Our ultimate love                 Italy

Mid May 2018

Pisa - La Spezia - Cinque Terre - Genoa

Again another dream of ours. One day surfing on internet, I came across interesting headline that was a starting point for this trip. It was around Christmas time, and I read top 10 places to visit in the world. Cinque Terre, Italy. That is not far, I thought to myself and suggested our little  and one big traveler this plan. But it was Christmas, probably would have been a bit cold, way too busy for shopping or exploring. So we decided to leave this thought till spring maybe, because I believe Italy and especially places we were going to visit need to be seen in hot weather. It is the beauty of any country. Warm sunny weather. So it was May. I planned this trip to the best of my ability and in advance that does not happen often because we love traveling on the spot. Cinque Terre we are on our way. Less than 2 hour flight to Pisa and our journey started. My second time in Italy (first was when I was 20 together with my lovely mum) and I did not forget anything. I still found the tower. Leaning tower of Pisa, the rest of my family were impressed. With tower, not my ability to find it. They were speechless, especially my eldest daughter (that does not happen often) who just could not understand why it was not falling. The whole Piazza dei Miracoli is magical. I think for most people it is hard to find words to describe the beauty of Italy. If I ever have a chance to spend my life in Italy I will not say NO. Well actually it is rivalry between any part of Italy and Porto. So having spent enough time admiring Pisa, we took a train (yes yet another one) to La Spezia. Tourist hot spot and the best place for visiting Cinque Terre. We had a lovely airbnb apartment rented for our stay. Have to admit and tell you the truth, we did not explore La Spezia much, cos our aim was Cinque Terre, but from what we saw, it is as beautiful as any corner of Italy. So the apartment was nice and spacious typical italian but with a modern twist, host was excellent, but our thoughts were Cinque Terre or 5 villages or lands - Monterosso, Vernaza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. All of them easily accessible by train of course which takes 2 to 5 minutes between them. If it had been just me and my husband and maybe my eldest daughter, we probably would have walked from one to another - yes it is possible, but with 2 year old that idea did not seem that great. So train it was. Cinque Terre is something out of this world, its coastline, tasty fish and chips, calmness (even though it is heaving with tourists), gelato and sunshine. If you ever get a chance, catch it. Catch a trip to Cinque Terre, you will not regret it. I promise. After Cinque Terre, our next stop was Genoa. Lovely old Genoa. Old in the best possible meaning of this word.  For me it was undiscovered beauty. Narrow streets (where you literally can stand between two buildings and touch them both) and port with surrounding mountains. For me it was love at first sight. Modern mixed with ancient. The main street was busy and vibrant, young generation, art and university. Check out the best kebab shop in the whole Genoa - King Kebab 91 Via Balbi. And then you get lost deep into old town and discover another world. Different nationalities and cultures mixed into one, blended and created totally different world that invites you and you never want to leave. Shops, cafes, markets, gelaterias and atmosphere. It is a bubble you wish you dont let go. Genoa was something different. Italy was something special. And we are already planning our next trip there.