23 May Ventimiglia to La Spezia

After a very comfortable night in our "emergency" hotel in Ventimiglia we breakfasted early and set off at about 7.30am for the station with a bit of trepidation hoping that the trains were running again.  They were and wecaught the train we planned to La Spezia.  It was only a local train and stopped at about every station so the whole trip was ove 5 hours but at least we did not have to change trains on the way.  At some stages the train got very busy so our luggage was a bit of a nuisance but we got there OK.  The hotel was literally a one minute walk from the station, our room was not ready so we dumped our stuff at the hotel, and the concierge gave us a timetable for the trains to Cinque Terre so we headed off straight away.  At the station we ran into some Aussies from Perth who were caught like us in Ventimiglia but they tried to get here on buses, it took them 21 hours and many changes of transport!  I am glad we did not try that.  We took the train to Monterosso which is the most northerly village of Cinque Terra, had a bit of a look round, then took a boat ride which then sailed back down the coast to each of the other villages.  Very spectacular scenery, and we got off at Riomaggiore, had a wander round and then caught a train back to La Spezia.  We will head off soon to find somewhere to eat and then get ready to travel to Florence tomorrow, it's only about two hours away.