Ciao! Today is the 30th September 2015, and I am currently on a bus heading to Milan.
Upon arriving in La Spezia, we went straight to the hotel to freshen up. On the bus ride, I learnt that La Spezia is a lot more industrial than some of the other cities we've been to; there were many ports and industrial fishing boats. La Spezia is also a lot more vibrant and colourful than, for example, Assisi. Once we were ready, we headed out to dinner at La Laterna, where we ate lasagna, sausages and roast potato, and pannacotta with chocolate sauce. It was delicious - quite possibly the best dinner so far! Mrs L also ordered coca cola for the table, except there was far too much of it! We had to pour one bottle into another so that we didn't have to carry as many bottles back to the hotel! We then returned back to have showers and go to bed.
The next day began with breakfast at Hotel Corallo: bread with salami, ham, and cheese, croissants filled with jam, and a cappuccino. It was a bit of a shock that there was no Nutella! We then went back to our rooms to prep for the day. At 8:30am, we left the hotel and walked through La Spezia to the train station. Along the way, we saw a lot of coloured chalk on the ground, which we assumed was from some kind of Colour Run. As I wrote earlier, the buildings and apartment blocks in La Spezia are very vibrant and colourful; it was absolutely gorgeous! I also saw a cafe called Tiffany, and another minestrone shop with my name on it! It was pretty cool! There was also a fountain that looked like a giant peach with a love heart inside it; it was dusted with pink chalk, so it was very pretty. When we arrived at the station, we waited for Miss and Mrs C to get the tickets - not an easy task when you're dealing with Trenitalia! We eventually boarded the train and headed through the Cinque Terre to Levanto. When we arrived, we walked straight to the beach. Although the scenery was gorgeous and the buildings were painted in some of the most vibrant colours, the actual beach itself wasn't all that exciting. The sand was brownish-black and there were lots of rocks; nothing in comparison to Australia's white sandy beaches! We then walked back to the train, which we caught to Monterosso, our first stop of the Cinque Terre ("Five Lands"). We saw the beach as soon as we hopped off the train, but this time we decided to explore the village. The multicoloured buildings and clear blue water were absolutely beautiful! We then decided to walk to the next of the Cinque Terre; I heard estimates of about 20 to 45 minutes - little did we know! We started on some kind of trek; about 30-40 minutes in, one of my friends was exhausted, so Michelle and I waited for her. We saw some hikers coming in the opposite direction and asked a question that we probably didn't want to know the answer to: "how far from here to Vernazza?" Her answer shocked us; she looked at us almost worried and somewhat shocked as she said, "About two hours, at least." We were horrified, but it was too late to turn back. So, in my ballet flats, summer dress, black tights, and mini-blazer jacket, I pushed on. We climbed up so many "stairs" - which were really just rocks haphazardly put together to loo like stairs - and saw a number of vineyards along the way. Eventually, my tights were annoying me too much, so - at the next rest stop and by Mrs L's suggestion - I slid them off. We journeyed on and had some great views of Monterosso from up high on the mountain. About halfway, I ditched my jacket as well and applied sunscreen so my shoulders wouldn't burn. We took some pictures before pushing on once more. At one point, some hiker looked at my shoes and said, "You're kidding me." As we walked off, Mrs L said, "Don't you just love it how people think others don't speak English?" Along the way, I had a number of people give me strange looks about my outfit, but I didn't care; it wasn't my fault, after all - how was I to know we'd be doing a 2-hour mountain trek? As we edged closer and closer to Vernazza, the mood lightened and we tried to keep a positive outlook - "we're nearly there!" We took a number of photos at various locations of the village as we walked on. Along the way, Mrs L decided it would be quite funny to take a picture of me in my "fabulous hiking outfit" - we decided to go one step further and she filmed me doing Danzare as I walked down a segment of the "staircase". It was very funny! Finally, we reached Vernazza, which was even more beautiful than the last villages! The buildings were so bright and colourful, and the bay was the clearest blue and dotted with vibrant fishing boats. We were absolutely exhausted, but the views were probably worth it. We then decided to have lunch. As the area is famous for its focaccia, we went to a focacceria, where I ordered a peach ice tea and a Pizza alla Tricolore con Pesto - focaccia bread with tomato sauce/paste, bocconcini cheese, and pesto; red, white and green, like the Italian flag! It was delicious! Because they'd made us walk so far, the teachers decided to shout us some gelato. We went to Gelateria Vernazza, and I ordered a medium cup with raspberry and chocolate, wild berry, and Bacio flavours. We then walked down to the beach to eat our gelati. It was probably some of the best gelato I've had on this trip! Then, Valentina and I asked if we could go down to the beach, where we put our hands in the Ligurian Sea! It was a lot of fun and we couldn't stop giggling! We then took a ton of photos before walking around to see Vernazza from a different angle. Eventually, we headed to the train station and on to the next of the Cinque Terre: Corniglia. When we arrived, we had to catch a bus from the train station to the city centre. Admittedly, Corniglia wasn't as pretty as the others; the colours were still vibrant, but it didn't have the same lively atmosphere as Vernazza. Whilst we were there, I also saw one of the local churches, which was very cute. We then caught the bus back to the train station and waited for the train to take us on to Manarola. When we arrived, we were met with the same vibrant colours as before, but Manarola was definitely much nicer than Corniglia! We walked along the side of the mountain to see the whole of Manarola, and it was magnificent! At this point, I discovered the advanced setting on my camera - Pop - which made all the colours come out much brighter. I was so annoyed that I hadn't found the setting earlier! Manarola was magnificent, and it was great to just sit and admire the view for a little while. We then walked back to the train station and caught the train to our last stop, Riomaggiore. By this time, it was sunset, and the colourful buildings against the pinkish-blue sky was an unforgettable sight! We then caught the train back to La Spezia and went straight to the restaurant, La Lanterna, for dinner. This time, we had a traditional local dish called sgabei - fried bread pockets with salami, prosciutto, ham, and cream cheese. It was delicious! I absolutely loved it - best meal [on this trip] ever! We then had tiramisu for dessert, before returning back to the hotel.
This morning began with breakfast: croissants with wild berry jam, bread with salami and cheese, strawberry yogurt, and blood orange juice. We eat a lot for breakfast as we don't eat again until lunch, which many not be until 1-2pm. We then packed our bags and hopped on the bus to Milan.
All in all, I loved the Cinque Terre, and the Monterosso-Vernazza trek was totally worth it! I'm so proud of myself that I actually did it - especially because I was so not prepared! The Cinque Terre were gorgeous, and it was incredible to see how the mountains covered in vineyards just fell straight into the pristine blue Ligurian Sea, the small fishing villages fitting right into the landscape. La Spezia was cute too, and the food at La Lanterna was delicious!
We are now on our way to Milan, so - until next time - ciao!