italia- La Spezia

Riomaggiore
mamma mia! i still cannot believe that I spent 17 days backpacking italy with my best friend(s). the whole experience was breathtaking and such an eye opening experience. I love to see how people live out of Missouri and out of the states in general. 

Downtown La Spezia
I will write about italy in chunks, following the path we traveled. I had first flown from St. Louis to Atlanta to Paris and then finally to Bologna, italy. from there, we caught a train and spent three nights in La Spezia, then onto a day trip to Pisa, three nights in Rome, caught a tour and stayed three nights in Sorrento, exploring the Amalfi, Positano, Anacapri, and Capri. we then continued to two nights in Naples and then to Venice. our last night was spent back in bologna. 

 La Spezia was a complete stunner. home of the Cinque Terre, we spent two of the three days beach hopping. out of the five beaches, we visited the four. starting with Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola, and Riomaggiore- skipping Corniglia. each of the pebble beaches were amazing and completely different than any beach I have ever visited. 
Monterosso

 the first night we spent in la spezia consisted of catching up with each other and settling into our airbnb. we explored the quaint little city. the city reminded me of a Hollywood set- unreal. aside from the cinque Terre, we had nothing planned for those three days, we would just walk along the streets and find different things to do. the first night, we came across a jazz festival down the street from our apartment. 
Vernazza
the second day, we began exploring the beaches, stopping first at Monterosso, which was beautiful. the water was incredibly clear and the streets lined with local artists and their watercolor paintings. we caught a train from la spezia and went from Monterosso, rented an umbrella and chair and spent the afternoon there. after we toured the small town and got lunch, we caught another train and spent the rest of the day at vernazza. vernazza was a unique beach, basically composed of a slab of concrete. once returned to our apartment, we cleaned up and spent the rest of the night out on the town. eating dinner, walking by the water and settling at a bar where locals danced and sang along to karaoke. we then went to a  twenty-four hour kebab shop where we spent the rest of the night and then returned to our apartment. 
Riomaggiore

the final day, we began our beach day at manarola. the beach was quite busy, lots of tourists and locals. it is a busy port and the majority of the boats were being brought down into the water. we then caught a train to riomaggiore and spending the rest of the day there. riomaggiore had a long, winding path down to the beach. the beach was ridden with locals and pigeons and ferries were back and forth between each of the surrounding beaches. once back in la spezia and cleaned up, we went down town to explore the city and get dinner. once dinner was finished, we walked along the water and came across a dance competition. after the competition, we found  a bar and ended the night watching fireworks over the water. 
Manarola

La Spezia was one of my favorite parts of my entire Italian adventure. the city, the food, and the beaches were magnificent. I would 10/10 recommend staying in la spezia and visiting the cinque Terre, taking in the unique beaches, stunning architecture, and gorgeous scenery. 
until next time xx 
-thats so lillian 

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