Day 291-293 Sunday 16th November – Tuesday 18th November 2008
Left early for the journey to La Spezia on a beautiful sunny morning, not a cloud in the sky. Quite a distance 400k - about five hours towing time. Tolls 31€, diesel now down to 1.19€ per litre. Arrived early afternoon at Deiva Marina, just north of La Spezia, a small site 3k from the beach. Set up quickly and had our cup of tea sitting out in the sun. No internet so we will be out of the loop for a couple of days.
Next day was another beautiful morning so we decided to do the Five Village Walk in the
We decided to go for it and took the 8.30am train from our local station here to the furthest village – Riomaggiore (just north of La Spezia, 35 min ride) – and set off along the coastal route to the next one. It was a lovely easy walk, 1k, along a modern path half way up the cliffs overlooking the sea – took about twenty minutes and the views were gorgeous. The sea was like a millpond.
Had a quick look round the
Off we went again and then it got serious! 4k to Vernazza, along very rough, sometimes very steep, mountain trails and stone steps up and down through olive groves. We went high above the sea and it was very hard work in the sun but worth it for the spectacular views. We could see Vernazza in the distance way below us as we approached and the desire for a lunch-stop got stronger with every step. Took us two hours. Arrived down in the harbour square and found a lovely Trattoria and sat down thankfully to some great pasta – and lots of water! Talked to some people during our meal who told us that we were brave to do it all in one day and that the best was yet to come!
Suitably re-fuelled, we set off on the last leg to Moterosso. More of the same – hot sun, even steeper climbs, even rougher tracks sometimes only a foot wide but the views were even more spectacular. We could see Moterosso in the distance but it didn’t seem to be getting any nearer….. 3k took us two and a half hours so you get the idea ……… (this included a fifteen minute stop with an entrepreneurial farmer selling fresh lemon squash (made while we watched) from a little table half way along one of the steepest bits. Good man).
Arrived in Moterosso worn out but pleased with our achievement and got straight onto the 4.30pm train for the (shorter) ride back to Deiva Marina and arrived back in time to see the sun set over the sea. Marvellous. Entrance to the National Park was 8.50€ each which included the trains. We had a lovely day, the weather was brilliant and the walking was great, but doing it all in one go meant we didn’t have much time to explore the villages – next time perhaps. Our photographs don’t do the scenery justice but you’ll get an idea. Recommend to anyone coming to the area.
Left early on Tuesday 18th for the short, 200k, journey to Sam Remo. Rain for most of the way (we were so lucky yesterday!) as we made our way back along the motorway of tunnels. We remembered there were loads of them from our journey going the other way and this time we were sad enough to count them – would you believe 138 tunnels varying from 75 to 1910 metres in length (probably a few more that we may have missed whilst chatting). Must have cost a fortune to build them all – paid a bit towards it in tolls though - 28€ this time.
Staying on the same Camping Cheque site in
