Awoke shortly after 6a and after we all showered headed up to the now familiar breakfast at the Hotel Bolivar. Another beautiful day, this one meant for travel however. Checked out of our rooms and grabbed a cab to Roma Termini, the main rail station in Rome. As it was a Sunday fairly early there was little traffic and even the (we’ve read) normally bustling station was a bit quiet.
Using the Trenitalia (Italy’s national train company) booth I mistakenly purchased tickets through to Torino when we really needed to get off a bit before that at La Spezia. I don’t know what I was thinking. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a refund / rebook and that mistake cost us almost 55 euros total, but it really was my mistake and one I don’t expect to make again. Our train was to leave at 9:57a and it was only a little past 9a so I took Addison across the street to McDonalds where he could get some hash browns and a Sausage and Egg McMuffin.
We stood for almost an hour waiting for our train to get a departure platform assigned. It arrived about twenty minutes late but we finally got our platform. Had to head through a checkpoint where we presented our ticket then we walked along the length of the train hopping on to a second class car. Found some empty seats and settled in. Then a guy tells us we’re in his seat. Uh, assigned seats? We had no idea. Turns out we got super lucky and happened to get on the correct car and just had to move a few rows down, which was great because we didn’t want to have to struggle with luggage. Michelle ended up sitting next to a pretty quiet man in his 40s or so while Addison and I sat next to each other opposite her. The main thing was ensuring Michelle faced forward so as to avoid motion sickness.
Arrival / Departure board at Roma Termini station
The train ride was very interesting. Leaving the suburbs of Rome and heading north along the coast to La Spezia the land was covered in farms and dotted with small villages. The coast itself was gorgeous and the sea a deep blue. We passed a castle right on the shore and it was neat to see so many small villages perched atop hills (so as to be easily defended) — a settlement pattern that didn’t emerge in the United States by-and-large as we were never plagued by wandering brigands and the like.
The IC train (a step below the fastest trains) moved at a brisk clip, nearly one hundred miles per hour. When we paralleled the highway it was clear that we were going quite a bit faster than the cars headed in the same direction. We only made 10 or so stops total from Rome to La Spezia. After pulling out of Pisa I saw the very top of the famed leaning tower. Hopefully we’ll do that as a side excursion once we are in Florence.
Once clear of Pisa the terrain became much more green and lush (as opposed to the ambers and olive greens near Rome) and soon jagged gray peaks were to the east. Clouds also rolled in with even a bit of rain. One cloud bank sat right atop a ridge and was particularly pretty.
Mountains near La Spezia
We arrived in La Spezia around 3p and grabbed a bite to eat at a combined deli / McDonalds. Addison had chicken nuggets, fries, and a Coke while Michelle and I had sandwiches. I had a salami and cheese that was quite good (for train station food, that is). Lugged our luggage up and down stairs switching platforms, bought tickets for the seven minute ride on a regional train to Riomaggiore (remembering to validate!) and awaited the train ride, which proved to be mostly tunnel with one brief view of a beautiful rocky coast.
Arriving at Riomaggiore we set off through a pedestrian tunnel that paralleled the train tracks then emerged in the valley in which the village sits. Riomaggiore is a village in a very steep valley that used to have a stream in it. The stream is still there, actually, but now runs underneath the main street. In the past when the stream was still exposed small arched bridges spanned the stream allowing villagers to cross to the other side. The tunnel emerged near the bottom of the valley. As our room was about a third of a mile up the valley we had a very steep climb with our luggage. Addison was great and pulled both of our smaller pieces while I pulled our larger piece, freeing up Michelle.
Our room was in the Locanda del Sole. After being seen through a small gate we checked in with the owner, a gentleman named Enrico. He’s an older man, in his late 50s or so and balding. He spoke English very well and oriented us to the town — where to eat and where to catch a boat that runs from town to town. We also met sisters, one from New Jersey and the other from Germany. Enrico showed us to our room a couple of steep flights away. Pretty basic but clean. The tiled floor and orange and other light colors really gave it a Mediterranean vacation feel. After running through details about breakfast and such he bade us farewell.
View from the patio of our room at Locanda del Sole
Steps up to our room at Locanda del Sole
Siesta time! We slept a couple of hours from about 5p to just past 7p. Headed down (literally!) into the village and ate at a place called the Bar Centrale that was recommended by Enrico as it served burgers and Addison really craved one. We elected to sit inside rather than in the covered area outside. Addison had a burger with onion rings and fried potato wedges that he really liked while Michelle and I had pizza — hers Hawaiian and mine salami. Both excellent and we liked the crust better than previous pizzas that we’d had since arriving.
View down the main street (Via Santuario) of Riomaggiore
Bar Centrale in Riomaggiore
Grabbed some gelato (yes, I’ve eaten entirely too much of it — but it’s soooo yummy!). Michelle had strawberry and Addison and I both had coffee. There were some fairly bitter coffee beans in it that we worked around but the taste of the gelato itself was wonderful. Satiated, we strolled down to where the tunnel from the train station came through. We briefly went up an adjacent set of stairs to see a small plaza where youngsters were kicking around a ball. Not wishing to intrude we went down another set of stairs to the marina.
Flag concerning the shooting in Orlando with “Peace” written on it
Piazza in Riomaggiore
Entrance to Riomaggiore’s harbor
What a pretty spot! It is a fairly tiny marina formed by a jetty of large boulders and a sheer cliff wall. People were leaping off the cliff and into the water fifty feet or so below. A pirate flag fluttered in the cool evening air nearby. The buildings, stacked unnaturally on top of each other, appear to tumble down the valley and into the water. It is an impressive sight to behold!
Riomaggiore’s harbor
I’m a sucker for boats and buoys
Yeah, ummm, wow — impossible to take a bad picture in Riomaggiore
While Michelle and Addison relaxed on a bench I walked along the south side of the marina and then down a walk and found the village’s “beach” — a patch about fifty feet by ten feet of small rocks. The vegetation is interesting — cacti thriving all over.
Riomaggiore’s “beach” — a small patch of rocky shore
Looking southeast from Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore’s jetty
Looking northwest from Riomaggiore
Looking up towards the center of Riomaggiore
Same location, different lighting as before — still beautiful
Boats and buoys!
As it was getting near dusk we decided to head (climb) back to the room. Once there they turned in while I blogged.
The climb back to our room at the top of Riomaggiore
Local church in Riomaggiore along the main street