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MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013:
Monday we were in the port of Livorno, Italy from 7:00AM to 7:00PM
I took an all-day shore excursion to Cinque Terre, a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera.
Cinque Terre is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia.
"The Five Lands" is composed of five villages: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza,
and Monterosso al Mare. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides
are all part of the Cinque Terre National Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We did not visit the first village, Riomaggiore, but we did get a nice view
of the village from the hillside above which you can see on the lower right.
All of the images below are thumbnails and can be clicked on for a larger image.
We ditched the bus on the hillside above Manarola.
We walked down the steep hill into the village.
Manarola is the second smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre,
with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338.
We only spent about an hour in Manarola before catching a boat to our next stop.
Our boat ride took us past the third village of Corniglia.
Vernazza is the fourth town and remains one of the truest "fishing villages" on the Italian Riviera.
We had about an hour to wander around the beautiful village.
On October 25, 2011 Vernazza was struck by torrential rains, massive flooding, and mudslides that
left the town buried in over 4 metres of mud and debris, causing over 100 million euro worth of damage.
We took another boat to the fifth and last village, Monterosso al Mare.
The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and in summer months is overrun by tourists.
Monterosso is the largest of the five villages.
The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town.
The two areas are divided by a single tunnel.
We took a train from Monterosso to Levanto where our bus was waiting to take us back
to the ship in Livorno. We passed the marble quarries on the way back.
|
Hello again everyone, I Had to get up early again this morning. This vacation stuff is hard work. Shortly before 7:00am we docked in Livorno, Italy and minutes later I was off the ship and heading north to the Italian Riviera. It was about a ninety minute drive from Livorno to La Spezia. There is a large navy base here. We drove around the beautiful harbor and then head up into the hills. We had now reached the destination where I would be spending the day, Cinque Terre. Le Cinque Terre is five small towns along the Mediterranean in northern Italy. The first town is, Riomaggiore. We did not stop here but we did get a nice view of the village from the hills above the town. Next we drove above the next little town, Manarola. This is where we ditched the bus. There is no vehicular traffic in any of these villages. We walked down the steep hill into the village.  Cinque Terre is a UNESCO World Hertitage site. It is a spectacularly beautiful area. In the picture below you can see the town of Manarola built into the cliffs. Unfortunately it was into the sun but it didn't come out too bad. From here we took one of the many ferries that run between these little towns. The ferry took us to the next town, Corniglia. That's a sweaty me in the picture below with the town's main square behind me. It was a very hot day. And I forgot my cap back at the ship, so my bald head was roasting.  We spent about an hour in this little town. I walked through a cave to get to the town's beach on the other side. Next it was back on another boat, we passed the fourth town of Vernazza on the way. We spent about three hours in the last and largest of the five villages, Monterosso. I walked around the beautiful town. Stopped for some gelato. Walked around town some more. Stopped for more gelato. Next we caught a train over to the nearest town of Levanto where our bus was waiting to take us back to the ship. We climbed back up into the hills and took the highway back to Livorno. It was about a two hour drive. We passed the marble quarries on the way. That's marble in the picture below, not snow. We also got a very distant view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa from the highway. We sailed away from Livorno at 7:00 this evening and we are now sailing toward tomorrows port of Civitavecchia. I will be spending tomorrow in Rome. Tonight I went to one of the production shows on the ship. The new theater here is really quite impressive. I also saw one of the fountain shows they have on the upper deck. It wasn't quite as good as the ones in Dubai, but not bad for on board a cruise ship.  It was a fun day, but it's now after 11:30 and I have to be up before 6:00 again tomorrow, so I better get to bed. Good night, Tim |
This was my second visit to Livorno. I was also here in 2008.
Click on the arrow above to continue to my next stop, ROME, ITALY!
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