The weather had improved to a cool and overcast day. We had come so far to see the region that I think even if it had been raining heavily, Suhad and I would have still gone to Cinque Terre.
From La Spezia the roundtrip train tickets to Cinque Terre are 2000 L each. The train route takes you right over the Ligurian Sea along cliffs with frequent tunnels. Suddenly you see the many terraces that line the mountains. Each terrace is cultivated with vineyards, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. The mountains are extremely luscious and green. It must have taken centuries of manual labor to have built up those terraces.
The first town that we visited was Vernazza. Once there it was easy to see why Byron was fascinated with the region and its people. Early life in Cinque Terre must have been rough as there was no land access. This meant that the people of Cinque Terre existed from the sea, either as pirates or fishermen.
Vernazza was a very quaint and picturesque village. The houses are crowded close together to make the most of the small parcel of land that is available along the mountain. The walls of the village are various hues of pink and it gives the town even more charm.
The ocean around both Vernazza and Corniglia is not very rough but there are no welcoming sandy beaches, only rock. So, I don't know if people actually enjoy the ocean when they visit Cinque Terre. One experience which we read about, but did not do for lack of time, is the several kilometer hike between all of the villages. There is a trail that exists between each of the villages, one that appeared fairly strenuous in places.
We headed back to La Spezia after walking a bit in Corniglia. We checked out of our hotel and headed back to Pisa Centrale, where we caught a local train back to Firenze. From there we caught the train to Venice. It was a Eurostar train--our first experience with the opulence of the new trains. Of course, our experience was ruined by some obnoxious passengers who were smoking in a clearly-labeled non-smoking car.
Our train arrived in Venice late and we had to scramble to find a pension or hotel. We spotted a man with the Hotel Adua logo on his nametag and we followed him, as I remembered that it was a cheap hotel from our Lonely Planet. They only had a triple for 90,000 L, but we looked for other rooms at other places, only to find that everything had been taken. So, we took the triple.
We quickly refreshed ourselves and headed out to see the sites before the sun went down. We had dinner at Ivano's, a somewhat expensive place to eat for what you get, but you pay for the ambience of being right on a canal. We tried to find the Rialto and a few other places in Venice at night, but it is very difficult to get around without a map and in the dark. The whole city takes on a maze-like quality at night. We finally headed home, to get some rest before a long day.
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