Our Wakes: 2016

North Italian Coast Province of Liguria (1-7 May 2016) While we were preparing our stopovers in Italy we were impatient to discover many places as the guides describe them as very beautiful. Our first stops were in the city of Degli Aregai and Porto di Imperia. Those two marinas are not very impressive, but offer reasonable prices compared to other marinas. While moored in Imperia, we made a side trip to the caves of Toirano.  You can only visit the caves with a guide who will explain the history of the caves as well as the various traces of prehistoric man and bears that lived in the caves. If you happen to be close to the city of Loano, we recommend that  you visit the caves. After the cave visit we had a long journey (60 miles) to Portofino. This place is considered by many as the Italian equivalent of the French city of St Tropez. In the past, famous Italian celebrities loved to go there and cruise along the coast in a Riva motorboat. If you visit the place, I recommend that you visit it by ferry. You will avoid the traffic jams on the road, but will see the many luxurious houses around Portofino. After Portofino, we moved to La Spezia to visit the place of the five lands called “Cinque Terre” in Italian. In fact this place is a series of five villages (Riomaggioré, Manorola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Montorosso) located between Portofino and La Spezia. These villages are interesting to see as they are built on the mountain and have preserved the original look. In the past, these villages earned their living not only from fishing but also from the cultivation of olives and grapes, but today it is more fish and chips or pizzas. You can visit the places by boat, but we decided to visit them by train. The Italian Railway offers you a special pass allowing you to visit the 5 villages by stepping on the train that connects the 5 villages by tunnels carved into the mountains. If you want to visit the place, make sure you are fit, as there is a lot of climbing on the menu. Please note that you will not be the only tourist. Even on weekdays, this place is very crowded. After our stopover in La Spezia, we hoisted the sails and set off  towards Nice as we had an appointment end of May with two good friends.