Adventures Unpacked – A Blog From One of Our Customers

Martin was determined to get there come hell or high water; he’d had his visit cancelled 3 times in the past (due to covid, surgery etc) and was totally prepared to go it alone; he was delighted to have 6 others follow him for the day and share the adventure.

An early breakfast was the least of the problems; logistics like the availability of a taxi for 7 actually turning up on time – or indeed at all, IT issues when booking the train tickets online and making the train connections in La Spezia, kept Martin awake during the night. But it all went like a dream.

The scenery from the trains was varied and breath taking, passing marble quarries, the Apuan Alps, a cruise port and eventually a glimpse of the 5 multi coloured villages of the Cinque Terre, each clinging to the steep rocks on their descent to the inviting Mediterranean sea. 

The plan was to visit perhaps two villages but on arrival at Monterosso al mare, Martin’s plans changed – he always has a Plan B. Hop on / hop off boat tickets were purchased allowing the group to get a flavour of the villages and take a coffee or beer in Vernazza and a visit to its market, enjoy a typical “trattoria lunch with a view” in Manorola, followed by gelato and cocktails in a cave in Riomaggiore. Unbelievably the group managed to spend time enjoying the individual charms of 4 of the 5 villages, only missing out on visiting Corniglia – a cliff top village surrounded on 3 sides by water  – purely because the boat was not scheduled to stop there that day.

Each village had it’s own many and varied charms and sights. As if fishing boats bobbing on the calm sea, brightly coloured villas stacked on top of each other and somehow nestling on the hillsides, the cacophony of daily life and the many languages being spoken was not enough, we watched the bravery of youngsters tomb-stoning off the granite cliffs into the cool waters beneath – a ‘look away now’ warning was issued.

Loaded with Dutch courage – from the wine bar – the group raced off for a final 1km dash to Riomaggiore train station to start their journey back to Hotel Joseph, involving another 2 trains and a taxi. A local film crew – aka a young tourist expressing an interest in why 7 seniors were seen posing and pondering over maps, only to learn of their crazy plans and achievements thus far – obliged with the camera to evidence we had indeed visited the final village. The return journey commenced exactly on time. A slight delay leaving La Spezia train station gave cause for concern – we were never going to be first in the restaurant now; this was further antogonised by a delay caused by a slight ultracation with a taxi driver on arrival in Marina do Pietrasanta, increasing our heart rates still further. Surely we were bound to be beaten and couldn’t possibly win now.

On arrival at hotel Joseph at 7.29pm, the Cinque Terr-iors raced towards the finish point – the hotel restaurant – fully expecting to see ‘Team Joseph’ enjoying their starters. Imagine our surprise. An empty restaurant. They were all still confidently lounging away upstairs at the roof top bar, gains and beers in hand, totally sure they had the Race Across Liguria in the bag. How wrong they were.