The 5 Lands

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Geo: 44.1097, 9.81355

The port where we dock in La Spezia is nowhere near as glamorous as Villefranche. I open the curtains to a working port full of large ship containers and tall cranes. There is a lot of clanging and banging going on but we are not hanging around the ship today so we don't mind. We have breakfast in the Windjammer before heading ashore.

La Spezia is mainly used as a port to enable people to visit Florence and Pisa. We had visited there on a previous cruise and that fact plus the 2 hour drive to get there meant we wanted to visit somewhere else. Just north of La Spezia is the world Heritage Site called Cinque Terre (pronounced chink wa terra). It means 5 Lands and is a remote part of the coastline dotted with 5 small picturesque villages that can only be reached by train or boat. They are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. There is a coastal pathway you can walk but we certainly don't have the time and energy for that. We decide to visit what is claimed to be the most picturesque of the 5, Vernazza.

We catch the shuttle bus that takes us the short distance to the entrance to the port. From there we follow the signs to the station. It is a beautiful sunny morning but a wind has picked up overnight and there is a slight chill to it as evident by all the locals wearing scarfs and jackets. We are in Ts and Shorts, they must think us crazy but 20c to us is summer. The walk was longer than anticipated and we ended walking 3km just to get to the station. We catch the 11.10 train to Levanto which is very busy but we managed to nab 2 window seats. Not that there is much to see as much of the journey is in tunnels. We stop at the first 3 towns and catch glimpses of the dramatic coastline. We alight in Vernazzo and walk down the narrow street to the picturesque harbour where the strong winds are smashing large waves against the harbour wall. It is indeed very pretty but it really only takes about 15 minutes to see everything. We take plenty of pictures before heading back up to the train and the journey back to La Spezia.

La Spezia is quite a large modern town but there don't seem to be a lot of people about. We wander through its streets whilst making our general way back to the port. We stop in a supermarket to buy some sweets to take back to work with us next week. We emerge near the marina and walk along it towards the ship. There are some very dramatic and tall mountains in the distance but the view again spoilt by the ports cranes. We hop back on the shuttle and return to Liberty.

We have a late lunch at Johnny Rockets today which is very good. Camille, our server leads her team during the customary dance routine to Donna Summer and as always we leave full having turned down dessert. The chilly wind prevents any sun bathing today but after Peter heads to the gym I find a nice little sun trap down on deck 4 where I listen to music for a hour or so.

The captain announces that we are about to leave port shortly after 7pm and that the winds would die down after midnight and the temperature in Rome will be warmer as we now start to head southwards.

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