Slept through to 6:30 which was nice.
Leisurely get ready and out the door around 8:00. Went to BurgeRy again at the station for breakfast, and also picked up some sandwiches for lunch.
Then walked all the way down the lovely pedestrian road through La Spezia to the harbour. Tickets were easy enough to get at the wharf. And there was a 9:00 ferry there just about to leave so we hopped on.
Boats in La Spezia harbour
Ponte Thaon de Revel
Frigate Scirocco (F 573) in La Spezia
View towards Fezzano
View towards Olivo
View towards Porto Venere
Our first stop was Porto Venere. Which as it turns out is quite lovely, and we had a nice walk up via the "Lord Byron" grotto to the church on the point, and then up along the top (didn't go into the castle - it was 5 euro but we didn't really have the time and we'd seen the view from the peninsula anyway). Then back into town.
Porto Venere
View northwest along the coast at Lord Byron's Grotto
Window near Lord Byron's Grotto
Interior of Chiesa di San Pietro
Strait between Porto Venere and Palmaria Island
Chiesa di San Lorenzo
View to the peninsula from near Castello Doria
View across Chiesa di San Lorenzo from near Castello Doria
Tower and walls of Castello Doria
We were back in time for the 12:00 "Three Islands" ferry which goes around Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto islands. It's only 5 euro extra if you have the day pass, and was totally worth it.
Spectacular yacht moored off Porto Venere
Torre Scola (Scola Tower - or tower of St. John the Baptist)
C-130 flying around Porto Venere
Batteria Costiera Antiaerea "Ronca" on Tino Island
Faro di San Venerio (San Venerio Lighthouse) on Tino Island
Statue Stella Maris off Tinetto Island
Cliffs of Tino Island
Cave in the cliffs of Tino Island
Rock striations in the cliffs of Tino Island
Chiesa di San Pietro from the ferry
Castello Doria and Lord Byron's Grotto
Lord Byron's Grotto
Porto Venere
Then we sat in Porto Venere and had the sandwiches we bought in the morning which were CRAP. Really dry bread and hardly any filling. Man I miss Japanese convenience store sandwiches.
Then we hopped on the 13:50 Cinque Terre ferry. And we had a thoroughly lovely afternoon cruising all the way up to Monterosso.
Coloured cliffs near the Cinque Terre
Hillside village near the Cinque Terre
View towards Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore
West of Manarola (where we waited yesterday to get photos of the town in the sun)
Manarola
Manarola
View towards Corniglia
View towards Corniglia (the giant staircase in the centre)
Vernazza
Rocky point and Castello Doria in Vernazza
View towards Monterosso al Mare
Where we got off and had an ice cream.
Boats and beach at Monterosso al Mare
Beach and train at Monterosso al Mare
Bell tower of Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Then the 16:00 ferry back for a thoroughly lovely afternoon back to La Spezia. We spent quite a bit of the trip back talking to other tourists. One lady was Amy from The Cooking Mom who was very nice.
Ferry we caught from Monterosso back to La Spezia
View towards Vernazza
Corniglia
Riomaggiore
View southeast along the coastline
Military helicopter flying around La Spezia
Walked back to the room to chill out and have a beer and clean ourselves up and then headed out to dinner. Just another place on the main walkway for some roast pork and tagliatelle bolognase.
And back to the room to collapse.
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