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Porto Venere
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After saying goodbye to Patrick, Todd, and Bologna, we headed out on our own. Our next primary objective was Cinque Terre on the northwest coast, but, based on glowing recommendations from Patrick, we decided to stop by Porto Venere ... which led to spending a night in neighboring La Spezia. We had a straight forward trip ... including a cushy high-speed train (300 km/hr = 170 mph) and seamless transfer between trains. The route went through Pisa (we caught a very quick glimpse of the top of the leaning tower), through some nice countryside, and by some pretty good looking mountains.
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Nice mountain view from the train
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La Spezia isn't really known as a destination, though we found it nice enough. It's a major port city, with a main base for the Italian Navy, and a significant amount of commercial boats. There also seemed to be a non-trivial number of super-yachts. One of its main calling-cards, though, is as a jumping-off point for visiting Cinque Terra, since the train that services those towns goes through La Spezia, and since the lodging is significantly cheaper. We arrived late afternoon, had time for a nice dinner, a walk around the town and harbor, and some cannoli and gelato (big surprise, I know).
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Evening Stroll, La Spezia
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Yachts of the Wealthy
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The following morning, we stashed our roller bags at the hotel, caught a (packed) early morning public bus down the coast to Porto Venere, and spent half a day checking out the lovely seaside town, castle and church. Built on a hillside, and quite stunning. Lots of views, narrow streets, and places to hang in the sun. Fortunately, we arrived fairly early, so were able to explore ahead of the crowds that just kept coming and coming ... by boat, bus, and autos. As it turned out, it was the Monday before Liberation Day (a national holiday), and Italians never miss a chance for a 4-day weekend! To get back to La Spezia, we took a tour boat back up the coast. A very nice visit, that lived up to the hype!
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Porto Venere
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Rugged Coastline
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Humble church interior
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Spectacular church location
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Ancient Door Hinge
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Commanding View from the Castle
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Activities
Random Ideas and "Insights"
- Some mountains we saw from the train appeared to have some snow on them. After we passed near a marble "factory" (all shapes and sizes), a closer look at the mountains revealed that the white areas were actually open gashes where the marble was being extracted. There's a big need for marble to maintain and restore all those old buildings!
Random Scenes
- As we waited for our tour boat for the return trip to La Spezia, the crowds just got thicker and thicker. When boarding actually started, it was quite the crushing scene, and it was about all we could do to stay near each other. Once on board, it was no problem, fortunately.
- We visited the cemetery in Porto Venere. It was quite interesting, in that (a) almost all graves were vaults, presumable due to the lack of land; and (b) the vaults all had pictures of the deceased, which really gave each a sense of humanity ... not just a name and a date.
Sleeps
- Hotel Firenze e Continentale in La Spezia
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