2012: The 5 terre after the flood -POLL-

It is said 2012 to be the end of the world…but for sure this won’t be true for Vernazza.
Vernazza has already had its Doomsday, it happened on Oct. 25th 2011, earlier than Maya’s prediction.

On contrary 2012 will be the renaissance of Vernazza where, since the very first minute after the flood, nobody spent one tear more than necessary and everyone is working hard to return back our wounded towns into the beauty that made them beloved worldwide. In these past 2 months an enormous amount of debrees and mud have been carried away, the town is starting to looks a bit more normal..A wedding has been celebrated on Dec. 10th; the doors of the first floors, 100% of them wiped out in one minute by the wild river, have been replaced with temporary plywood doors and they will be ALL painted by local artists on Jan 6th 2012 (see also http://vernazzafutura.blogspot.com/2012/01/un-arcobaleno-di-solidarieta-per.html).  Signs of strong wish of return to normality.
But will it be enough?
The huge amount of money needed combined with the logistic conditions and environmental difficulties make the job extremely hard..and the clock is running fast toward the beginning of the touristic season.

The Municipality has’nt taken an official position yet, we actually think it’s not possible to have one and -of course- we don’t want to gamble with predictions in matters that involve people’s lifestyle and livelihood, we just want to aks a question in name of all the small business of the other towns.

The strenght of  the “FIVE LANDS” brand, has unexpectedly turned into weakness. The very first message “Flood in the 5 Earth, the Cinque Terre don’t exist anymore” left the sign. Too few (even among tour operators and travel agents) are aware that only Vernazza (completely) and Monterosso (seriously but partially) have been hitted. The flood is indeed affecting every business of the 5 Terre and of the entire province, so we do believe it’s a fair question..Will Vernazza be ready for tourists in 2012?

The answer is likely NO. That’s my personal opinion and perception. Assuming that a part of the town itself could be accessible, the problem would be to conciliate tourism and construction sites, to supply a decent level of services and, more than all, to have secured the upper part of the town and the surrounding hills, almost destroyed by more than 100 landlsides.

That said..we want to engage a bit more the public with this POLL (that will remain active until the end of February) and try to understand what the scenario will be in case…

In case Vernazza cannot host tourists in 2012 will you:

• Still visit the 5 Earth, Focusing on the other villages
• Postpones until my visit will be fully recovered Vernazza
• Do not know yet, I'll decide as last-minute

Results →

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Popularity: 5%

( 1 votes; media: 5.00 its 5)

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The Cinque Terre on Instagr.am: a photo-filter app for iPhone

I think that after having had a look at this beautiful Photogallery, our readers who have an Iphone can not resist the temptation to install Instagr.am on your phone.

Instagr.am is free app that lets you create special effects worthy of a professional photographer with a single click and share photos in real time.

We conducted research on Twitter collecting the most interesting photos taken by users to Cinque Terre

Curiosity: read the faq site, developers tell us about the origins of the name comes from a mix of “moment” (Polaroid snapshots that we all remember with sadness, only machines that gave time, the possibility today taken for granted, immediately see the pictures) and “telegram” (the telegram, that reaches the recipient in a very short time even that now passed from the communications real time email or social networks).

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Popularity: 7%

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Rick Steves and the “disarray” of 5 Earth 2010-2011

Everyone in the Cinque Terre Should Be grateful to Mr.. Rick Steves, since we all know what was (and still is!) the impact of his enthusiastic descriptions on the touristic flow on the 5 Earth in the last 15 years.
Here are some links to corroborate (there’s no need of course but the links are informative to our readers..) this theory:

• http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/cinqueterre.htm
• http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/cinqueterre_fiatfree.htm
• http://www.ricksteves.com/tms/article.cfm?id=161&extras=false

And from the pages of our blog we already wished to tribute the right credit to Mr. Steves: http://www.cinqueterre.com/blog/rick-steves-acros-the-cinque-terre

Unfortunately our impression (you can feel it reading this last linked article) of a bad administration of the National Park of 5 Terre and of the municipality of Riomaggiore were true and on Sept. 28th 2010 the entire management was arrested,  accused of several serious crimes (corruption, threats, conspiracy to fraud against the state,..).
What had appeared for a decade a shining model of sustainable progress and tourism,  a modern vision of  public management, a genial creation of prosperity showed its miserable failure. The truth, cleverly concealed behind a fake glitter of gold,  was finally clear to everybody.

What to do now?

-) Cinque Terre will survive without Bonanini; they were here well before him and they will remain well after him.
-) We need a better government (not an hard stuff if you’ve in mind Mr. Berlusconi ahahahah I start laughing before you do..) and fortunately we have a new one in Riomaggiore. Now we need everybody to help her in the difficul re-construction.
-) WE NEED ALL OF YOU FOLKS.. we’ll do our best to give people the best hospitality we can.
-) We need Mr. Rick Steves to still spend his beautiful words for us, if he still believe that we deserve them…and it seems so..

Quoting Rick Steves from his FB note: http://www.facebook.com/notes/rick-steves/the-cinque-terre-national-parkin-disarray/10150183680359702

The park was run by its president, Franco Bonanini, a powerful man — nicknamed “The Pharaoh” for his grandiose visions. In a personal visit a couple years ago, he conned me into thinking he really was a visionary committed to the region and its precious park.

But Bonanini created a medieval-style system of favorites and enemies, with the help of Riomaggiore’s mayor, and others. Starting and stopping construction projects, funneling money here and there, and extorting people to preserve their power, this cabal derailed the park vision. In 2011 they were removed from power, but the damage had been done. The good ideas of the park (info offices, baggage deposits, mountain-bike opportunities, little museums, elevators for the infirm, and even maintenance of the trails) have been scuttled.

Today, Bonanini is out of power, and the park’s run by a man from the central government whose vision for a fix, it seems, is to run the park as a business. But a park is a park, not a business.

What does all this mean to the visitor? Not much. The Cinque Terre is still my favorite stretch of Mediterranean coastline. The people are endearing. The food, culture, and nature are uniquely enjoyable. I just thrill at the thought of people working together for a grand and noble vision that helps a community’s economy by wisely treating a park as a park, rather than making a park a business. And so far, the Cinque Terre has failed in That Regard.

Popularity: 4%

( 3 votes; media: 4.33 its 5)

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Valentine's Day in the Cinque Terre

Some of the most attractive offers to spend the weekend of S. To Valentino 5 Earth:

WEEKEND OFFER:

“Arbaspaa” Tour Organizer:

Valentine's Day in the Cinque Terre..
Think of a gift to surprise your partner on Valentine's Day ?
For you a romantic weekend in the beautiful Cinque Terre.

Our offer :

- night in double room in one of the Cinque Terre, in structures selazionate
- Dinner by candlelight in a restaurant in the Cinque Terre, with a menu of seafood.
The bed can be extended according to your needs.
Euro price per pair 150,00.
All the details
https://www.arbaspaa.com/dettaglio_tour.aspx?IDT=42
For reservations and more information please contact us at info@arbaspaa.com or 0187 760083 (skype : italia.fantastica )

Popularity: 7%

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Video Series: Rick Steves in 5 Earth

Last video of the serie…while visiting the Cinque Terre, Rick Steves talks about the ancient castles which were used to defend the villages from pirates attacks. Those days are gone and now… the only attacks are by tourists and they’re actually very welcome…

Popularity: 6%

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Another Rick Steves' video about the Cinque Terre

Here’s another video by Rick Steves showing details about Riomaggiore and Monterosso.

As usual he points the attention on few basic and useful infos for tourists givin an exact overview of what one can expect visiting the Cinque Terre

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Popularity: 8%

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The Five Sails to Legambiente 5 Earth

Again in 2010 the municipalities of Cinque Terre have achieved the highest recognition by Legambiente:of the Five Sails Blue Guide 2010.

"Once again we confirm the Cinque Terre at the top of our charts - said Sebastian Venneri, vice president and head of Legambiente sea. – The Park has established a virtuous equilibrium between economic development linked to local and typical products of the earth and environmental protection. The gradual removal of architectural barriers through lifts and ramps, makes it accessible to disabled people all the way to Love Street with a fascinating walk that connects the fishing villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola. I continue the revitalization of local production, like wine, line or the new range of food ecobiocosmesi, through a chain of Km 0, based on the use of local raw materials. "

… Read more→

Popularity: 3%

( 1 votes; media: 5.00 its 5)

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The Cinque Terre on CNN – Video

Enjoy the beauty of the Cinque Terre in this video produced by CNN (Speaker: Catherine Callaway)

Popularity: 3%

( 1 votes; media: 5.00 its 5)

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