Cinque Terre

After a small breakfast at a cafe in the city square, we went to the train station and got a €12 day pass for Cinque Terre National Park, which included access to all walking trails, busses, trains, and wifi access. We decided to take the train to the furthest of the five villages, Monterosso, and work our way back.

 

Monterosso is the only village of the five to have a proper sand beach, so we grabbed a drink and found a spot along the water to enjoy the view of the ocean and surrounding landscape. 

It was another hot day, so we didn't last longer than an hour in the sun. There were a ton of little shops and street vendors to check out, and we found a great little seafood restaurant with a sampler platter that never seemed to end. 

We had a bit of time before our train to the next village, so we found a little tiki bar along the beach. Ashleigh couldn't resist a bucket of strawberry daiquiri. 

The next village was Vernazza, which was full of colorful buildings packed together along the hillside. 

We found an umbrella covered restaurant right beside the water, and shared a delicious pizza. Most of the men here wear speedos, so Ashleigh thought it would be a good idea for me to take a picture of one of them. It turned out to be a topless woman. Oops. 

Our third and final stop of the day was Riomaggiore, the southernmost village of Cinque Terre. It's a steep climb if you want to wind you way through the main drag of this village, so we celebrated with a Corona for the walk back down to the water. 

Like Vernazza, this village also had a mosaic of colorful buildings that packed the hillside. 

It was hard to leave Cinque Terre, but we wanted to get home to get ready for a night on the town. 

Back in La Spezia that evening, we walked down the main strip to the waterfront, where there was plenty of activity. This weekend there is some kind of dragonboat festival going on, so there was a bit of a carnival atmosphere along the boardwalk. I think we're getting used to the idea of walking around with a drink in hand, wherever we go. By the end of the night, one of servers along the boardwalk knew our order before we even had to ask. 

We took a ride on the "carrousella", the ferris wheel that overlooked the harbour. 

Afterwards, we made our way towards the music. "Houba" was up on stage, which was a band comprised mainly of drums and other percussion instruments. Their lead singer sometimes used an electric guitar, and usually just screamed into the microphone, but they were well choreographed and had a great energy about them. 

We had intentions of heading back to our room, but on the way we stumbled upon Boss, an outdoor bar that features a live music lineup all summer long. What we experienced at Boss was something neither of us have ever or likely ever will see again. The band on stage was In Vino Veritas (translation: in wine, there is truth). They classify themselves as "medieval folk", which we understood immediately, as we didn't recognize any of their instruments. They had a fire dancer in front of the stage for most of the performance and wore animal masks and pointed shoes. It was certainly unique. 

I really enjoyed the whole performance for it's originality and energy, but Ashleigh didn't quite feel the same way. It's a bit of a heated debate at the moment. Either way, the crowd loved them and it felt as if we had been transported back to a music festival in the 17th century. It was a great way to cap off an amazing time in Italy. 

Tomorrow is another day of traveling as we make our way to the French Alps. We'll board a train for Oulx, a small town near the French-Italian border. Then, we take a bus across the border from Oulx to Briancon, where we'll be picked up by Nathalie's parents, who will bring us to Puy Saint Vincent, where they have a chalet in the French Alps. It should be a great way to finish off our time in Europe. 

We aren't sure if we'll have Internet access while we're there, so any updates may be limited. 

La Spezia

La Spezia almost didn't happen today, as it was a mad dash to the train station. We gave ourselves an hour to get from our accommodations to the station, but it was barely enough time, as we hopped onto the train literally seconds before the door closed. A combination of missing the metro that only comes every 10 minutes, slippery new sandals, 40°C weather, and not knowing which platform we were supposed to be at, all contributed to the near disaster. I'm sure not too many people are surprised by this. 

However, we did make the train and we are in La Spezia, and it's been great so far. We are staying at a pretty modern B&B, which is only a 5 minute walk from the train station, and about the same distance away from the gulf. 

The city centre is made up of mainly pedestrian-only streets, that are lined with a combination of local shops and brand name stores, as well as a ton of interesting restaurants. 

We spent some time just walking through the streets, taking in some of the local culture and scenery. While there are still tourists here, it's not nearly the same as Paris. The people seem to be a bit more relaxed. 

For dinner we went to Come Te, a restaurant that came recommended from the owner of the B&B. It was a 3-course meal with about 5 options for each course. Everything was homemade here, right down to the pasta noodles. While I can't remember how to spell or pronounce exactly what we ate, Ashleigh started with a pasta dish with pesto, followed by a salad with beef carpaccio, and chocolate cake for dessert. I had a pasta dish with tomatoes and clams, stuffed anchovies, and a caramel creme dessert. We love eating at these genuine Italian restaurants. Everything is delicious and we certainly never go home feeling like we could eat more. 

The restaurant was uphill from where we are staying, so fortunately we were able to roll home. ;)

After the six hour train ride today, we are both pretty tired, and are therefore calling it an early night. Tomorrow we plan on visiting Cinque Terre, and checking out some of the La Spezia nightlife, which we hear is pretty good. 

Buon riposo!

  

 

 

Capri

This morning, we braved a small Italian grocery store to pick up a few things for breakfast and for tomorrow's train ride. While they speak about as much English as we speak Italian, they were extremely friendly, and offered us samples of some of their cheese and prosciutto. There wasn't a fresh piece of fruit or vegetable at all. I guess you'd have to go to a local market for something like that. We managed to find some yogurt and granola bars for breakfast and some bread, meats, cheeses, and a bottle of sparkling wine (€5!) for later that evening.

Around noon, we walked 10 minutes to the pier to take a ferry to the island of Capri. It was a pretty packed boat, and the seas were pretty choppy both to and from the island. As I type, I still feel as if I'm rocking up and down with the waves. 

After the 45 minute trip, we arrived. I now know why this was my Grandpa Ames' favourite place in the whole world. From the moment we stepped off the boat, we were awestruck by the beauty of the island. 

Along the marina, there are several boat tour companies that offer trips around the island. We rolled the dice and chose one, and we weren't disappointed. 

We visited several of the grottos, small sea caves that you can swim in, or boat into if the tide is right. Unfortunately, it was too choppy to enter the famous blue grotto, but we were still able to visit up close with some of the others. 

Purple coral lining the walls of one of the grottos

We also went through the faraglioni, rock formations just off the coast of the main island. 

 

Some of the houses on the island were pretty impressive as well. 

After the cruise, we rode on the funicular, a cable railway that travels from the marina up to the central hub of the island, where most of the shops and restaurants are. The view from top is absolutely amazing. 

We found a lunch spot with a great view overlooking the coast. 

We started with a limoncello spritzer, a strong but refreshing drink made with a shot of limoncello (a popular Italian liqueur made right on the island) and prosecco. 

For lunch, we shared a caprese salad, and had pasta made with fresh mozzerella and Capri tomatoes. So good!

After our late lunch, Ash found a shop that specializes in custom made sandals, assembled right in front of you. It was pretty impressive to watch. She finally has a pair to replace the sandals that broke last week. 

After a mild "missing backpack situation" (I left it at the restaurant, I blame the limoncello), we took the funicular back down to the marina, and caught the last ferry back to Naples.

Capri is definitely a place that needs to be seen in person to truly understand how beautiful it is. We'd love to go back someday. 

Tomorrow morning, we take a train north to La Spezia, another coastal town that is very close to Cinque Terre, five small picturesque fishing villages where we plan to spend most of our time for the next few days.  

Ciao!