn’t test\nmany places here, because I was more of a walker\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I once had lunch on the\nmain street, at Il\nPorticciolo<\/strong>.\nI had heard it was good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ordered lobster, to\nplay cool J. I always considered it\n“fancy”, maybe because I ate it fresh, in places where it took me a\nlong time to get \u2013 Cuba and the Maldives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, what do you know,\nit’s really ok in terms of the price: 18 euros for this portion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also ate in a beautiful place, up the hill, from where you can see the town in all its splendor. The terrace restaurant is called Nessun Dorma<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to better digest the food, after lunch it is worth taking a walk on the path right next to the restaurant, up to the point where the road ends. Landscapes are just for you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trattoria Dal Billy<\/strong> \u2013 is a restaurant with a spectacular view,\nlocated in the upper part of the city, close to the car parking lot. I\nunderstand they have good seafood. I didn’t test it, because I ended up here on\nthe day it was closed \u2013 on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did not get the time\nto have a lot of lunches and dinners, but I could not miss the ice-cream. Right\non the main street, you will find Gelateria\nSorbetteria 5 Terre<\/strong>. They have good ice cream. Appropriate both for summer\nand for autumn\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manarola is linked to Riomaggiore by the romantic Via dell\u2019Amore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I was telling you in the Riomaggiore story, Via dell \u2019Amore is the path carved into the rocky wall, above the sea, which runs for about 20 minutes (850 meters) between the two villages. A very easy route in terms of difficulty, but this is in vain now, because it is closed for the next years, due to rehabilitation works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HOWEVER, I discovered a solution so that I could walk on Via dell\u2019Amore: as soon as you leave Manarola station, instead of taking it to the city, through the tunnel, you go to the opposite direction, guided by a sign. This way you reach a part of about 200 meters of Via dell\u2019Amore. That’s all you can do. But, never mind, it’s cute!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manarola \u2013 check! I wait\npatiently in the station for the train to return to Riomaggiore. It will take\nme 3 minutes to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the\ntunnel, you can really see Riomaggiore! The distance is shorter than the one\nbetween two subway stations in Bucharest. If I walk through the tunnel, it will\nonly take me a few minutes. But I’m not allowed to do this. So I’m waiting for\nthe train, which is\u2026 30 minutes late!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are informed that\nthis is due to the great number of tourists from each station. Could it be that\nin one of the stations the tourists were so many that the train could not close\nthe doors, like it used to happened in Ceausescu’s times with our trams?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m waiting, I have no\nother solution. They don’t let me go through the tunnel, Via dell’Amore is\nclosed, so I’m waiting here. While waiting, I start looking at the hundreds of\npictures I have taken here. It’s a place worth at least a visit. Every season J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I didn’t catch in the pictures, I caught in the movies. (Or rather, even if I took photos, I wanted to see in motion too\u2026) Manarola in 3 minutes of raw filming, \u201cno filter\u201d, as they say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-tunnel-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-tunnel-city-exit-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>MANAROLA \u2013 QUICK GUIDE\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"MANAROLA%20editate\/oras\/manarola%20main%20street.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-main-street-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-boats_2-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/cat-in-a-boat-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-boats-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola_houses-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/colac-de-salvare-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-street-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-harbor_me-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMANAROLA BEACH<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-beach_1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-jumping-rock-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-jumping-off-the-rock_2-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-jumping-off-the-rock_1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-beach_2-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMANAROLA SQUARE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"..\/..\/manarola%20de%20lucru\/piata%20centrala\/urcarea%20spre%20piata.JPG\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola_street-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-church-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-belltower-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"..\/..\/manarola%20de%20lucru\/orasul%20de%20sus\/IMG_3949.JPG\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-view-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMANAROLA PATHS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-path_5a-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-path_5b-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola_me-2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"MANAROLA%20editate\/carari\/manarola%20cemetery.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-cemetery-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-path_2-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-path_3-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGUINNESS BOOK<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola_me-1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-summer-sunset-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-sunset_1-1024x497.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"..\/..\/VARADELAFINALULTOAMNEI_XJ8SxjPYmg\/46506038_1964549660298428_5713574670083555328_o_1964549653631762.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-nightfall-1024x497.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-cinque-terre_3-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-after-sunset-1-1024x497.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-in-the-evening-1024x497.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-by-night-1024x497.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWHERE TO EAT IN MANAROLA<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"..\/..\/manarola%20de%20lucru\/mancare\/il%20porticciolo%202.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/il-porticciolo-manarola-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/nessun-dorma-manarola-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/nessun-dorma-cinque-terre-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"..\/..\/IMG_3893.JPG\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-path_4-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\/Users\/dana.mladin\/Desktop\/fb](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-path_1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/cinque-terre-fisherman-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/fisherman-and-son-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"..\/..\/manarola%20de%20lucru\/mancare\/gelaterie%205%20terre.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/gelateria-5-terre-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nVIA DELL\u2019AMORE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"IMG_3983.JPG\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/via-dell-amore-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/to-via-dell-amore-576x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/via-della-amore_manarola-1024x579.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLOCKED IN THE TRAIN STATION\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-train-station-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-train-tunnel-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-summer_me-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manarola-fall_me-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>