Cinque Terra to Santa Margherita

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Last breakfast on our roof top terrace before checking out and heading to the train station. We were scheduled to get the train at 9:50 to Levanto, where would change for a train to Santa Margherita.

Of course our train arrived a few minutes late which meant we need to move quickly at Levanto to ensure we got our connection. We did well and had no problems getting to Santa Margherita. We arrived around 11:10 so decided we would walk the 15 minutes to the hotel, rather than get a taxi. It was actually a very pleasant walk as it was mostly flat, except for the downhill portion coming out of the train station area. The walk took us along the boardwalk of the marina and straight away Janine and I knew we were going to love this town.

We arrived at the hotel too early to check-in but the staff were so lovely. They gave us coffee and tea and we sat in their beautiful garden while we cooled down from our walk. They then gave us a room to leave our bags in and gave us some beach towels so we changed into bathers and decided we would head towards Portofino but stop at a beach the staff recommended along the way.

Janine walked up to il Giardino di Villa Durazzo as she wanted to check out this beautiful villa and it's gardens. I decided to head to Parragi beach and we agreed to meet there. The walk to Portofino, stopping at Parragi beach, is along the coastline and it gave me such fabulous views back over Santa Margherita as well as all the Italian Riviera.

Parragi is a popular spot so I knew it was going to be tricky to find myself a place in the beach. Most of the beach space is "private" which means you have to pay but there was one, small strip that was public - guess which beach was the most packed! After struggling to find a spot I could sit, I decided to ask the man at the beach next to me how much would it cost to sit there. His English wasn't so good so at first I thought he said €15 but then he drew €50 in the sand! I asked him if that was for two sunlonges and an umbrella (which cost €20 in Monterosso) and he advised no, that was just for one! I tried the beach on the other side of me bit that was €35 for one so I decided I needed to be more Italian and just squeeze myself into a spot. Ohmygoodness - the Italians mist be beside themselves when they come to Australia and can sit on the beach and not be touching another person! Here, it doesn't matter.

By this time I got a message from Janine saying the Villa was shut for siesta so she wasn't that far behind me. I waited for her to arrive before going for a swim, in case she couldn't find me. Once she arrived we decided to jump straight in, especially as there really wasn't much space for her to sit! Ah, it was so lovely and refreshing and we stayed in the water for quite a while.

We were both getting hungry by now so decided we would have lunch at Parragi. We managed to get a table overlooking the beach and sat back to enjoy the people watching. I had mussels and clams that had been steamed in white wine and garlic and Janine had Salmon with caprese salad.

After lunch we walked for about another 30 minutes and the arrived at Portofino. Wow, just wow. What a town! As lovely as it is, we both agreed it was just as well we didn't stay here. There were two reasons - 1. we would have had trouble dragging our bags up to accommodation here and 2. it would have been very expensive to stay, eat and drink! What an amazing ritzy town. Definitely a place for the rich and famous.

The lady at our hotel recommended a wine bar so we headed in the direction she had marked on our maps. We found the bar (Winter Rose) quite easily and managed to grab the last available table on the waterfront. The lady that owns and runs it was so lovely. We asked if she had a Prosecco which she didn't, but she recommended a champagne from France which we noticed was the cheapest by the glass at €15. It was a really lovely champagne and then she bought out a platter of amazing anit-pasta which we weren't sure whether we would end up paying for but by this time we just shrugged our shoulders and decided to enjoy the whole experience. We were quite happy to pretend we were rich (if not famous).

We wandered around some more after our drink and then decided to get the 5pm ferry back to Santa Margherita. Once again, a lovely way to travel that enables you to take in the whole scene.

We walked around for a while as Janine was trying to locate a particular bank and we noticed the World Cup final was on. The crowd rose in cheer when France kicked the first goal bit then not too long later, there was an equally loud cheer when Croatia scored. We soaked up the atmosphere for a while and then decided to head to the hotel to check in and watch the rest of the game from our hotel, with a glass of red wine. Fantastic game with so many goals scored but in the end France were the victors and it was over for another 4 years.

When we checked-in, the gentleman advised us that they had upgraded us to a better room, so we were excited about that! We had a nice big room and we had our own balcony.

After the game we both wanted to head to the rooftop to have a spa. I went downstairs to get fresh towels and the lady informed me they shut the spa at 8pm - and it was 7:40 now! She gave me two robes and I rushed back upstairs and advised Janine we needed to be quick to make sure we fit the spa in before it closed. Armed with a glass of wine each we made it with 10 minutes to spare! This hotel is amazing. It's a small boutique family run hotel and I would highly recommended it - even if just for the view from the spa! Albergo Minerva (Albergo means hotel).

When the man came to close up he told us not to rush so we enjoyed it all for a little longer. We then headed downstairs and showered and were on our way out the door around 9pm for dinner.

The man at our hotel had recommended we try Trattoria Santa Lucía, so this is where we headed
it was a really good place - Janine had fish with olives, potato and pinenuts and I had pasta with shrimp and zucchini. The waiter was a real entertainer so it was a fun night. After dinner we went for a walk along the marina on our way back to the hotel. We decided to sit on our balcony and have a last glass of red wine.

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