We had three days to enjoy the beautiful oceanic towns of Cinque Terre, the "five lands". A four hour trail linked the five villages together and offered beautiful views as well as an intense workout.
Home base was a 9 bed mix in a hostel located 10 minutes from Cinque Terre. We felt comfortable knowing we would be five of the nine but soon learned we'd be sharing the space with the worlds worst snorer and a terrible night cougher. Between the two of them the nights were long, but the enjoyable days made the sleepless nights well worth it. Day one consisted of us wandering around our base town and enjoying a slow pace to life. After so much seeing and doing we looked forward to being semi-lazy and relaxing on the many beaches that surrounded the area. Our goals during our time there were to eat as much pesto as possible (this is the area pesto was created and most famous), hike the five towns, and relax. Three tasks i proudly say we completed in perfect composure.
Besides loving the scenic hike and adorable towns I also had a number of great food experiences. Their pesto was down right awesome and everything it touched pretty much turned to gold. With pecorino silently hiding between the bright basil and Parmesan it really made every dish royalty. It accompanied the best meal of my trip which consisted of chestnut flour tagliatelle with clams, tomatoes, and parsley. Just the thought of that dish makes me salivate with excitement! Even better was that my appetizer before it acted as the perfect opening performance. Fresh muscles stuffed with parmesan, breadcrumbs, marjoram, and rosemary. YUuMmM! Another surprisingly delicious meal was a lard pizza that Kate and I shared our last night. Salted pig fat laid hand in hand with arugula, cut cherry tomatoes, and shaved parmesan. With a quick spritz of lemon it innocently sat on pizza dough waiting for someone to give it a try. Intimated, yes. Hesitant, yes. Excited, hell yes. The other girls were just shocked, maybe even a tad disgusted by the thought of it. It reminded me of the sad story you hear about the older kid at the orphanage that no one wants to adopt because they are not cute anymore. Then one kind soul puts their heart on the table and brings the kid home, making the two of their lives complete. Well my dear friends and family, I bravely gave this lard a try and i wholeheartedly tell you that my kind soul is now complete. Against all expectations it was the lightest and most refreshing pizza I've ever eaten. Of all the pizza I have had on the trip, and trust me I have eaten a lot, this one pleasantly surprised me the most and was one of my favorite dishes thus far. That evening I learned a very valuable lesson...never judge a pizza by its toppings.
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