Italy Day 2

We met for breakfast at 6:45. They steam the milk for your coffee what a treat. Lots of great fruits, yogurt cheeses and pastries.  Of course the traditional eggs, bacon and bread for toast. Very nice start for the day of fun.  

We boarded our buses to head towards La Spezia. We passed fields of sunflowers along the way. 

We boarded our boat in La Spazia, the main town in the Gulf Port of the Poets. 

“Napoleon himself defined this gulf as the most beautiful in the entire universe and the Italian poet Sem Benelli, who wrote one of his masterpieces in 1910 while staying in Lerici, first termed this place “the Gulf of the Poets”, as to remind and confirm its undeniable lure on intellectuals and writers.”

 The boat ride was a guided excursion along the Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre features 5 fishing villages and we visited 3 of them. Each very unique and set against the craggy hillsides of the azure Mediterranean. 

On our way to  our first stop we saw a lot of historical sites. We passed the La Spezia Naval Base. Napoleon Bonaparte was the first to conceive the idea of building a great arsenal in the Gulf of Spezia. It has  years of history even during the Second World War. Today it is the home to the 1st Naval Division. 

A few other sites along the way. 

Our first stop was Vernazza a small fishing village. We only stopped for about 45 minutes so just enough time for our first Gelato! 

Peach Gelato 😋 

While eating the Gelato we saw a bridal party. If you remember most of our travels we have encountered at least one wedding party. 

We boarded our boat and headed to Monterosso. It is another of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre. We had an hour and forty-five minutes here so we went in search of a restaurant. Very small Italian restaurant Teverna Galin. 

Caprese 

Stuffed Mussels 

SPAGHETTI AL GALIN (FRUTTI DI MARE)

SPAGHETTI AL RAGU

RISOTTO GAMBERI E FIORI DI ZUCCHINE

TROFIE AL PESTO E PATATE

Group picture 

Back to board the boat to head to Portovenere also written Porto Venere. This was where you could swim or shop. We chose shopping and more gelato. 

Back in the boat to head back to La Spezia. Our guides asked for us to sing one of the songs we would be singing so another informal practice for us. 😉

Then back to the bus for ride back to out hotel.  Long day hot and tired so making it an early evening to rest and recharge for tomorrow. We have our first official concert tomorrow afternoon in Florence. 

Here are a few pictures from our first night rehearsal. 

Ciao 🥰