Like a dream

After our visit to Lucca, we continued our drive towards the coast and Liguria.  I had been hoping for a scenic drive, but it was mostly just highway driving without many interesting distractions on the way.  We reached the small city of La Spezia, parked our car in the secure parking I had arranged for us and then we headed towards the train station.  It seemed to be a lot of traveling and changing of transport, but we were going somewhere special.

Cinque Terre!

The train ride in was as picturesque as any train I have ever been on.  We arrived after a very short trip, then walked through a long tunnel to get into the town.  I had booked us an apartment and the instructions had been to go to one of the local bars.  At the bar, they were expecting us and grabbed some keys off of a hook and took us on another long and winding walk through some narrow alleys and up some steep stairs.  We hadn't brought too much luggage with us, but I was glad for the help to carry what we had to the apartment.  I could take some of it, but without the extra strength of the guy leading us I would have probably had to have gone back and done two trips.  The apartment was simple and well placed.  We didn't have time to relax and enjoy though.  I had arranged for us an evening boat trip and we needed to move quickly.

We dumped out bags, had a quick look around and then immediately went downstairs and towards the small and incredibly picturesque little harbour of Riomaggiore.  I wondered how we would find the boat, but the attendants for the cruise seemed to have a knack for recognising their guests and spotted us before we spotted them.  There weren't too many others joining us and we were taken aboard the boat without too much trouble or fuss.

The boat moved out of the small harbour and we began our tour of the coastline, heading north.  The atmosphere on the boat was nothing short of jovial.  There were wide grins on each face as we all scanned out towards the shore, looking each of the wonderful and beautiful towns that sprang out of the cliffs.  The crew came around with plates of focaccia and glasses of prosecco for all of us.  Everyone happily moved around the boat, letting others sit in better spots for photos and helping each other to take the photos.

The sun began to set.  Everyone looked out into the distance as the colours and shadows changed and danced around.  The golden glow of the day disappeared and was replaced by more sombre and darker colours.  It was still beautiful, but it didn't have the same wow factor.

We went back to the apartment to rest for a bit before dinner.  We had been given some recommendations so we slowly got changed and made our way out, taking the long and scenic route through the small streets and alleys of the town.  Reaching the back of the town, we looked out at the evening sky.  The town had now lit up and was as beautiful as it had been in the sunshine, bathed now in the soft glow of all the small lights.