Florence Part I on Film

Hi Film Friends! It’s New Year’s Eve today! It’s gotten me in a reflective mood. So here’s a short reflection of my year. If I had to describe 2018 with one word, the word would be “Growth”. 2018 was really a year of growth. I stepped out of my comfort zone and made many friends both internationally and locally. I lost some friends along the way too but hey, that’s just life. This year I travelled to India, Thailand, Greece and Malaysia. There, I experienced many things which has opened my mind vastly and shaped my world view greatly.

I gained a lot of knowledge in the field of photography and picked up a digital camera in the final month if the year. Despite not getting into university, I managed to learn so much from mentors and friends. I grew as a person, both physically and mentally too. Challenging myself to do things I wouldn’t have imagined doing and just putting myself out there in general. That is one thing that has paid off for me.

Anyway, let’s begin this blogpost proper! Picking up from last week, we’re on board the train to Florence from Venice. Qi Xuan and I arrived slightly after lunch and didn’t have to wait long before we were checked into our hostel. We picked Academy Hostel for its location which was right next to Piazza del Duomo, the historic center of Florence. Feeling fatigued from the traveling, we decided to take a quick nap before exploring the area in our immediate vicinity and grabbing dinner.

Just a quiet moment between friends on the Ponte Santa Trinita.

The next day we woke up at around 5 am to catch the first train to La Spezia where we caught another train to Cinque Terre, a set of five coastal villages comprising Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We took the train all the way to Monterosso al Mare, the furthest village on the railway and slowly made our way back to La Spezia throughout the day. it was around 10 am when we arrived in Monterosso al Mare and the place was already packed with tourists and beach goers.

I really appreciated the change in pace and environment as Cinque Terre felt more laid back and chill. The sun was also a nice addition back into our daily lives. This was actually the only place I sweated in Europe. Monterosso al Mare was more of a resort town and you can see that from the nice manicured beaches and many resorts around. Monterosso al Mare has the longest beach in Cinque Terre so if the beaches are what you’re looking for, Monterosso al Mare is your village.

Just basking in the sun and being in the moment.

Colours of Cinque Terre! They always choose the best colours.

After exploring Monterosso al Mare, we decide to take the hiking trail that connected the five villages to the fishing village of Vernazza. On paper, the hike seemed easy. It was a 3.3 km trail that was supposed to take an hour to complete. But the truth of the matter was that the trail was insanely tiring, requiring us to climb up and down rocks, to navigate who to go first between fellow hikers going the opposite direction. We had to stop a few times to catch our breath and we took the chance to enjoy the views that the coast of the Italian Riviera offered.

The trail was littered with lemon tree plantations, vineyards and olive plantations, the main agricultural crops of Cinque Terre. Around the halfway mark of the hike, there was an old man selling orange juice which he squeezes freshly with his portable blender. What a nice surprise for us, who’s water ran out around 5 mins into the hike. The orange juice was truly a heaven sent but it did cost us €2 for a tiny cup.

3.3 km and 2 hours later, we finally saw a hint of civilisation. We arrived in Vernazza finally! By this time, we were tired, sweaty and famished. The first order of business was to get some food into our bellies. Lucky for us, Vernazza was filled with amazing small eateries serving the best pizzas and Limoncello, a sweet lemon flavoured liqueur so we grabbed some and headed to the rocks to have lunch by the sea as they do. It was one of the most simple and satisfying meals I’ve had throughout the trip.

We didn’t have much time to explore Vernazza so we just checked out the main street and took the train to the next village of Corniglia.

Arriving into Corniglia’s train station, I was suddenly reminded of a scene. One familiar to Hayao Miyazaki fans. Corniglia’s train station looked like the one in Spirited Away. The one in the middle of the sea, even though Corniglia’s station was not on the water. From the platform, it gave the illusion that it did.

One thing that sets apart Corniglia from the other Cinque Terre villages is that it is not directly adjacent to the sea. Instead, it is set on the top of a cliff about 100 metres high, surrounded on three sides by vineyards and terraces, the fourth side descends steeply to the sea. To reach Corniglia, Qi Xuan and I had to climb the Lardarina, a long flight of steps consisting 33 flights with 382 steps. Yup. We had a good work out that day.

The Lardarina, the stairway leading into Corniglia.

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Kodak Colorplus 200. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

Once in Corniglia, we took our time covering the streets and experience local life. Corniglia seemed to have less tourists than the rest of the villages. Maybe due to the lack of a beach. But that was an advantage for us as we nearly had the whole village to ourselves.

Doesn’t this remind you of Spirited Away?

We decided to skip Manarola first and explore Riomaggiore first as I wanted to watch the sunset against Manarola. Off to Riomaggiore we went. At this point, I was a little sad that we didn’t have enough time in Cinque Terre. Riomaggiore looked amazing! Colourful coastal Italian architecture set against dramatic cliffs. Oh how I wished I had more time to admire them.

So we did a super condensed tour of Riomaggiore which consisted of a walk through the main street and back to the station. I definitely will be back to explore more of this quaint Italian village. With that, we took the train back to Manarola for sunset.

Families and couples enjoying the golden hour.

We barely made it to the sunset point in Manarola and man did all the running pay off. To see the final rays of the day hit the faintly coloured walls of Manarola, creating a stunning picture was a perfect end to the day exploring Cinque Terre. Again, it was regrettable that we did not have enough time to explore the last two villages properly. So to anybody wanting to pay Cinque Terre a visit, it would be best to set aside some time to experience each village fully. Or if you only have time to visit two villages, I would recommend Manarola and Vernazza. They’re the most breathtaking and also big enough to explore for the whole day.

After the lights of Manarola have come on.

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Fuji Pro 400H. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

This brings me to the end of the last post of 2018. I have been wanting to document my travels for awhile besides just taking photos and I’m glad I started writing about them here. To the people who have been reading the blogposts so far, thank you for the support and I hope you enjoyed looking through them as I have enjoyed producing them for you.

As usual, any feedback on how to bring you guys better content is always appreciated. Till next year, keep shooting film friends!