Half way Point - Cinque Terre Towns by train not boat

 Saturday  

17 August 

Day 48

48 to go

We’ve made it to the half way point of our holiday. It is hard to believe, having seen and done so much already and we still have so much more to do.

Today we were looking forward to our boat trip, visiting the five towns that make up the Cinque Terre. I managed to sleep in until 8.45am, getting up and ready. Yesterday the weather forecast said sunny, but when we looked outside it was grey and soon after, rolling thunder could be heard. 

We made our way to the departure point. When we got to the sea, the wind was blowing, lightning was flashing and the sea was rolling, soon after the rain began. We weren’t keen to be on the water in these conditions and not long after I got a message to say the tour had been cancelled. Just as well, but a shame, as we were really looking forward to it. 

We decided to wait for the rain to subside, but it didn’t really let up, so we began our walk back in the rain. Those wanting to be on the beach, huddled under pavilions, looking at us like we were mad to be walking in it. 

We stopped for some lunch supplies and by the time we came out, the rain had stopped and we returned to the apartment for 11am. We spent the next couple of hours doing the washing and deciding what to do for the rest of the day. 

In the end, we ate our lunch and then decided to catch a 1.35pm train to Vernazza. A one way ticket cost us ten euro! It was only a 10 minute trip. We also bought our tickets for our forward travel to Portofino on Monday. 

The train stopped first in Monterosso, where our quiet carriage became very full. I thought we had suddenly made a detour to Calcutta. We then put up with the crowd and noise, until we reached the next stop, where we would get off, Vernazza. 

This was a tourist driven spot, England’s Polperro on Steroirds. The town entrance is very narrow and as such everyone is funnelled down the cobble street towards the harbour. This area was crawling with tourists, it made it difficult to take everything in. The beach area was very small and like ours, dark, coarse sand which soon becomes pebbles. They are not inviting beaches. 

We did a walk around the harbour area and then attempted to get to a higher vantage point. We could see where we wanted to be, but just couldn’t get to it. 

We soon tired of the hustle, so made for the station. We had 30min to wait, so grabbed a soft drink and continued to walk up the hill away from the crowd. You would have to love walking hills to live here. 

We returned to the station, worked out the platform we needed and then boarded the 2.45pm train for Monterosso. Given we haven’t seen tickets being checked on any of our train travel, we elected to skip the payment for our return. I did notice a man checking, so we moved from our seat to the door and alighted at Monterosso without an issue. 

This town was unlike Vernazza, there was no funnelling, the town was spread north to south along the coast, so it was far easier to navigate. We walked from one end to the other, admiring the view over the beach. Ill Gigante, a 14m statue, stands at the northern end of Fegina Beach. It was erected in 1910, to represent Neptune, but much of it is now missing. 

Facing south, you enjoyed a view of the four other Cinque Terre towns; Vernazza, Coniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. 

Happy with our visit, we returned to the train, jumped on board again without paying, and returned to Levanto and our room for 4pm. It was like a different day now. It was warm and sunny, so we decided get our selves refreshed and then go to the beach for a swim. 

The public beach closest is at the mouth of the drainage canal and where dogs are allowed. It is pretty rubbish. We attempted to have a dip, but the rocks were too unpleasant. We have been softened by our beautiful sandy beaches. Shortly after we returned to the room.

We got changed and went out for the early evening. We did a walk to the striped church and through streets we hadn’t seen, before stopping at Mad Max for an aperitif. After this we went in search of dinner. As we were out early, most of the restaurants were not yet open for dinner trade. We eventually decided on the crepe house we had passed numerous times, having pasta and the crepe dessert. Paul also snuck in a tiramisu. 

Pushing 8pm, we made our way back, happy to have an earlier evening.