A trip to the sea ...

Since coming to Barga, we have heard tell of the Cinque Terre, the "five lands" or villages that lie on he Ligurian coast just to the north of La Spezia..  The five villages have historically been very inaccessible, but in the 19th century were joined to the outside world by a coastal railway, which is mostly housed in tunnels.  To this day, the villages are much more accessible by train than by car. However, like the villages in our own area, they are well connected by various old mule trails, now kept up as hiking trails.  They are mostly composed of steps!

A good weather forecast spurred us on to visit the Cinque Terre over the last couple of days.  This post describes the rail journey from Barga to Aulla, then Carrara, then to Monterosso the first of the five villages.

We knew there was to be a change in the weather all over, but it was so warm when we got to Monterosso that we felt as if we'd arrived in foreign land!

Promise of a fine day at Barga station ...

Dramatic backdrop to the town of Equi Terme high up in the Serchio valley ...

... and farther up still

Standing on the platform of Carrara station, the eye can hardly tell the difference between the summit snows on the mountains, and the white leavings of centuries of excavation of the marble for which Carrara is world famous.  Barga is beyond the mountain, about 30 miles distant.

Giant blocks of marble await shipment in this stoneyard at Carrara

We finally arrive at Monterosso, most northerly of the Cinque Terre - short sleeves!