We arrived in Genoa (Genova to the Italians) at about 10:30pm on Friday night so we grabbed a taxi to get to the hotel. It was nearly opposite the main train station so good location. Oh - it was great cuz as we landed and were taxi-ing down the runway, on the left was the port and we could see a cruiseship all lit up. The runway was literally running right next to the water. We really just showered and then crashed for the night, determined to be up and about relatively early. Saturday morning we were having breakfast at about 8:30am and as we were sitting there, enjoying the buffet brekky, a guy at the next table over asked if we were Australian. And so we found ourselves with Jamie, a lovely guy from Sydney who was backpacking around Italy and France, for the day. He had been intending to go to the Cinque Terre that day and as we were too, we all headed off together. We boarded a train at the station heading towards La Spezia, the next big town. Before La Spezia however we would get off to walk the Cinque Terre. The train ride took nearly 2 hours but it was fantastic as the train ran right along the edge of the coast, through tunnels under the mountains and then you'd come out of a tunnel and the water would be right next to the train. We passed all these cute villages on the way but didn't get off. The Cinque Terre is five fishing villages set into the cliff face and to get to each village, you can walk or take the train. We finally arrived at Monterosso, the first village. After a quick exploration of the town, we decided we'd walk to Vernazza the next village as we wanted to see the views. Now we hadn't read our guide book carefully enough as we managed to pick the longest and hardest trail to walk first. It took 2 hours to reach Vernazza. The walk was quite difficult and I was ecstatic to make it without a fall or a bump! (First time ever I think!). But we did get to see the coastline and the olive trees and vineyards as we passed. By the time we arrived in Vernazza, it was well after 2pm so we were starving. Had a lovely pasta for lunch and some red wine to congratulate ourselves on the tough walk. We decided that we would catch the train to the next village and walk the last 2 but the train was going to be 45mins so we figured we'd walk again. The first one was the hardest so we decided that this one had to be easier. And it was... but not much! And it took over 1.5 hours to do it! So we arrived in Corniglia around 4:30pm and had a quick explore. It was getting darker and with the trains taking at least half an hour to pass, it wasn't worth it to continue on to the next 2 villages. So I managed to see 3 out of the 5 which was good. We caught the train back to Genoa and it was after 7pm by the time we got back. After a quick shower, Tracey and I met up with Jamie again to go out for dinner to a restaurant down the road. It was very cute and fulfilled all Tracey's requirements of having checked table cloths. Of course, once we sat down and opened the menu, Tracey realised she'd left her italian phrasebook at the hotel so we had no idea what was on the menu. And the waiters didn't speak any english either. Sounds like all my trips away doesn't it? Jamie managed to find out what was seafood on the menu and what wasn't which left me with 3 things on the entree and main menu combined (couldn't face the thought of fish, mussels, or octopus which is the specialities in that region). Taking a chance, I manged to order a fantastic meal - an omlette with meat and vegetables in it; and a gorgeous pesto pasta. Accompanied by a nice red wine (I'm developing a taste for red now!) and a fruit flan for desert, the meal was fantastic and for all the food and wine, cheap! We then went to a local bar for a drink. After saying farewell to Jamie and exchanging email addresses (he was going onto Nice the next morning), we went to bed and slept very, very well. Sunday morning I discovered that I'd done so much walking the day before and exercised my legs so well that it hurt to walk DOWN stairs! Let alone up them! That's when you know it's bad! Tracey and I checked out of the hotel and walked down to the port area which was really quite nice. After exploring that area for a while, we then decided to do a boat cruise around the harbour which took us up into the shipping area which was huge. We didn't understand a word of the commentary but it was nice to get out on the water (even if the weather was overcast!). After that, we decided that we weren't really interested in looking at the various buildings or cathedrals in Genoa and got back on the train to head out to some of the little villages we'd passed the day before. We stopped at a few (can't remember their names now - lucky I took pictures of the signs so I'd remember when I got my photos developed!) and explored them, had lunch at our first stop and some yummy gelati. We happily passed the afternoon doing this and then at 6pm decided it was time to head back to Genoa and go out to the airport. Our plane left on time at 10:30pm and I was home and in bed just after 1:30pm. From what I did see of Genoa, there were definately sleazy areas and I'm so glad that we didn't spend a whole day there exploring it. I would have to say that this region has to be one my favourite places I've been to. It was up there with Venice and Rome. I would love to go back and spend a few more days exploring more villages. And it was just such a great weekend - great place, fun, great food and great company.