Italy’s ‘Cinque Terre’ – five seaside villages perched upon the steep hills of the Ligurian Coast has been a hotspot for tourism since the 1970s. Each year, over two million people flock to this sparsely populated coastline, hiking the sprawling trails past the olive groves which link Riomaggiore to Monterosso via Manarola, Corniglia and Vernazza. Regular trains connect each village to larger towns further afield, creating appeal for day-trippers to enjoy the views, seafronts and hospitality on offer.
In late July, fresh off our engagement in Florence, my fiancée and I made it our home for six days, hoping it would be the ideal location to both celebrate a special moment and relax following an intense lockdown in Central London.
We were not disappointed. The pleasure of a Mediterranean swim, chilled local wine, a generous serving of trofie al pesto Genovese, and a stroll through a picturesque Italian village at golden hour, all in one day, cannot be rivalled.
In Riomaggiore, restaurants and boutique shops line Via Colombo from its peak all the way down to the rocky shore. In normal times, it would be a struggle to sit outdoors without a reservation. Luckily for us (and unluckily for the hospitality industry), it appeared that restaurants were running at about 20% of normal capacity, giving us a wide selection of quaint establishments in which to eat, drink, and to enjoy the spectacular scenery.
It had been apparent from the moment we stepped off the plane four days earlier that Italians as a collective are taking social-distancing measures far more seriously than their British counterparts. Cinque Terre was no exception. Facemasks and hand sanitiser, alongside keys, money, and phones, were added to our list of essentials when leaving the hotel.
As we waited to be seated (face masks on), we were greeted by the waitstaff (face masks on at all times), and then seated at our tables. If we needed to go inside the restaurant to use the restroom, we put our face masks back on. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?
The golden rule, which of course is just common sense, is to wear a face mask whenever you are in an enclosed, public space. On the train from Florence to La Spezia, we witnessed a man without a face mask being asked to leave the train by the conductor, something we could barely imagine happening back in London.
Although the UK has had approximately 10,000 more deaths from Covid-19 than Italy, perhaps the early onslaught from March onwards relative to the rest of the world has made Italians more determined to take all necessary precautions to fight a common enemy? Or, perhaps more likely, the Italian Government has been more effective and singular in its message?
The hope is that these beautiful parts of the world, rich in tradition and history, find a way to survive the consequences of the pandemic. From a selfish perspective, it was a phenomenal time to travel. Flight delays, lengthy queues at immigration, crowded streets and not being able to see a grain of sand at an umbrella-laden beach were all a distant memory. Booking last minute holidays could become the ‘new normal’ for a tourism industry trying to get back on its feet.