Hiking the Cinque Terra

Day 1 - London to Milano (Underground, Plane, Bus, Taxi, Train)

Up at 4:40am and off to Milano from Kings Cross station, just made it to the first underground train at 5:30am to the airport. What a rush and Melissa runs with me as well. The plane trip over was uneventful and we caught a bus into Milano central station, once there Jim and Carmel arrived shortly thereafter.

A quick snack followed by a long taxi ride to the Green residence our random accommodation, it was OK and we ventured into Milano. We didn't really know exactly where we wanted to go and ended up walking around looking at shops and bits and bobs. We stumbled into a cafe where no one spoke English, the people there were very friendly though and we had a good time gesturing and being shown the food which we were ordering.

That night we had a cold pizza and a quick room party before nodding off to a well deserved rest.

Day 2 - Milano (Underground, Tram & Shanks Pony)

The underground in Milano was three Euro for a day pass and we navigated our way into central Milan once again. The girls managed to find all the shops and from all accounts the clothes were expensive. Luckily though we got lost and found ourselves in a park, well that's what I figure happened anyway, I was just taking the photo's. More shopping followed and Jim decided we should go see the Canals in the late evening well worth it, see photo's.

That night we found out that restaurants open at 7pm in Milan and we hit a diamond of a restaurant which served up a fabulous meal and we had a quick chat to an American who's wife had ditched him for the day as he went to see the Grand Prix for the second day in the rain.

Day 3 - Milano to La Spezia (Underground, Train, Shanks Pony)

No power, no laptop, in our rush to get on the London train I simply didn't have time to get our European adapter so Melissa and I walked around the local shops and found one. Unfortunately I'd also forgotten my camera cord so the photo's are a little lower quality and I had to be a little selective in taking them.

The commute was about 4 hours to La Spezia and the overground train system was easy to navigate, we arrived at La Spezia and took the long way to the 'My Hotel'. The hotel was very nice and the only gripe I had was the shower which was tiny and burnt my chest(ouch) and the hot water lasted about ten minutes at a burst.

We managed to find an OK restaurant that night and had a couple of bottles of wine between four which was very nice. I was excited about walking the Cinque Terra the next day and didn't sleep well that night.

Day 4 - La Spezia to Cinque Terra (Boat, Shanks Pony)

That morning we woke up early to catch the morning ferry - 21 Euros / person and 5 Euro / person for a walking pass. The boat was great and stopped at each village on the way there, the views were fabulous and I'd recommended taking it, it was well worth paying extra for it. We got off at Monterroso (5th village) and took a look around the village, then walked through to Village four Venerzalla, the walk the hardest of the track (3 hours?).

And once we arrived we were all tired and ready for food, we stopped at the first restaurant in the village which turned out to be a really good pick. We shared two pizza's (surprise) and a couple of drinks. The ferry time table was a little confusing and the ferries didn't run to time which didn't help, so in our rush to get on the ferry we got on the wrong one.... whoops. Well I can tell you being on a boat in the Cinque Terra for an extra half an hour is actually a good thing :) So everyone was happy with our fortunes.

That night we went back to the same restaurant in La Spezia and had a really crap meal and service, perhaps because we didn't tip the night before. If you do this try another restaurant the following night.....

Day 5 - La Spezia to Cinque Terra (Train, Shanks Pony)

This was by far the best day, the sun was around 24 degree's in the day and the walks were really easy with a good amount of time to take in the breath taking views. Melissa and I walked together through 'lovers lane'(aka the 'via del amore') and dropped some money into the accordion man's satchel. It was very romantic and we were waiting for Jim to re-propose to Carmel but he held out :) We walked around village one to four and met a couple of groups of Kiwi's from Wanaka and Wellington, I was happy with this as for the majority of the trip we met Aussies and was told that the Kiwi's were being bred out!

At the 3rd Village we had a really nice lunch were the service was fantastic so we gave the man a trip, he was from Sicily and is small, slightly balding and looking for older women, so if you happen to be in town be sure to give him heaps. He even managed to do a fake spill of espresso on me and intentionally not bring Jim his beer I was well impressed and he agreed with me when I said Australians were crazy :)

Once we'd finished our walk it was time to take a swim in the Mediterranean, the swim was great and the water was greater. Jim managed to splash a few ladies who were gingerly entering the water, an elite athlete by all accounts, these ladies simply should have just seen him coming.

We saw the sun set while dining alfresco the pizza left a little to be desired though... perhaps the Earls Court Pizza house had spoilt us and we weren't that impressed with Italian pizza's but it should be noted the dough is pretty good as they make it themselves.

In bed by 11pm for a 6:20am wake up.

Day 6 - La Spezia to Milano to London Town (Train, Tram, Bus, Plane)

Writing the travel adventures on the train, have managed to tweak my laptop to survive for 8 hours.