time A meal at the Airbnb in Camogli All photos by Tony Garza.

Camogli, Italy from the deck of the Airbnb.

By Shari Benyousky
Photographs by Tony Garza

My hand hovered over the purchase button as I stared at the Rail Europe screen for the third time. Each time I tried to book overland train tickets from Turin, Italy to the coast, the little red warning about not much time to change trains in Genoa popped up and I chickened out. “Have you looked to see what Rick Steve says?” Tony looked up from his book out the French doors on the Airbnb balcony.

“Right.” I threw some words into the search function on Rick Steve’s Community Forum, and sure enough, another traveler said how many train lines docked in the station and how long it might reasonably take to switch trains. Ten minutes was more than enough. I clicked the purchase button, and for less than $40 we had three adult tickets taking us the 2 ½ hours from the mountains to the coast for Part II of our Italian adventure.

TIP:  Rick Steve has a company that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. We think his method of traveling packs far too much into a day, but his advice on logistics is sound.

DE-SCHEDULING TIPS

“Your eyes.” Tony shook his head. “It’s time to go.” We were standing in the second largest Egyptian Museum in the world surrounded by mummies and the 70-foot-long Book of the Dead Scroll. Gold from a nearby treasure trove reflected from my glasses. I had wanted to visit this place for a decade. But Tony was correct. After a few hours of looking, my eyes glazed over, my brain shut down, and I wanted nothing more than a cup of coffee and a chair.

Everyone likes to smash way too much in every day abroad. We get it – there’s so much that MUST be seen. So many museums and churches and graves and monuments. Everything is OLD. It makes the hair on your neck stand up to think that a battle happened here or Da Vinci stood HERE. But, here’s the thing, if you pack every moment of every day full of these amazing things, you never have the time to sit back and revel in them. All of the magic devolves into a confusing mesh of painted bambinos and placid Marys, and instead of feeling awe, you just wish your feet stopped hurting from so much walking.

To enjoy the magic of travel, Rule No.1 is to plan downtime. Lots of downtime.

It may be the trip of a lifetime, but you won’t remember any of it if you don’t strategically plan time to reflect and rest. Camogli, Italy was intended to be just such a place. Three days of sitting on the patio overlooking the Mediterranean (technically the Ligurian Sea). Total cost for three days of an Airbnb with an outdoor shower and kumquat bush loaded with ripe fruit – $563 for three people.

TIP: Camogli, like the rest of the Cinque Terre coast, is built on a mountainside. Walking down to a restaurant or the beach was a good workout.

PLAN FOR THE UNPLANNED

Right outside the Airbnb gates, a path wandered up the mountain. There were no signs and the stones of the path were worn with thousands of years of foot traffic. We wandered around the mountain ending at a monastery at the top with the best views overlooking the far below beaches. We had the entire terrace to ourselves. And the flowers and the bees and the sprawling sunset stretching from horizon to horizon.

The next unplanned day took us down to the black-marbled stone beaches. After a few hours of this, we wandered down to the pier and caught a ferry taking an hour trip up the coast to Portofino. Gelato in Portofino? Why not.

TIP: It’s common on European beaches to see topless people of all ages and genders. Children sometimes don’t bother with swimsuits at all.

TIP: After a boat trip, stop for some of Camogli’s famous focaccia which is everywhere. We recommend the traditional and wonderful Revello. Don’t worry; the line moves quickly. Alternatively, look for fishermen docking and frying their fresh catch off the backs of the boats. You’ll get a paper cone of frito misto to eat.

AIRBNB ADVENTURE CONCERT AT SUNSET IN A VINEYARD

We did make one scheduled item during our rest days: an Airbnb Experience (this is a different section of the site which offers interesting experiences hosted by locals instead of lodging. You might find boat rides, museum guides, etc…) which combined a retired concert pianist with wine, dinner, and sunset over the ocean. On the appointed evening, we took a train up the coast to Riomaggiore where we met our driver.

We arrived near sunset to meet our host Emanuele who showed us the remains of a Roman road he had uncovered across his property. Emanuele moved to the Cinque Terre, hand rolled his grand piano up the mountain to his new ancient shack, and re-planted a vineyard. He handed us all golden glasses of wine he had made as we walked through his vineyard far above the ocean. He answered our questions about grapes and led us to a table looking down the mountain at the gathering blue of evening. The table held fresh bread, mushroom risotto, bruschetta, and lemon liquors he had also made. While we ate and discussed life with an American couple from New York wearing cowboy hats, Emanuele opened the doors of his stone cottage and played Bach on his grand piano. Seriously – can you imagine anything better?

We remember the museums and churches, the endless amazing food and tour-guides better, because we took a mental and physical break in the middle. Oh yeah, and the Airbnb experience cost only $65 a person including the ride up and back through the National Forest. On the way down our driver stopped at hairpin turns to point out the various glowing touristy villages of the Cinque Terre (as well as the ancient villages which still don’t have running water or electricity). He told us that someday he wanted to have enough money to spend a year in the United States and drive to every single state. He wanted to know if any of us in the car had done such a thing. The four of us in the car had to admit we had not. He shook his head in amazement. Then he wondered where in the world Indiana was in the United States. “We don’t get many folks from Indiana here,” he told us. “You might be the first that I’ve met.”

Know of an interesting place, statue, or restaurant which you’d like to see featured in this column someday? Send SB Communications LLC an email at [email protected].

An inviting view from an Airbnb at the top of a mountain.

Here is the ferry that took guests from Camogli to Portofino.

A view of Camogli just after sunset