Parco Salvador Allende

This morning we docked at La Spezia and walked to the train station to catch our train to visit 3 villages. It was a very easy half hour walk and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The walk gave me an opportunity to walk off the black pudding I had for breakfast. What a treat it was, something I haven't had for years. 

There are 5 villages located on the coastline which are collectively known as ‘Cinque Terre’. A short train ride from La Spezia gets you there. The first village we visited was Vernazza. It is an old fishing village with a very small harbour. Very quaint and picturesque but overflowing with tourists. Next was Monterosso al Mare. Much bigger and even more tourists. The beaches here are private in the main and for a daily fee you have your own changing box, sun lounges and umbrella. Not sure what the price is though. 

We had lunch and shopped for a while. Jo bought a local liqueur she loves, Limonchilos. From memory, the last time she had it was when we were here in Italy 2 years ago.
Then it was off to the third and last stop off, Riomaggiore another quaint historical fishing village. 

We teamed with a slightly younger couple from another tour ship. She was German and he Irish. Both couples rued that we weren't on the same cruise ship as we really hit it off.
Once back in our cabin we proceeded to freshen up before dinner. The staff are highly efficient and tidy up after us even though we leave our cabin tidy. I don't think they understand our system as everything is in a different place when we come home from dinner.

We generally go to the cabaret show each night and have thoroughly enjoying them.Read more