Cinque Terre & Massa 15/7

Nice to La Spezia 15/7 - Twin share room L’ancore Hotel

Woke up hungover, omelette for breakfast with Dani, check out of hostel and we trained it for 5 hours. Brushed up on my Italian. Got a fine for not validating the ticket I had just bought. Smelly, old, hot and sweaty train – Welcome to Italy.

Bus’d up the massive windy hill with Dani to her hostel, that didn’t have any spare beds for me, so after she checked-in we caught a bus down to Riomaggoire, I managed to find a nice room for 70euro, then we went and had dinner by the water. Dani caught the bus to her hostel, and I wandered around by myself for an hour taking photos then went to bed.

Riomaggoire to Massa 16/7 - Twin share room Hotel Scandinavia

Dani woke me up and we took the train to Corniglia, then hiked all the way to the top of the town and through it past vineyards to a kiosk where we bought tickets to the national park walk.

We started on our trek in the heat through some greenery which eventually faded into drier scenery, we randomly bump into Jane from our hostel in Nice on the first night. After an hour or so of trekking and sweating we relaxed on the beach of Montorosso. Bumped into Jane again at the station, and caught the train back to Riomaggiore where I parted ways with Dani.

Arrived in Rio, because I had checked out of my accommodation I had to use a public toilet on the street… which was a porcelain hole in the ground for japs, with little light and no toilet paper. I used my damp jocks from swimming and threw them in the bin. I felt pretty disgusting, from the sweat and sunscreen.

Caught the train to La Spezia then to Massa, was going to catch the bus, but an Italian guy Marchello, said he would walk with me, had a good broken English/Italian conversation with him and walk for around 2 kilometres, until he got where he needed to be and instructed me to catch the bus.
I waited for 10minutes and caught it to the nearest stop.

The hotel receptionist seemed to know Evan well, when I mentioned his name, he gladly gave me a key to his room and free wifi. I found his room, showered, and messaged Evan to let him know I was there. When he got to the room he rushed me to the next hotel as we were to meet up with his work mates Geoff and Adam.

We had a few beers at the hotel bar, and exchanged stories of travel, work and conquests. Geoff was almost like an identical me only 10 years older. His connections in offshore Oil and Gas were huge, he was a great bloke to meet.
We went out and had dinner and a few more drinks where he told more almost unbelievable stories, but because of his money and personality you knew they were all true.

Massa daytrip to Pisa 17/7 - Twin share room Hotel Scandinavia

Evan took me downstairs to a quick buffet breakfast, then I got a lift from Geoff to catch a train to Pisa. Whilst I was waiting for the train I bought some Vanilla cigars and brushed up more on my Italian.

Arrived in Pisa and caught the right bus to Piazza Pisa, I roamed around and took a lot of photos, but the ticket queue for the climb the tower of Pisa was a 3hour wait. So I bought some lunch and a jet lighter and chilled out on the grass by the Tower.

Caught the train and bus back to Massa where I practiced my l’italiano on an Italian hotty on the bus, for the most part it worked too. I went for a ride down the main beach road, and after a few kilometres I stopped and checked out one of the hotels on the beach… it was a family hotel, so I bailed and rode back up to the hotel to put some swimmers on. The whole beach was like Sorrento in summer, but nothing but teenagers, families and the occasional young couple. Strolling up the beach after a swim didn’t change that.

So I rode up the street and eventually found a Harvey Norman Italian equivalent, and bought a sim card for my phone for 20euro… only to discover my phone had not been unlocked when I had it replaced. FML

I got back to the hotel and piss farted around with a live chat Telstra operator who unlocked it, but then it meant I had to back it up and restore to factory settings. After an hour or so it was time to go out for dinner, so I just used it as a blank phone with internet and sms.

Evan, Geoff and myself went out for dinner in Forte dei Marmi, about a 15minute drive away, I helped Evan buy an expensive shirt for the Beach Club in Massa. 

Geoff didn’t have a belt so I gave him mine, we then met other Australians from Geoffs hotel and had more beers with them. Geoff and that must have left as they had work the next morning, but Evan was keen to keep drinking. Found Evan at the bar talking to some Russians. I found some Italians and then we ended up leaving on Evans bike, where I was dinked the entire 20minute ride home on the handlebars. Danergous, adventurous and entertaining night.