A long day so the alarm at 6am woke us from a deep sleep. Up for a very liquid breakfast in an attempt to hydrate then down to the Vista at 7:10am to meet Laura, who'd managed to grab the last available tour ticket. John therefore stayed on board to do the laundry.
We were Green #8 – one of 5 coaches on a Princess Tour to the coastal villages known collectively as Cinque Terre.
After just over an hour's drive (plus a 15 minute motorway comfort stop), we picked up a local guide at La Spezia and then left the coach after a drive up and out of La Spezia then down again, but not quite to sea level. We walked down a series of very steep steps to village number 1, Manarola, then down the street itself . We managed excellent ice creams, cherry for me of course and yoghurt for Paula. With 200 Sea Princess cruisers boosting the numbers, it was fairly crowded on the sea front and we had a few minutes before boarding a modern boat. As it was a coastal run, 80% of the passengers camped on the starboard side to exercise their i-pads, tablets and cameras.
We passed Corniglia (photo opportunity only), calling at the Vernazza harbour for another photo opportunity, en route for Monterosso, where we had a long stop. Almost too long. We were there at 11:10am and after a bit of a guided tour, we ended up at the oldest wine shop in the region for a tasting, with free time then until 1:55pm.
After wandering up and around, we ended up not far from our meeting point – at not long after 12 and opted for a bite, a drink and a much needed sit down in the shade. Wolfgang and Danielle looked suitably comfortable with their choice so we sat alongside and ordered a glass of fresh lemon each plus a cheeseburger for me, a salami wrap for Paula. Laura joined us and she too had lemon (a bit sharp, but refreshing) plus a salad. The total bill was €27 – but they didn't accept credit cards. Drat.
Whilst sitting there relaxing, I was spotted by one of our ex-race series friends from NZ! A quick chat to Jeff Page and his wife then we basically killed time. Whilst Paula looked into a souvenir shop on the road up and out, there was the sound of some rather good piano music coming down the tunnel to the next bay. We elected to walk up and found this excellent pianist, Stelian, so naturally, we bought his CD (volume 3) at €10. Obviously home produced and not even a printed label on the CD. (*When we returned home, we found that it was the wrong CD...) This road led to another much larger bay with 100's of beach umbrellas and was obviously the resort area.
Back to the railway arches to meet the group – then we trouped all the way back up the hill again and to the railway station! We'd already left our Cinque Terre guide at the wine tasting and we were back with our original guide – who just happens to be the Florence expert. She was not overly conversant with Monterosso as we found out, when she eventually realised we were on the wrong platform! A quick shuffle over to the right one and just one station back down the line to Vernazza again.
Once again, we basically killed time and struggled to find any shade, eventually settling for the kerbside, a shared yoghurt ice cream and then a can of coke, overpriced at €2.50.
We were then happy to get back to the railway station – but our guide disappeared in the melee around the steps, so we just joined a couple of the other Sea Princess tour groups, confident that as long as we were within sight of a guide, we'd be OK. The train, by the time 200 Princess passengers plus a load from an MSC ship had piled aboard, was somewhat crowded, but we only had two stops – back through Monterosso again – and then to our waiting coaches.
The winding narrow roads out were real challenge for a coach driver and at a couple of places, there just wasn't enough room. Oh did we cheer when an impatient Mercedes driver overtook, only to find that the road ahead was blocked by traffic coming the other way, trying to let the coach in front get through! On several occasions, traffic had to back up and it seems that although many Italians are very brisk driving forwards, quite a few are less than adept at reversing.
Anyway, back to the ship, weary but overall fairly happy with the day. We saw the villages but the hot sun made it tiring. Those who went to Florence found it even hotter. Back on board at 5:45pm, first call was a cold drink from the fridge then a shower.
Open dining and for the chef's special up in the Horizon Court, he was cooking pans of fresh, large scallops. (Eat your heart out, Kiwi seafood fans back home!) The fresh roast turkey in the carvery and several other delicious choices were just what we needed, then down to the atrium for a vanilla coffee whilst the ship's orchestra had a very successful Dixieland set, which seemed very popular.
On then to the theatre and an opportunity to thank Uliana and Oleg for their dance performances the previous two nights. The feature act was another one new to us (in fact, this was their first Princess gig). Five smart young guys from Liverpool, called Ukebox. Yup, ukuleles. A bass, a tenor, two soprano ukuleles and a banjolele. What a great act this was. Very professional and a great show. Well worth a 9/10 – but I am biased. Talking to them afterwards, they were really enjoying the Sea Princess and far preferred it to the Holland America ships they'd been on before. They are on again tomorrow night, so we'll be seeing them again.
Cannes tomorrow and another warm, quiet day for us expected – but with the British GP broadcast live on Channel 24 at 2pm, I know where I'll be…
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