May 14, 2017
We started our boat tour on the Trie Frè (three brothers in the local dialect) which cruised up the coast. Cinque Terre (pronounced Chin-qua Ter-a) means five lands. This refers to the five fishing villages carved out of the mountains along the coast. (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore). We had a guided tour on the boat and stopped at the northern most city to have lunch and walk around. The Cinque Terre region (including Porto Venere) has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997. Dry white wines are produced with three varieties specifically identified to the region since 1973. There is a train connecting the five villages completed in 1928. It is also possible to walk a trail between the cities, but that would only be for the most adventurous. We docked in Monterosso al Mar, the largest of the five villages, founded in the 11th century. After a brief guided tour we had lunch: for Phil, stuffed mussels, a specialty of the area, with a regional white wine and for me ... pasta bolognese! After looking around the village for a couple of hours taking in the beautiful sites, we boarded the train which took us back to our bus which delivered us back to the ship in La Spezia. It was a long but excellent day!