"CORRADO VALENTE"
via Molinelli, 27
19016 Monterosso al Mare (SP)
Monterosso al Mare is a town and commune in the province of La Spezia, part of the region of Liguria (northern Italy). It is one of the five villages in Cinque Terre. 
The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town. The two areas are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians and the very few cars in the town.
The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and is well used by tourists and locals. The beach is the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre. Monterosso is a small town that in the summer months is overrun by tourists.
Do
The Cinque Terre boasts some of the best coastline hiking trails in the world.
The path from Riomaggiore to Manarola is called the Via Dell'Amore (or roughly "Lovers Walk"). The beautiful trail along the shore is very easy to hike. The next hike from Manarola to Corniglia is also easy. The trail from Corniglia to Vernazza offers incredible views of shore and is only steep at certain places. The trail from Vernazza to Monterosso is the steepest (but not overly demanding), winding through Olive orchards and vineyards and offering dramatic ocean views.
The walk between all the villages takes the better part of a day. For those that would rather not walk (or not walk the entire trail), a pedestrian ferry service runs seasonally to all five villages, plus Lerici. The price is reasonable, and gives a nice view of the villages from the water. The milk train that connect all the villages is also a quick way to hop among towns.
Eat
When grapevines and olive trees cover the hillsides, wine and oil are a must on our tables. They prove excellent companions for the salted anchovies of Monterosso served in olive oil as well as the many specialty fish dishes, authentic gastronomic delights.
The cuisine of the Cinque Terre almost perfectly conserves the characteristics of yesteryear; the respect for the flavors and fragrances of the primary ingredients. Troffie is a kind of pasta made from chestnut or wheat flour and is one of the forefathers of modern and more sophisticated pasta. Its condiment is still pesto sauce; an original Ligurian sauce made from basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil, grated cheese, pine nuts, and marjoram. Tagliatelle, a broad handmade pasta, is used with sauces that contain mushrooms, cabbage and potatoes, beans, chickpeas or sometimes with pesto.
Vegetable pies, 'torte di verdura' are prepared with a stuffing containing borage (borago officinalis), parsley, marjoram, other local herbs that grow wild, artichokes, swiss chard, zucchini, potatoes, and leeks are combined with egg and ricotta cheese or with stale bread soaked in milk or béchamel sauce (depending on each family's traditions), parmesan cheese. The pie crust is very thin, because flour was a very precious commodity.
Rice pie, or 'torta di riso' is a specialty of every grandma in the region. In Monterosso this rice pie was made even more delectable by adding a bit of dried mushrooms to the filling. In Manarola, the tradition is to make this dish for the feast of the patron saint Saint Lawrence on August 9th.
Egg 'fritatte', or flat omelettes, are popular today as the 'frittata' has been rediscovered as a tasty antipasto. Another important dish on the tables of the Cinque Terre population was the 'cotoletta di acciuga', anchovies stuffed with a breadcrumb based filling and then fried. The 'fritelle di bianchetti', fritters made from tiny newborn anchovies or sardines were also highly appreciated. Following the seamen's gastronomic traditions, other dishes included stewed cuttlefish, stuffed calamari and spiced octopus.
Mussels, another protected designation of origin product from the Gulf of La Spezia are prepared in a variety of ways: stuffed, stewed, baked.
Manarola
- Restaurant Il Porticciolo
- Da Billy
- Marina Piccola
Riomaggiore
- La Grotta
Drink
The fame of the Cinque Terre is largely due to its products, the dry white wine, simply called 'Cinque Terre' and the 'Sciacchetrà', a prized dessert wine made from prime grapes dried to the point of holding only a few drops of sweet juice. A colorful addition to the Cinque Terre products is 'limoncino'; a dessert wine made from steeping lemon peels in pure alcohol and then adding sugar and water to make a fragrant and fresh liquor. The lemons, another famous product of the Cinque Terre are prominently on display in the many 'limoneti' (lemon groves) and at the annual Lemon Festival held each year in Monterosso during the season of Pentacost.
The Sentieri dell'Uva (Grape Routes) are still as they once were with fig trees planted in strategic positions to give shade during breaks from work, agaves planted to mark boundaries, to line the footpaths along steep, stony steps and to indicate the rail terminals of the recently installed monorails which are the only vertical structures emerging from this seemingly completely, horizontal landscape. Many dry stone walls support this terraced landscape.
The large wicker baskets of grapes (corbe) are arranged along the "pose" (little walls, as wide as tables, built solely for this purpose). These include Albarola (Trebbiana), Biancorotto, Bruciapagliaio, Piccabon (Pizzamosca). To make white table wines the following are used: Fiore di Bosco, Rappolungo, Fogiaccia, Ruspara, and Sesagra. Baskets full of Magnagra (Albarola), from which the famous Black Sciacchetrà is made, are handled with extreme care and set to one side.
The Cinque Terre grape tracks reach down to the sea. In the past, people used to anchor small fishing boats called "gozzi" immediately below the terraced vineyards. Baskets laden with grapes were then lowered from above into these small boats which then sailed round to the otherwise inaccessible village.
Nowadays this method is nothing but a distant memory but by visiting the Cinque Terre you are still able to sample some of the most prized wines of the world that have been created by centuries of backbreaking experience.
Village life
Historically, many of the villages on the Mediterranean were walled to protect againstt attacks from the sea. This area of the coast was often attacked by Muslim pirates and Vikings. Viking influence can still be seen in the occasional fair-skinned, red-headed children of the native villagers in the region.
Originally, the village was only accessible by sea or by mule paths that connected the villages of the Cinque Terre as well as to Via Roma, the main road that connected all of Italy to Rome. These mule paths have been maintained and used over the centuries and now provide hikers with a more intimate view of the sea-swept Cinque Terre. The area was recently designated as part of the national park system and is considered a protected area, to the effect of limited development and resource usage. The Cinque Terre hiking trails have been taken over by the national park system and there is now a fee to hike on all portions of the trail.
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