チンクエ・テッレの道 The path of Cinque Terre

ジェノヴァを出発し、チンクエ・テッレに到着。「チンクエ・テッレ」はイタリア語で「５つの土地」という意味で５つの村が海岸沿いに点在しています。それぞれの村への行来は、船、電車、または歩き、というのが主要方法（車道はすごく遠回り）です。
最西端の村、モンテロッソ・アル・マーレに滞在し、その世界遺産にも登録されている素晴らしい景色の歩道を歩くことにしました。

We left Genoa and arrived in Cinque Terre, which in Italian means five lands. There are five separate villages on the coast. The main means of travel between them is by train, boat or cliff footpath.
We stayed in Monterosso al Mare, the westernmost town and walked on the path through wonderful scenery. The area is one of the UN World Heritage sites.

その道は上り下りが激しい険しい坂。ダイナミックな海岸線が時々顔を出す狭い山道（崖道？）を進みます。色とりどりの家々が建つ孤立した村が見えた時は感動しました。
人々は村の近くの険しい斜面に段々畑を作り、岩だらけの痩せた土地でブドウなどを栽培してきました。多くの実をつけないため凝縮された味ということで、ここのワインは貴族に珍重されていたようです。

The path was quite steep. We went up and down along the narrow cliff path, which showed us the dramatic coastline. I was amazed when we saw the isolated villages with their colourful houses.
The inhabitants have made terraced fields out of the infertile land on the steep, rocky, cliffs and have grown vines. The vines have fewer grapes than normal but with a more concentrated flavour and sugar content. It is said that in the olden days the resulting wine had been highly valued by the nobility.

時間と体力に相談して、３つ目の村から電車で戻りました。村から電車の駅までの長いジグザグ階段も相当長かったです。村に滞在するのに重い旅行鞄を持ってその階段を上るなんて考えたくありません・・・。３時間以上歩きましたが、帰りは電車でトンネルを抜けて１０分でした。

After considering the time and our stamina, we decided to return by train from the third village. To get the train station, we had to walk down terribly long stairs which zigzaged down the cliff from the village. I don't want to even think about going up from the station to the village with a heavy travelling bag for a stay in the village. We walked more than three hours to get there but the train needed only 10min to take us back, by passing through tunnels.

歩くと通行料金１日６ユーロ（週末は割増）、電車料金は１．８ユーロ。端の村まで歩くと約５時間（本当か？）、電車で約３０分。でもぜひ歩くことをお勧めします。

It costs 6 euros (extra for the weekend) to walk the path. The train ticket costs 1.8 euros.
It takes about 5 hours (possibly more) to walk the whole path from the first to the fifth village. The train takes just 30 minutes. Nevertheless I recommend that you walk to see the views.