I’m a little late at getting this up because we got back late, and I slept in.
Using the AirBnB experiences section of their application we booked a small boat tour of the Cinque Terre region of Italy. Using Florence as our base camp we took a train to La Spezia where we met our guide Maria just outside the train station. We also met 2 fellow travelers from New York City who we came with us. The maximum that the tour can accommodate is 6 but five is a perfectly fine number.
Fresh Market
Maria took us on a tour of the market where fruit, vegetables, and seafood were being sold. This was far different than Florence as there were far fewer people and there much less beef being sold. After meandering through the markets and learning some local history from Maria, she took us down to the marina. There was a massive Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked and I was glad to get going before the cruise ship opened its doors and the people flooded the city.
Nicola and his boat
Nicola met us with the boat ready for us to board. He was very excited about the weather being perfect and expressed to us that his boat was our boat. The weather and sea were indeed perfect, and we took in the sun and sea breeze as we navigated away from La Spezia. Maria went below deck to get us some refreshment in the form of wine. White wine is what this area of Italy is known for and we toasted with a glass of Prosecco.
Portovernere
Our first stop was Portovernere and Nicola pulled the boat up to the dock and let us off. After we were off he would take the boat away from the dock and wait for us to finish our tour. He probably avoided fees and sped up our trip by doing it this way.
Maria informed us that Portovenere was constructed in a defensive posture against the side of a steep hill. All the houses had one door in the front and a door on the third floor so that if an attack did come they would retreat into the city. There were so many stairs and we climbed some of them to visit a church that was beside a nice place to go swimming.
Tomorrow would be a holiday and they were setting up a stage for a musical performance and there were candles that would be lit all along the ground to be lit in the evening.
Let’s go for a Swim
Nicola picked us up from the dock at Porto Venere and took us a little way into the sea where he anchored it to an established anchoring point. (There’s probably a nautical term for this) Nikola said we could sun bathe and swim while he and Maria prepared lunch. We all changed in the ships bathroom which was a challenge given the waves in the sea. Linda declined swimming and Nicola made sure she had a glass of wine.
After changing I jumped into the Mediterranean waters and took it all in. The water was cool and refreshing and the view combined with the experience was exhilarating. Devin joined me, but she cheated in her floating by using a life preserver Nicola had thrown in the water tied to a rope. Prior to the swim, Nicola provided a safety brief about how to take your time and being very safe. He concluded it by quickly jumping into the water with much haste.
Lunch time
It became abundantly clear that Maria and Nicola are very passionate about the region of Cinque Terre and the happiness of their guests. Nicola brought us a glass of white wine from the region and an appetizer plate. He explained that they’d picked up the ingredients this morning from the market. On the plate were
- Octopus and cuttlefish
- Crostini with pesto
- Caprese salad
- Couscous
Everything was expertly prepared and extremely good.
The main course was pasta with mixed seafood and it was so good!
Navigating to Manarola
The longest leg of our boat journey was along the Cinque Terre coastline. It was about 45 minutes of Nicola taking us in parallel with coast line and Maria point out notes of interest. Devin and I saw many hiking trails that we might visit in future trips to Italy. Maria explained that some of the hiking trails had been closed due to rock slides and their repair time-frame was unknown. We had another swim here as well.
When we got to Manarola we were met by a water taxi captained by an older man in an orange speedo. We transferred ourselves from one boat to another and even Linda made it to the other boat. We had to take the water taxi cause our boat was too big to make it into the dock area.
We took in the town. Had some gelato, admired some cats, and looked at the steep stairs that we were glad we didn’t have to climb.
Finale in Monterosso
The tour ended by dropping us off in Monterosso where we said our goodbyes to Maria and Nicola and headed for our train. We were so tired that we kept falling asleep on the train back to Florence.
Please check out their tour if your headed to Italy.
