La Spezia and Manarola, Cinque Terre

In order to travel to Cinque Terre you must travel through La Spezia. This is also where Sophie and I boarded our sailboat trip I recapped yesterday. Here are a few photos I captured walking through La Spezia on the way to the harbor: 

Like I mentioned yesterday, we stayed in Manarola during our time in Cinque Terre. We loved eating dinner overlooking the beautiful town and watching the sun set each evening. Tomorrow I will begin to share photos from the other towns we visited in Cinque Terre, but it was wonderful to have a home base in Manarola. During the day – and into the evening – people swim among the rocks and even climb to the top and jump off into the sea. One of our other favorite activities in Manarola was taking pictures in front of the beautiful flowering walls. Enjoy!

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Cinque Terre Sailboat Trip

Today I am sharing Sophie and I's boat trip in Cinque Terre! This was one of our favorite experiences of the whole trip – it still doesn't quite feel like it was real life. After leaving Pisa we once again took the train to reach Cinque Terre. This train trip required several stops, and we were VERY grateful that our hotel in Manarola was right outside the train station. The Hotel Affittacamere San Giorgio is the perfect place to stay, I can't recommend it enough. The location made our whole experience so much easier. Our first evening in Manarola was pretty relaxed after a busy travel day, but the next morning we headed back to La Spezia by train to board the sailboat! 

There were only four other people on our boat, and we had a great time getting to know them throughout the day. The boat first sailed past Portovenere and then slowly made its way past all five Cinque Terre towns. We were also able to swim off of the boat in two different locations, and eat lunch with a view of Monterosso. Thankfully we didn't see any jellyfish while we were actually in the the water, but we did see a GIANT one once we were back on the boat. Experiencing Cinque Terre from the water was an experience I know I will remember forever. If you have time while you are visiting this would be at the top of my list to repeat, especially in the July heat. Ciao until tomorrow! 

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