I spent the last two days in Liguria, which is a coastal region in the northwest of Italy. The train took us to La Spezia, which is where our hotel was. We didn’t really do anything in La Spezia; it was just a place to stay while we explored places nearby. All I can say about La Spezia is that it had some good trash cans, and there was a bubble tea place there. 

We got to La Spezia midday and got some lunch. In the evening we took a bus to Porto Venere, which is a little seaside town. This town didn’t have a beach, just a bunch of rocks, but people were sunbathing on the rocks as if it was a beach. Didn’t look comfy. 

The six people in our little tour group got in a boat that took us around the coast. There was a cool curch and some nice seaside cliffs. The water was very wavy–enough to make me feel a little queesy and I’m a nautical veteran so that’s saying something. 

We drove around to a protected area where the water was much calmer and went swimming. The water was very warm–warmer than any of the water in Sardinia. I dived off the boat a bunch of times and I think my form has improved from jumping off so many rocks/boats in Sardinia. 

We went back to shore and had dinner at a restaurant by the water. I was going to try the pesto because Serena said it was really good and I thought it would be safe to eat because it’s made with pin nuts, but the waiter said it had other nuts in it as well and I was disappointed. I ended up just getting spaghetti with red sauce because it was the only non seafood thing on the menu. After this trip, I think I’d be content never eating red sauce again. A cat walked by while we were eating and I jumped up to get a picture of it. 

As we were leaving we could see that they had turned on a bunch of string lights on the buildings, which looked really pretty. 

The next day we got up very early to do a hike in Cinque Terre, which is an area that is a national park and contains five small, former fishing villages. There’s a train from La Spezia that runs north alonth the coast and takes you through the five villages. We stopped in Vernazza, which is number four on the train ride. In town, I saw a cat and it started licking its butt when I tried to get a picture. 

All of Cinque Terre is very mountainy, and there are cool terrace gardens.

We started our hike in the early morning to try to avoid the worst of the heat but it was still so hot, and there were a lot of stairs. The view of Vernazza was beautiful though. 

It was a tough hike with the heat and stairs, but I was loving the seaside mountain views. Holly and I did most of the hike by ourselves because the others were too slow. 

Finally we reached Monterosso, which is the most northern of the villages (number 5 on the train), and we went for a much needed swim. The beaches were pretty crowded; it seems a lot of people come to Cinque Terre for the beaches. 

Micah was tired after the hike so they went back to the hotel but Holly and I stayed around and explored Monterosso. We got some focaccia for lunch (this region is well known for its focaccia) and I found some nice trash cans that I liked. Below is a picture of me properly disposing of my soda can in the bin for plastic and cans. 

We found a craft fair in town where people were selling hand made things, and there was one stand that had crochetted cactuses that I thought were absolutely adorable. I bought a little cactus magnet and will attempt to make something similar when I get home. Holly bought a notebook from a guy who makes his own paper. 

I was feeling kind of sick from all the sun and heat so we went back to La Spezia to rest for a bit, and then returned to Cinque Terre for more hiking. Holly and I had a plan to hike from Corniglia (#3) down to Manarola (#2) and then maybe to Riomaggiore (#1) so we could see all five of the villages. Not too far into our hike from Corniglia we found out that the path was closed. Serena later told us that both the paths we planned to take have been closed for a long time because of landslides. They should really update their maps. So we could see Manarola from our hike but we never got to go there. 

We climbed up a bunch of stairs to explore Corniglia and it was ok; probably the least exciting of the 5 villages. One of the only attractions of Corniglia was a church, which was also not super exciting. I guess it looked nice in the light of the sunset. 

We passed by a restaurant and I saw a cat peskering people for food. 

We were going to try to see more villages but we got to the train station right after a train came through and had to wait an hour for the next one. We just chilled at the train station and watch the sun set behind the hills of Corniglia. Upon getting back in town, Holly and I did some laundry and got gelato. By the end of the day, my phone said I had climbed 126 flights of stairs. This is a combination of the first hike, the walk up to Corniglia, and walking to and from our hotel room, which was on the fourth floor of a building with no elevator. 

The next day we took a train to Santa Margherita Ligure, which is another seaside town, and then took a bus to Portafino. Portofino is a very small but very pretty town that is known for being home to vilas owned by extremely rich people. Everything in Portofino is very expensive. 

We walked up to a church where we had a nice view of the town. I really liked all the vilas dotting the mountainside. 

I kept walking and got to a lighthouse that had a bar. Notice that I switched from we to I because Micah and Holly were too hot and tired to continue walking around. It was EXTREMELY hot. I’ve really been craving a shirly temple and haven’t been able to get one in Italy. This bar actually had a shirly temple on the menu but it was 10 euros! So disappointing. There was a statue garden that had a bunch of bright pink possoms. They looked like mearcats but Serena said they were supposed to be possoms. 

I got some overpriced gelato and then we got on a ferry that took us back to Santa Margherita. 

We had a bit of time to kill before the train we were supposed to catch so we checked out a church. The church was gorgeous and had gold paint on everything. It was also cooler in there, and I’d never been so happy to be close to jesus. 

Micah made the joke that these people had enough money to finish their dome. 

Then we got on a train to Asti and that was it for Liguria. We won’t be seeing water again until Venice, and then it will be much dirtier.