4th July - Livorno

Livorno is called the gateway to Tuscany so a lot of cruise tours head to Florence from here, places such as the leaning tower of Piza, through the beautiful rolling hills of Tuscany where ancient towns such as Lucca, San Gimignano and Greve in the Chianti region spring to mind.
With long time friends Lynn and Graham we stayed for a week in a castle in Greve a few years ago and captured a lot of great memories through-out this lovely region.
One area we never managed to explore back then was Cinque Terre north of Livorno almost to the French border, so we did a cruise tour that took that area in.

You and your English-speaking escort will depart from Livorno for a scenic ride to the popular Italian Riviera and Manarola, one of the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre, or "Five Lands." This picturesque area of coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding
hillsides are all part of the Cinque Terre National Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As you approach, you'll see homes, shops, and buildings that seem to defy gravity as they cling to the rocky terrain. So, too, do the terraced grape vineyards and olive orchards. Many of these towns are inaccessible by car. Instead, train, boat and walking paths are the main modes of transportation.

Upon arrival in Manarola, your local guide will greet you and you'll be introduced into the beauties
and the history of the area with a guided tour of the village followed by some free time. Once ready, you'll board a motorboat for a 45-minute Mediterranean coastal cruise along the whole Cinque Terre.
Wine growers still use monorail mechanisms to ferry themselves up and the grapes down their unique vineyards, and in some cases have to harvest by boat. If the terraced hillsides are not worked, they will quite literally slide into the sea. - Extracts from tour brochure.

Cinque Terre has been a tourist attraction for many years, once upon a time you would start at the first town and walk along the coastal paths to each town, enjoying the scenery and experiencing the terrain.
Unfortunately a couple of years ago a series of landslides covered or took out the pathways between a couple of towns and they have never been re-opened.
Nowadays the coach drops you off at one of the towns and you wander down through the steep narrow streets to a small quay where a boat picks you up and you do a short coastal trip along the coast just off the cliffs past other towns.
From the sea you got a different perspective of everything, we could see the roadway that runs across the top of the cliffs. All the way down the steep sided cliffs and gullies you can see terraces with dwellings clinging onto them and gardens, olive groves and the famous vineyards that would be a nightmare to work. Near the bottom of the cliffs runs a dual train track that appears through the gullies and disappears through the numerous tunnels that have been bored through the mountains. This is not just a local seldom used track this is a main line with goods trains, normal commuters and the very fast trains from Rome that hurtled through the gaps between tunnels like some futuristic monster. We got off at one town where we participated in a tasting of the local pesto and wine and what the area is famous for (apart from tourism).
We had lunch at a little local restaurant, I had a seafood salad that was not only fabulous but cheap as well, washed down with the famous local white wine.
From here we took a short train ride to another of the five towns, where once again we wandered around sight seeing and window shopping amongst the hordes of tourist and mopped at sweat that flowed off us in rivers.
Once again we boarded a train this time back to the town where after a short walk we were back to where the coach had dropped us originally and then finally a scenic drive back to Livorno.