boat ride to cinque terre

Thursday, my last day in Lerici....a long day on the boat!

After my morning breakfast at the hotel, I headed down to the port and boarded the first boat for Cinque Terre. From Lerici, the boat lands in Portovenere where you transfer to a second boat. This was my first experience this year with the charging crowd of people trying to be first in line to board the boat. I stood my ground and ended up getting a nice seat in the front of the boat to take some pictures. The boat ride was beautiful. It stops in 4 of the 4 villages of Cinque Terre. Because of the boat schedule and everything shutting down for a couple of hours at lunch time, I tried to figure out the best way to see as many villages as possible before needing to head back to Portovenere to then catch the last boat back to Lerici. I have been to Cinque Terre twice before, the first time in 1999 and the second time in 2000.

I decided to first ride the boat to the last village - Monterosso.  Monterosso is the largest town and to me the least charming although nice.

(Monterosso)

Because of the boat schedule, I could only spend time in 3 towns in order to catch the last boat back to Lerici. And so, I stayed on the boat and skipped exploring Monterosso and instead departed at Vernazza, as the boat headed back.

 Vernazza has always been my favorite village and I was looking forward to spending a little time in this village. Unfortunately, after Rick Steves, this area has been invaded with tons and tons of tourists. I could see the change just from 1999 to 2000, but this year, things were even worse! Tons of tourists now arrive by both boat and train. Many are very loud and obnoxious. The area is still amazingly beautiful but I only lasted 30 minutes after hearing a man play songs such as The Sting and New York New York on his accordion in the main piazza with tourists applauding him after each song.

(Vernazza)

And so, I took the train to the last town, Riomaggiore (town closest to Portovenere) and spent some time there taking pictures and then sitting on a rock on a cliffside doing a sudoko puzzle (my new addiction). The area is breathtaking.

(Riomaggiore - yellow X is where I sat on the rocks)

When the boats started running agin, I took the boat to Manarola (heading back towards Monterosso) and explored the town for a little while.

(Manarola)

After a long day visiting the Cinque Terre, I finally took the boat back to Portovenere and then waited for a connecting boat to Lerici. I was pretty tired when I got back to Lerici about 8 hours later. I decided to have dinner at my hotel instead of walking back down all those stairs into town.

A great last day to end my stay in Lerici and the Ligurian coast.

ciao!