Cinque Terre - The sound of heaven

We’re spending two days in Cinque Terre – five villages along the Italian coast. These little towns have the charm of every Italian village we’ve seen, with the added benefit of clinging to hills and cliffs that dip down into the Mediterranean Sea.

While we came like most others for the sunshine and the beaches, we’ve found we’re drawn to the churches.

Though we didn’t set out in this direction, churches have become a theme for us this month. And we were delighted to find several open in Cinque Terre. The church elders may recognize how welcome a cool place for quiet reflection can be to tourists.

When I saw a small sign pointing the way to the Cappuccini Church, I was intrigued. Did they serve coffee? We veered off the main drag to go see. How far could it be?

The trail went up. And up. The path turned narrow and rough. It curved around bends. Always up. This church was not for the faint of heart. Instead of biking to heaven, we truly felt this might be hiking to heaven!

Finally we received a sign – well two of them actually. One was the statue of a monk with a dog. Another sign on a wall that looked a castle armament provide some history. Around another two bends – up only another hundred yards or may be two hundred – there it was. Chiesa Cappuccini. And it was open.

We walked in, closing the door tightly as the sign requested. And then we heard it. The sound of men singing. We had stumbled into an enclave of Capuchin monks. We sat and listened. We could not see them, but their voices filtered into the sanctuary, spreading peace in that space.

 Ciao!

Biking to heaven

We didn’t make it to church yesterday because of the rain. We did penance today, biking half way to heaven to reach a church on a hill.

We’ve been visiting all the churches in this area. Massa Macinaia, San Leonardo, San Giusto. All of these were within easy walking distance.  The one we hadn’t visited yet was one that seemed most intriguing. Built at the peak of a fairly high hill, San Ginese is visible for miles in all directions.

Confined to our house yesterday, we were ready to stretch our legs today, so we mounted our trusty one-speed bikes and headed toward San Ginese. I have not been on a bike with any consistency in years. Getting to the supermarket and back each day this week – a round-trip distance of only a couple of miles – has left my thighs burning. I knew San Ginese would be a challenge.

We asked directions from time to time. The word an elderly Italian woman used repeatedly was ‘lontana,’ which roughly translates to ‘a heck of a long ways.’ And she pointed up hill. She was right.

It took us an hour of riding, pushing, resting and starting again to get the 5-6 kilometers to San Ginese. When I could catch my breath enough to look, I had to acknowledge the views were excellent.

The church was locked, but we toured the grounds to the music of someone practicing the cello in a nearby house. A monument to local soldiers killed in WWI was particularly moving.

The trip back down was much easier – though I should mention that I only have breaks on the front tire so my left hand, as well as my heart, got a workout as I wondered if I’d be able to stop when I needed to.

Half an hour later, we were picking up groceries at the supermarket and for the first time, I biked back to the house without feeling as though my legs would burn up.

Perhaps that is my reward for biking half way to heaven.

Ciao!