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| La Spezia, Italy, is primarily a commercial - industrial port, with some military presence. This is a shot of the port from our docked ship. Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved |
OUR FIRST port of call was the Italian port of La Spezia. This was a highly anticipated stop for me. Back in 2019 we had taken an "Italian Riviera" cruise on the Celebrity Edge, kind of on a whim. We had been on another cruise in Ireland, England and France earlier that year. For reasons not relevant here, we really felt like we needed to do another cruise soon, and my "cruise director/travel agent" walked into my study one day shortly after we returned home from that cruise and said, I think we "need" to book this cruise. Probably the nearest time to the cruise departure we have ever booked, we decided to take the "Italian Riviera" cruise. As we have done a few times in the past, we would be on our own on this one. But I think we profited from it being so soon after Covid, as the ship was not full, and we got a pretty good price for the cruise. So, we went.
we got a too-brief exposure to one of the most beautiful places on earth: Cinque Terre
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| Riomaggiore, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved |
THE POINT of this long, possibly irrelevant, recap of two prior cruises was that, though it was probably one of our best ever cruises, we also got a too-brief exposure to one of the most beautiful places on earth: Cinque Terre. I will add an opinionated thought, here. In the past several months, I have often read (mostly on FB pages) questions and plans for the La Spezia stop. I think Celebrity contributes to a lot of what I consider "bad" plans for this stop (by designating is as "For Piza and Florence"). It's really not. Piza is 50 miles and Florence about 100 miles from the La Spezia cruise terminal. In my opinion, a minimum of 5 hours in traffic to see these sights. In contrast, Riomaggiore, the first of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre, is about 3.5 miles by train. It is a 5-minute ride to the train station from the port entrance (or 20-30-minute walk). An all-day train pass is 18 euros. The time between stops is just minutes, and the trains run all day. As the pictures show, this is an enchanting series of stops.
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| Manarola, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved |
"FIVE LANDS." That is what I believe the words: "Cinque Terre" translate to in English. There are 5 villages that make up Cinque Terre. Four of them are all built into the Italian Riviera's rough mountainsides. Of those four, three have small, rustic, and very picturesque seaports. There are restaurants with fresh food, and shops along the narrow single street leading down to the waterfront. We have only been to three of the 5. On the 2019 trip, we weren't as well-prepared, and our group of 6 people only made it to one of them (Manarola). We didn't know about the train setup until after we arrived in Manarola. We probably (perhaps inadvertently) made the correct choice since we would only visit one of the villages. It was the easiest to get to and to walk in (less steep than the others). It is also commonly thought that it is the most photogenic of the 5 (though I might disagree). For this trip, though, I was prepared. I had read that of the five villages, three of them were the most photogenic. My plan was to visit and photograph all 3. I think seeing all 5 in one day-stop is possible, but maybe a bit much if you are trying to get a feel for them.
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| Manarola, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
I GOT off the ship at the first possible opportunity (alone) and made plans to meet up with the other 5 of our group in one of the villages, once they got going. I wanted to explore, make sure I got to all three of my planned destinations, and take photos. It was a learning experience, and if you are a serious photographer, you may want to read my more detailed account on my LightCentricPhotograpy Blog, here.
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| Riomaggiore, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved |
I STARTED in Riomaggiore, the southernmost, and closet village to La Spezia. Manarola was the second, and since I had been there and was anxious to have the early light, Riomaggiore was the logical first stop. I remembered Manarola as being but a short walk from the train platform, and though somewhat steeply downhill, not to taxing. So I was a caught just a bit off guard, when I realized that Riomaggiore was a bit of a walk into the village, and then pretty steeply down to water using a series of stairs. I actually found a back stairway and took it down (later returning up the main pathway).
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| Riomaggiore, Italy (the back way in) Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved PER OUR pre-arranged plan, the other 5 in our group got moving and my wife texted me that they were headed for Manarola, so I met them there. After spending some time there, 2 elected to head back to the ship. 4 of us went on to the third village: Vernazza. I had read that Corniglia was tucked up into the mountains but did not have a seaport. I wanted to get the boats and water into my pictures, so given time constraints, I elected to skip Corniglia. I will probably plan to go there on the next La Spezia stop we make. Likewise, the last village is Monterosso al mare (meaning Monterosso "by the sea"). It looks interesting, but flatter, and perhaps more of a beach destination. Since we have (and will again) seen other similar spots, I once again ruled it out based on the time available. So, Vernazza, it was.  Riomaggiore, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved VERNAZZA, TO me, seemed a little flatter, a little easier to access, and notably more "commercial - touristy." But still, worth the trip and I made some nice photographs there.  Vernazza, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
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