I spent Tuesday wondering around Rosignano. In the afternoon we had drinks down at the marina … Again! … And a couple of the Brisbane wives invited me to go to the cinque terra on Thursday.

So we headed off early via two trains, a bus and a boat. When we were at la spezia I ran into Jill and Dave … The Aussies living on their yacht over here … Small world.

Our first stop on the boat was a compulsory 1.5 hours at Portovenere … Which was gorgeous (photo above). We had a lovely lunch while watching the goings on at the waterfront of this lovely town. Yummy spaghetti seafood and crisp white wine.

From there three quick stops at Riomaggiore, Manarola and Verrazana. All very dramatic cliff edge towns …. All looking rustic with loads of gelati and deep fried fish pizza shops …. Gelati was great, didn’t bother with the pizza. From Verrazana we caught the train back to la spezia … Then another two trains back to Rosignano.

A long day out but sooo glad I did it. The weather was perfect and now I have seen the entire cinque terra … as about four years ago Jack, John and I walked from the other end starting at Levanto. Tick!

Friday I wondered down to the beachfront and had lunch on my own overlooking the dark grey sandy beach … Which is actually growing on me. I am reading a great book that Becs gave me called The Night Circus. So idled away my time eating and reading overlooking the lovely blue ocean contrasted by the striped umbrellas onshore. There are only a few families around during the week so it is very peaceful.