Day 1

Mamma Mia! The change of scenery upon arriving La Spezia was refreshing and tranquil. The buzz and chaotic mobs of tourists in Rome had ran us dry besides the people who tried to scam us at the train station in Rome making us skeptical of much. There are many locals who approach you to help you purchase tickets, find your way, or help themselves to help you with your luggage, but even if they dress the part don't believe them! They will always ask for a tip afterwards and will pester you until they are satisfied. We definitely learnt the hard way falling for this guy who looked like he knew exactly what he was doing only to find out he wasn't an employee at all. It's sad that these Italians think this is their "job" and do this on a daily basis to earn money from tourists so definitely be aware and when in doubt, just figure it out yourself.

We settled into our B&B in La Spezia and headed to the first village for an evening sunset and dinner. staying in La Spezia is pretty convenient as the train is easily accessible to all the villages with the closest one being less then five minutes away. On Sundays, many shops tends to be closed or close early so take note if you do arrive on this day, but on other days of the week, the main square Via La Prione has many Italian and non Italian restaurants, take out places and bakery shops that are very well priced (quite cheap if I say so myself) and delicious. There are also local boutiques as well as international brands like Zara here so if you are up for shopping, you'll be satisfied.

We caught the sunset in time at Riomaggiore (closest village) and our hosts had recommended a scenic spot right above the bar Pie' de Ma' (once you arrive Riomaggiore platform, find the stairs at the corner that leads you onto higher grounds). You will spot the bar overlooking the Almafi Coast, but you don't need to go to the bar (not much food selection and pricey menu in general) for the view, you can just proceed straight ahead and there will be an awesome viewing pointm

We wandered the main street of the village afterwards  and decided on dinner at a grab and go place call Mamma Mia. The anchovy pizza we ordered was made to order and the anchovies were giant and so fresh. I never thought I would enjoy fish on pizza so much! This happened to be a trip advisor recommendation too and their mix calamari was a great selection of squid, cuttlefish, octopus, and lots of anchovies. As it was getting dark, many shops were closing or already closed and in general, places do close early at these villages so we called it a night and took the train back to La Spezia. Just make sure to have the train schedule on you as in the evening delays are common and the trains are much less frequent...you could be waiting up to an hour or longer.

My favourite part so far is the overwhelming and beautiful scent of these small bundles of yellow flowers that grows on trees. It smells like a chrysanthemum white tea concoction to the nose and is so soothing...I need to find out the name, I love the scent so so much!





Day 2

Monterosso 
The next day we started at the farthest village, Monterosso with plans of hiking from here to the next closest village, Vernazza. Our host had told us to skip the middle village, Corniglia as there's not much there compared to the others. Monterosso is definitely my favourite as the colourful village houses line the coast and the beach extends right in front. The little local shops and crafts are also the cutest here. If I had all the luggage space in the world I definitely make one too many purchases as all the decor and household items were handmade and one of a kind. When hiking, there's actually a 7.5 euro fee as the money goes to up keeping this national park. The expected time was two hours from Monterosso to Vernazza and at the time, the other villages were closed so we couldn't hike them even if we wanted to.
Cinque Terre is known for their lemon products
I definitely recommend this hike as it's not only a gorgeous breath taking view that you cant get from training, but it's also a fabulous workout when you've been indulging in too much good food harhar. We saw all types of people hiking from parents and crying babies (crazy) to retirees who were going faster than us. I think my new found hobby is hiking because I had so much fun doing it. Though there is quite a slope at times Cinque Terre is made to be hiked as steps are carved out on the way and overall the path is really easy to follow. We did pretty well seeing that we only took 1.5 hours and only needed some minor pit stops on the way mainly for photo taking.

Looking down at Vernazza during the hike
Spotting Vernazza from above the hill made it feel like a medieval discovery. The colourful buildings looked like Lego blocks and there's a pedway viewpoint at this village that extends out into the coast where you can canoe or catch a boat ride. Vernazza has lots of eateries and restaurants so make sure to compare prices and look at the dishes beings served. I want to say prices are higher the closer you are over looking the coast, but this is also the village with the best view looking out towards the hills, water and Monterosso farther away, so that's a plus.

Manarola


Skipping Corniglia, we trained to Manarola. Not as big as the other villages, but down towards the coast people are sun bathing, swimming and even snorkelling along the giant boulders. One girl told us an octopus had grabbed onto her leg - what a shock that must've been! I also bought wine made in Italy for only 3.5 euros from one shop here. Probably not the highest of quality, but worth a try and a good souvie too. Actually, red and white wine is very cheap in general compared to back home in Canada, but that shouldn't be too much of a shock when Europeans tend to drink with most meals and especially in Italy where they produce so much of it.

Most travellers also tend to take a similar route as we had bumped into people we've seen the night before as well as from one village to the next. It was nice to be able to have a conversation with people you run into as well as share experiences because in Rome people were too caught up with doing their own thing. Cinque Terre and La Spezia truly redeemed Italy for us as though it's still busy with tourists, everyone is more laid back and low key. The locals are friendlier and the atmosphere is much more calm. Good thing we started with Rome because the bar is being set high from now on.