Italy Hotel Club Firenze E Continentale La Spezia

... in the morning. Around every corner there was yet another stunning view of the cliffs and the crashing waves. The walls of the tunnel along the walk was covered in graffiti all with a love theme. I looked everywhere for a 'Ben' but couldn't find one. I didn't come prepared either, no sharpie on hand. People who walk the trails also bring or buy locks and leave them along the trail which was very neat to see. The rain was still lurking at this point so we grabbed lunch in ...

... again realize how incredibley lucky I am to be here right here and now and experiencing this amazing view.<br><br>Anyways...enough of my fodder.<br>I arrived, sat down in my hostel appartment and thought about my plan. Cinque Terra means The 5 Lands, as there are 5 small villages built into the cliff face and it is beautiful, with 14 walking trails linking them as there are no cars allowed into 4 of these towns. I ...

... off tourists to 4 out of the 5 towns (the town of Corniglia is too high off the dock with cliffs too steep and thus appears untouched by time). <br><br>We enjoyed the salty Mediterranean and photo opportunities from boat, and got off at the southernmost village, Riomaggiore. There, we enjoyed a leisurely trek along the coast on the famous Via dell' Amore (Lovers' Lane ...

<br> Tuscan Riviera Portovenere<br> Had seen it on Getaway and looked very pretty.. Found a hotel with sea views and have spent 2 nights here resting , climbing around local castles&#8230; eating sleeping and watching the boats go in and out&#8230; not much English here but we are not hungry or thirsty so all going well&#8230;.<br> Tomorrow we are off to the South of France.. 3 nights planned in Nice.. Really looking forward to it but have loved Italy&#8230;

... staying in Torano a small town, perched in the mountains where marble is mined. <br><br>This will now be our home for the next couple of months. <br><br>As we aren't technically travelling at the moment we are temporarily suspending our blog, but will start up another blog about our lives in Tuscany. <br><br>Happy reading for now, and we hope you enjoy the winter or summer where ever you are. <br>

... walk between.<br> Cinque Terra is beautiful, La Spezia and our hotel were rubbish. I think this is possibly our worst hotel so far, stuck in a dodgy area with all night street noise and no air conditioning. I hated it and so did everyone else. Again, no internet either. Nevermind.<br> Once we were checked in we had a bit of time before dinner so Witek and I went for a wander through the main street and down to the marina. Most shops were closed since it was a Sunday so that was a ...

... Melbourne too and I just thought I must look like a person who knows where they are going but it must be something else. I was right about the buses not running very often - it was two hours until the next one, but that did give me time to go to both a tourist office for La Spezia and one for the Cinque Terra and also walk around the lovely seaside city. Omg, I cannot describe how beautiful the buildings and streetscape is (and unfortunately I didn't take pictures ...

... band playing Arabian and African music. The next morning, since the trains were on strike, the only way to get to Cinque Terre was by boat. We walked to the dock only to find out that boats weren't running to our destination since the waters were too rough. The boats were, however, running to a closer destination called Porto Venere, and we decided to check it out. It was then that we encountered our second surprise: the glory of Porto Venere. As we ...

... of the five villages on the books pages l have said- l want to go there. Once looking into it a little further l found out that the area is protected by national park and is only accessible by train or by walking from one village to the next. The idea of walking between these beautiful villages sounded like something l would love to do! So two days ago my dream became reality. I took the long train ride, leaving Switzerland behind me and said hello my new ...

... was easier to feed ourselves more healthily. We enjoyed time at the beach in a lovely little secluded cove that we first accessed via a goat path down a steep cliff but later discovered we could access from the town of Corniglia by way of a disused railway tunnel and walking some 2 klms through. The catch was a 5 Euro charge as the tunnel is owned by a private person. It was with sadness we left this beautiful area and caught the bus to our next destination, Nice in France.