Family Blog:

Wow!! We LOVE the Cinque Terre! This is our (Chris and Mo’s) second visit to this area and the last time we went we drove to one town and stayed only in that town for a short time. This time, we stayed overnight in La Spezia (about 6 hours in total from Rome), and then planned to explore all 5 towns of the Cinque Terre the next day by train and by foot. There are hiking trails between each ‘village’ and 2 of us wanted to do the trails (Can you guess who?). It was a very last minute change in plans as we had hoped to see our friend, Rino Corvi in Piacenza for 2 days. After an accommodation fell through, we looked at the forecast for the Riviera and realized it would be a great opportunity to be by the sea for two days!

So, we hopped on the train and got off first in Vernazza because Greg and I decided to hike the 2 hour trail between Vernazza and Monterosso. Both cities are beautiful so wanted to spend the main part of the nice weather between the two. The train from La Spezia to Vernazza only took about 20 minutes, and we all loved exploring the town and eating lunch by the harbour. Afterwards, Chris and Bri waved Greg and I off on our trail adventure and they had 2 hours together before meeting up with us again in Monterosso. Words cannot describe the beauty we saw from that hike and our pictures didn’t capture it. What an amazing 2 hours and the weather was perfect! As we were descending about 500 very steep steps near the end of our hike there was a farmer in his vineyards selling glasses of wine to hikers. We stopped on the stairs to chat with him and have a glass. It was just such a surprise to see him there in a little hut on the edge of such an incline!

We met up with Bri and Chris shortly after that and headed to the beach there to have a swim. Actually, Greg was the only one brave enough for the chilly Mediterranean, but it was great weather for all of us to enjoy the beach. We continued our day by touring to the other 3 towns by train and foot, watching the sun set into the ocean and having a nice dinner outdoors (as we did every night on this vacation). We got back to La Spezia about 9pm and repacked our backpacks for the next day in Portovenere which is a charming city that you can reach in 30 minutes by ferry or bus from La Spezia.

The ferry to Portovenere (today) was under bright blue skies and it was hot enough for shorts and t-shirts on the deck of the ferry.  We couldn’t believe the beauty of this city when we arrived 30 minutes later. Again, we were sucked in by the history and character of this quaint village town. The locals farm grapes and fish for a living outside of the tourism business and there is such a peaceful, ancient feel to these similar towns.  Anyway, we visited the 2 churches there and the ruins of Castle Doria at the peak of the town. This fortification is still intact in parts and offers great views of the Mediterranean and harbour. It was a fascinating day in Portovenere and after a late afternoon gelato we took a bus back to La Spezia and jumped in the car to head to Milano.

We are now in Milano packed and ready for our flight in the morning. We checked in online just now and will take the shuttle in the morning about 2 hours before departure. It is a small airport and we are already checked in, so no rushing necessary tomorrow.  We will be home in Paris by 3:00pm our time.