Today we had two failed excursions, which didn’t bother us in the least because we’re spending the night on the shores of the Mediterranean! Our first trip was out of La Spezia and north into the mountainous region of Cinque Terre (5 villiages).

La Spezia

First view of one of the villages of Cinque Terre

We were in the midst of our first truly rainy day, and so weren’t terribly inclined to get out of the car to hike down the cliff face to where the villages are. So we drove and drove, and twisted and climbed, and inched past oncoming cars on a route that was barely fit for a pack mule, only to reach the end of a line at a paid parking lot. It’s not that we minded paying to park. It’s that it was rainy and cloudy, which made the prospect of hiking into a zero visibility cloud not very inviting. So around we turned and drove and drove, and twisted and climbed, and inched past oncoming cars again to get back to La Spezia. Virtually the entire way was lined with vertical grape farming cooperatives. They actually have little mechanized chair lifts on a rail that they use to lift themselves up and down the mountain face.

When we got back to La Spezia, we found an impressive fortress on the far side of the city overlooking the sea, and so we headed there.

Fortress in La Spezia

After being turned away from virtually every road we tried to enter, we found paid parking just up the mountainside from the water’s edge where the resort area is on the Mediterranean. So we decided to walk to afore-mentioned fortress. We got there to find it looking rather closed. I asked a nearby vendor in terribly broken Italian, “Sei aperto, la Castello?” her response was a simple, “no,” meaning, no, the castle is not open. Bummer! So we turned back around and walked back along the beach (did I mention that this was by the Mediterranean?) and back towards a little spread of pricey hotels on the water front. We managed to get a 130 Euro per night room overlooking the sea. Yes they had parking for our tiny car, and by this I mean they have three spaces, and we got one of them. Here’s the view from our room (complete with enclosed patio) looking out over the Mediterranean.

View from our room

On our walk along the waterfront we stopped for a gelato, and to take a selfie with a view of the fortress behind us.

Selfie with no selfie stick

Having a gelato to tide us until a late dinner

This place is Lilliputian-esqe. If there’s enough room to put a small coat closet it turns out there’s enough room for a bathroom. You can easily find yourself on a road so narrow that you have to pull in your mirrors to avoid breaking them off. If we were driving an American size car here there would be places we simply could not go. Rather than spreading their residences out geographically into suburbs like we do, they build right on top of one another. Many people drive scooters, and for those that have cars you’d be AMAZED at the little cliff-side matchbox-sized spaces they park their cars on.

We’re still figuring out how to eat here. Dinner doesn’t start until 7:00 pm, and you’re expected to sit for hours. Each Ristaurante has a menu for appetizers, first course, and second course, plus dessert and drinks. Since the first course is always a huge plate of pasta, a second course is unthinkable. Fortunately we’re doing a lot of walking! Tomorrow we’re hoping for nicer weather, and we’ll hike down the mountains into one of the villages of Cinque Terre.