Cinque Terre :: Riomaggiore

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Our first stop of the day was Riomaggiore.  It was a very quick train ride - maybe 8 minutes or so.  It plopped us just about right in the middle of town.  We had just about an hour in between trains but, Riomaggiore was a bit different because there was a walking path from it to the next town - this freed us up a bit with our timeline - meaning we could miss the next train. A bit of advice on visiting Cinque Terre.....try not to schedule your trip for January.  This is the off season and just about everything was closed.  Basically, one restaurant per town stays open but, all the shops are closed and the streets are dead.

In some ways having the town buttoned up and quiet was really nice - we could poke around and go just about anywhere we wanted without running into anyone.  Supposedly, in the summer the place is packed...which I believe because the towns are really quite small.

My favorite part of the town was up on the hill.  From there you had a birds eye view of the town, the fishing grounds, and the path to Manarola.  There were a couple quaint old churches on the top of the hill....for some reason doesn't it seem like old churches should be on the top of hills?

I loved how the homes had small terraced gardens leading down the hills.  I loved how many lemon trees could be found.  I loved the colors in contrast with the blue of the mediterranean.  In general I loved how gorgeous it was!

It just seemed to work out that as we were travelling between towns the sun was in our way for every single photo opportunity! 

 

 

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La Spezia, Italy :: The Market

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I was able to shuffle around the watch schedule with my shipmates to have a full day off on Wednesday.  Getting to start your day ashore at 0800 is pretty awesome. I had done a bit of research the last time I was in port (i.e. I visited the tourist information center) and so while I was ashore on Tuesday I got a fresh train schedule.  I've been absolutely itching to get to Cinque Terre - it didn't work out for me last time but this time I had all my ducks in a row before we even got into port!

What's really great is that one of my watch partners has the travel bug like me!  This  part of the going ashore equation is actually pretty critical....not that I mind a bit of solo travel....it is just so much more fun when you have someone to bounce around with!

We weren't going to be able to get on the train until about 1000 and so we spent a bit of time in La Spezia. As we were walking around downtown on Tuesday we saw them packing up a farmers market.  We looked at eachother and both went, 'yep' this is how we'll kill our morning waiting for the train!

We walked straight to the market and it was packed with produce, fresh seafood, meats, cheeses, bread.  You name it they had it. 

We got some sliced meat and cheese for our day and we also bought some fresh fruit.  It was so cheap!  We probably spent about 5 Euro total - which is only 7 bucks - and had a bag full of food!

Next it was on to a bakery for some goodies and a little cappucino (since I had learned that espresso wasn't much to my liking....with it not having any milk and all).  I tried to order a latte....and ended up with a glass of steamed milk!  Ha!  I chugged it down and then ordered a cappucino where I got a well delivered kick in the pants!

This is where my posts of La Spezia will end because with our bellies full we walked to the train station....where the day really began....we were off to the Cinque Terre!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

La Spezia :: Out and About.

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This is actually my second time calling on the port of La Spezia, Italy.  I love repeat port calls.  Especially when the port is as cool as La Spezia!  The more you visit a port the better you get to know it - duh.  The better you get to know it the more efficient you are when you only have a few hours ashore!  Efficiency ashore is uber important.  After having a cup of espresso I managed to walk around the city, go grocery shopping, have dinner at a cute cafe, and buy a puff coat and some other cute accessories at Zara.  Three hours baby. Oh, and I also visited the tourist information center for an updated train schedule so that I could plan my adventures for the following day. 

One slight bummer is that everything shuts down between 1230 and 1530.  Which means, that for a large portion of my time ashore there was nothing open!  This didn't end up being too big of a deal because the restaurants stayed open and we were able to walk to the grocery.

It was great to get a second go at La Spezia - my first trip through was a bit of a whirlwind because I was getting relieved and flying home.  This time through I had nothing on my mind other than enjoying myself! 

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30x30 :: Drink a cup of coffee with no milk and sugar...in Italy!

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On January 10th 2012 I drank black coffee.  In fact, I took it to a whole new level and had some espresso in Italy.  Oh snap! I got off the ship as quickly as I could in the early afternoon and spent about 3 hours ashore.  I told my cruising buddy, 'we have one mission....let's drink some espresso'!  He jumped right on the band wagon and we found a quiet cafe in which to partake.

We ordered two espressos and a pastry.

You know what?  It was disgusting.  You heard me.  Dis.gus.ting. 

It was just so strong....and bitter.  I kept thinking if only I could add a little milk and sugar to this...

Thank goodness we ordered the pastries!  We needed chasers!

What I will say is that the experience was lovely!  It came in cute little cups.  The wait staff looked at us like we were crazy Americans.  The place was pretty empty and then we sat outside anyways.  We got out our phones and cameras and documented the occassion.  Then we both cracked up because we agreed that it wasn't delicious at all.

After walking around town for a bit we had a nice meal....and get this....we did it again!  We guzzled our second espresso of the day!  Oh yeah, I'm an espresso bad ass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nautie Tidbits :: Oh, it's Wednesday....

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  • Yesterday I was sitting on the train and I looked down at my watch and saw that it was Wednesday.  I immediately burst out laughing.  I was sitting with a shipmate - he of course looks over at me wanting to know what was so funny.  I said, 'It's wednesday!'....and burst into more giggles....because yesterday at the bottom of my post I said, 'Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!'.  Clearly, I've lost track of my days.  Ha.
  • I did an insane amount of walking yesterday and my legs are sore. 
  • I absolutely cannot wait to get my photos sorted so I can show you what I was up to yesterday!
  • This port call might be one of my all time favorites.  If I compiled a top five list yesterday would probably make it.
  • I'm discovering that after sailing for 6 years I have officially done the worst packing job EVER.  I don't have any of the basics for shore leave.  I didn't bring a backpack or a purse with a shoulder strap.  What the hell was I thinking?  I also didn't bring a jacket.  Again, what the hell was I thinking?
  • I have always found 'boat shoes' incredibly dorky however; I finally bought a pair after trying them on and realizing how insanely comfortable they are.  I think that they might be the ultimate shoe for quick treks out and about.  This may require a post all of its own.
  • I got a little sunburned yesterday while cruising around.
  • Italians seem very content.  The enjoy good food and good conversation.  I think that maybe I need to take some pointers and take my stressball level down a notch.
  • I'm preparing to get back underway today - the bridge is calling my name....'Megan, come organize me!'.

 

I've introduced a few new series - Nautie Tidbits - for when I have many random things to say!  Yesterday morning I introduced I See At Sea (Aunt Kay - lets rock those homonyms!) - I'm pretty sure the idea behind this series is self explanatory.