Cinque Terre

We left the hotel early so we could catch the 8.15am train to Monterosso al Mare before the crowds arrived. We went to the Focaccia bakeries to get an early warm slice of freshly baked local delicacy.
We then went for a swim before wandering through the old city and then caught a train to Vernazza. I climbed up high to get a high vantage point over the picturesque city on the high hills of the coast.
We traveled again by train to Manarolo and it was in the i in which we spent a couple of hours swimming in the most amazing azure waters from which the steep mountains fell precipitously into the Mediterranean from a huge height, mountains on which houses are stacked up on each other and are made more beautiful by the iconic wall colours and contrasting shutters on the windows.
The last village we visited was Riomaggiore and we swam in two places in this village. We stayed until the sun was sinking into the west and then we boarded the train with wet swimmers to travel back to La Spezia, where, after a shower and a change of clothes, we ventured forth to enjoy dinner for the last night in amongst the myriad of pizza and pasta restaurants that line the cobbled streets.
Geoff York took the record for the most swims of the day. He swam in seven separate beach locations in the villages we visited during an amazing day. Weather perfect, scenery even better, swimming in the aquamarine water of the Mediterranean was the best.Read more