Jasmine's 2011 Trip: La Spezia, Cinque Terra

I found an apartment that offered dorms for women called the Corner House, not far from the station in La Spezia. I arrived a couple of hours early and no one was there, so I stopped by a restaurant to have dinner and celebrate my first night in Italy. La Spezia is a quiet and historical town, and it seems like people mostly visit on their way to Cinque Terra or Pisa. When I got back to the apartment, the owner was there and let me in. With my rudimentary Spanish I was able to understand most of what he was saying in Italian. I mentioned why I was there and he told me all I needed to do was go back to the station and get a Cinque Terre card for ten euro. The card grants access to the park, including train rides and the trails that connect the towns. Later, a couple of girls that were staying in the apartment that night mentioned some of the paths were closed for safety reasons.
The next day I went to the station, got the card, and took the train into the park and began at the first town, Riomaggiore. After looking around a bit, I hiked to the next town, Manarola, on the Via Dell Amore, or Path of Love, where it seems couples go and leave padlocks representing their love for one another. I wasn't able to hike further that day, the trails were closed. I took a lot of pictures, but again I don't think they do the towns justice. For the most part, each of them had a main street with shops that were geared towards the tourists, but you can explore the side streets and get a more authentic feel of the towns. There have been people living in these locations for thousands of years, and you can see arches of older buildings have been filled in to be incorporated into newer buildings. My favorite town was Corniglia, and I can't really say why, probably because it was the most isolated and filled with fewest tourists.
I got back that night pretty tired and happy to have made the trip, and I highly recommend it.

Leaving Nice, early in the morning.