Euro 5 - La Spezia and Cinque Terre

To follow up on my last post, in particular the part about regretting not having ridden a scooter in three days of Rome sightseeing... here's me rocking the scooter between our hotel and the main plaza of La Spezia:

If you've been to Cinque Terre before, you know that there are three ways of getting between the five villages. Boating: expensive and not really that interesting. Walking: which was impossible other than between villages 1 and 2 because of landslides on paths to all the other villages. Train: quick and pretty inexpensive. But it can make you a slave to the train schedule, particularly when you only have one day in town.

Fortunately, all of Cinque Terre is beautiful. Becca and I started our day there scrambling to the train station to drop off our bags. This is a funny story, cause it reveals something about the Italian people.

Becca and I had read that the baggage drop place doesn't open until 8:00. Wanting to get started before would mean we would have to leave our bags elsewhere - like at one of the stations between the five villages. But we started our day at La Spezia anyway (and were going to end it); so this station's baggage drop would be perfect.

We show up at the baggage drop at 7:40 or so. The door to the room is magically open, but sort of blocked by a rolling trash can. We walk past the trash and into the room to see two employees chatting at the back of the office behind a gate. Its obvious the office is closed but the employees don't seem rude; they simply say "We open at 8:00." Becca makes a move to turn around and regroup, re-think our strategy. I stay put, like a statue. Not upset or angry, just adamant.

Probably by a stopwatch, we stood there in the entrance for about 60 seconds saying nothing. And at the end of the minute, one of the employees said "how many bags?" Or something equally as acquiescent. And we're in! Five minutes later, we are baggage-free and boarding a train to start our tour of the towns. Hooray for the Italian culture and a little stubbornness in me and Becca!

Despite the trails being closed, Becca and I enjoy some shopping, walking, eating, and wine-drinking. Here are a couple of the awesome views we captured before ending our time in Cinque Terra/La Spezia and splitting up for the beginning of the tournament weekend: