AZ Travel Advisor

Cinque Terre: Beverages and Bathrooms with a 7 year old in tow

October 14, 2024

July 4, 2013

For my parents 50th wedding anniversary, we took a family trip to Tuscany and stayed in the charming walled city of Lucca. From there, we decided that a visit to Cinque Terre was in order. Getting there is an easy trip by train, consisting of three stops on the same line. But, as my sister and I learned, things can get interesting when you add a 7-year-old into the mix.

Our party started off with my parents, my sister (affectionately known as Aunt Karebear), my brother-in-law (aka Papa Bear), and our little adventurer, my 7-year-old niece (Sister Bear).

The journey began smoothly enough. But, at the second stop, my brother-in-law decided to get off the train to get a refund for some unused tickets. Cue the dramatic scene where the train starts to pull away, and we watch in slow motion as Papa Bear sprints toward us. If it was a movie, the camera would pan to me clutching my niece’s hand as my brother-in-law ultimately misses the train.

When we got to the end of the line, we camped out at the cafe in the train station in Monterosso waiting to see if Papa Bear was going to catch up. The train station had a small touristy cafe with a single stall bathroom. We were in heaven since we could smell the public bathroom around the corner a mile away. 

My niece was having a hard time waiting for her dad (who had the backpack with her bathing suit on him) with the ocean being oh.so.close. When it became evident that Papa Bear was probably not going to make it, my sister and I hatched a plan to let her wade, ostensibly up to her knees, in the ocean. Dummy aunties! Neither of us have our own kids so we were oblivious to the fact that she would NOT be able to resist the urge to swim even though she was wearing street clothes. So, there she stood…dripping wet and cold when she suddenly announced that she had to go to the bathroom.

Here is where I’d like to congratulate myself for not immediately sending her back into the ocean to pee. I’m not squishy about bodily functions but I must admit that it never even occurred to me that it was an option until my Dad suggested it. Despite the great big ocean behind us, my sister and I trucked the darling off the sand, up the stairs and back to our original cafe. For the scorecard, this was potty break number one.

And with that, we moved on to plan B. We purchased a bikini and beach towel so Sister Bear can swim again. This becomes her new outfit du-jour as her clothes would remain wet/damp all day. It is also, for the record, where my parents decide to move on by themselves leaving my sister and I on our own with our 7-year-old charge.

Once she decides she’s too cold to swim any longer, we set off to explore the little town of Monterosso. We spy a little playground right across the street from a sidewalk cafe. Score the first adult beverage for the aunties. If I recall correctly, it was noonish. It’s a respectable time for a beverage; and it’s not like we were in a bar contributing to the delinquency of our niece. We were at an outside table while she was happily playing on the monkey bars. PRO TIP: one bonus of purchasing beverages in Italy is that you get to use the facilities in the establishment; these are almost always nicer than public ones. So, we all potty in relative comfort and only minor smelliness before moving on to the next town.

Having purchased the local train pass, the three of us head to the next town with Sister Bear wrapped in her newly purchased beach towel for warmth. Verrnaza doesn’t have beaches per se, but it does have a harbor with lots of rocks suitable for scrambling on. This makes Sister Bear happy. We decide to have lunch on a lovely roof top terrace overlooking the harbor with another adult beverage. This makes the aunties happy. Potty break #3 induced a small bit of panic when Sister Bear locked herself in and then couldn’t figure out how to get out. My sister talked her thru it and we all made our way to the train to the next little town.

Corniglia would hold several little adventures. Fortunately, we ran into the grandparents who suggested we forgo walking the 350 steps up to the town in lieu of taking the little shuttle bus. We bussed up to the top where Sister Bear announced she had to pee. Lord, that child has a small bladder. I tried the old “let’s get gelato and use their bathroom routine,” but the gelato store didn’t have a public WC. They did have beer, so the aunties enjoyed another adult beverage. When we couldn’t put off the potty excursion (number 4, if you’re counting) any longer, we headed around the corner. This potty didn’t have an actual toilet…it was just a hole. So, we coached Sister Bear on how to squat and pee. A little pee may have made itself onto her bikini bottoms. Or a lot. It’s a good thing Auntie Kat is not squeamish. We washed off the bottoms as best as possible in the sink, put the soaking wet drawers back on and headed back down the hill on the little autobus.

By the fourth town, Manarola, Auntie Kat was losing steam. Sister Bear was still going strong. As a matter of fact, through the entire 14-hour day she never stopped talking and she never stopped moving. Even though she would have liked to scramble on more rocks, we didn’t have enough energy to appropriately supervise her. We all settled on visiting another squatty potty (#5), forwent the adult beverages and moved on to the last and final town.

Rio Maggiorre is by far the most touristy of the towns. We had been promising Sister Bear that we would find her a little dress as she had tired of the bikini 3 towns ago. After suitably dressing her for the ride home, we still had an hour to kill so we settled in at another sidewalk cafe (with acceptable facilities). Here we enjoyed some adult and child suitable beverages….sangria for the aunties and fizzy water for SB. Potty breaks all around, we headed for the train and started the journey home.

Once safely ensconced in our rented apartment, my sister and I enjoyed a well-deserved glass of wine. We all survived remarkably unscathed and will have fabulous stories of our grand adventure.