Day 17 Cinque de Terre

Up early this morning before the heat and took a train to the next village which is my favourite one - Vernazza. We walked down to the sea and marvelled at it for a while, then walked up the hill a bit for breakfast focaccia and nectarines and then back down to eat breakfast by the sea. A man was washing his boat close to us with a leaky hose connection which was useful for washing hands.

After eating we felt we had enough energy to walk up a hill to get some good pics of the lovely harbour. It was nice resting at some spots in the shade on the way and also talking to a few people on the way up. Pictures were just stunning at that time of the morning.

Then onto the train again to the next village Corniglia. We wanted to use the paid toilet at the train station but the sign was out, closed for cleaning for 5 mins. We waited more than 5 mins, but the lady on her phone swiping a wet rag occasionally over a shelf didn’t constitute cleaning so the sign stayed out. We wimped out on walking all the steps to the top with the heat and hadn’t realised there was a bus we could have caught, so then trained to the last town which is Riomaggiore. It was lovely there. The beaches were quite small and rocky but there were lots of people in the water. We asked about the ferry tickets and were told we could buy them in the boat. Hmm, after walking down all the steps to the boat, we’re told we needed to at the ticket office. So up the steps again we went, bought tickets, and then had nearly an hour to wait. But we were in the shade in front of the prime selfie taking spot so it was a great place for people watching.

The boat ride to Manorola only took 10 mins so was underwhelming, but was nice to have some views from out at sea. We had lunch there, gelato and fries… perfect lol. There were many many people around by that time with a cruise ship docked in La Spezia, disgorging many people so time to retreat back to Monterosso and our hotel. It was lovely there to strip off to our togs, wrap a towel around us, leave the key at reception and walk down to the beach were we spent quite a bit of time floating in the water again. It was a bit more choppy today but totally refreshing. Afterwards I even had a hot shower which I love to do, but have only wanted to have luke warm ones most of the time we have been away.

Then we took the train in the other direction to Levanto. This is a larger town and where I stayed on my previous visit. We walked down to the beach, visited some market shops and then the supermarket for dinner supplies before catching the train back again. Train ride was interesting with a lady from Australia regaling us with her tales of falling down the steps at her hotel, and seeking medical treatment. I think she was just happy to be talking in English to someone about her experience.

Packing time again tonight after a nice healthy dinner. We have a tiny TV and Trisha managed to get a NCIS programme to play in English which was a bit exciting.

17,305 steps and 26 degrees though it felt a lot hotter with the stairs.Leggi altro