Wed 29 Aug

Having looked at options to anchor on the shores of the Cinque Terre, and found them almost non-existent we decided to leave the boat anchored in Porto Venere and take public transport. Our first town, Riomaggiore entailed a 35 minute bus ride into La Spezia then a 7 minute trip by train, which cost us a staggering 45 euros! We were thankful though to have actually made it as the crazy bus driver was clearly vying for a seat at Maclaren next season.

Riomaggiore itself was gorgeous. Like many of the villages it consists of one main street, a tiny harbour, a few shops and restaurants, a couple of churches and a whopping great hillside. We had a lovely time wandering around soaking in the atmosphere.

We caught the train back to La Spezia and walked to its outskirts to pick up some provisions at our new favourite supermarket, Eurospin. The things we get excited about these days! La Spezia itself is a relatively big city, the second in the Liguria region after Genoa. It’s also one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and a major Italian Navy base so there’s no shortage of massive ships to marvel at.

We always make the mistake of doing impromptu shopping runs, which leave us thoroughly unprepared in terms of bags. This time was no different as we lugged 24 litres of water plus a load of other stuff back on the bus, into the dinghy then onto the boat. Should be enough to keep us going for a while though.