Venice-Bologna-Parma-Le Spezia- Cinque Terre-Le Spezia- Ventimiglia- Nice Day 9

April 8, 2010

Day 9 Venice-Bologna-Parma-Le Spezia- Cinque Terre-Le Spezia- Ventimiglia- Nice

Our first train took us to Bologna, arriving at 02:15.  We had about 2 hours at this station.  The first place we found to sit was the floor at the entrance of the train station.  It was cold and there was a mix of homeless people and other travelers scared to sleep because of the homeless people.  At least we weren't in the "homeless hallway" (my nickname for it) where there were probably about 30 people sleeping.  It was definitely warmer there, but also smellier.  I was not in a good mood since it was 2 in the morning and I was tired.  Thankfully Trevor went hunting for a better, warmer spot and found a seating area (almost full) for us to sit in.  I laid my head on my backpack (like a desk when you're in school) and tried to get some sleep.  Then at 04:15 we caught our next train to Parma and there we had another layover.  We found a seating area there too, but when we opened the door, you could automatically tell that most of the people in there were homeless.  It was warm, but smelly and I told Trevor there was no way I would stay there.  I think almost all the people (if not all of them) were men.  It was crazy.  This time we decided to spend our layover in a café drinking some thick hot chocolate and trying to stay awake until our 06:00 train to Le Spezia.  Once we arrived in Le Spezia, we searched for somewhere to store our back packs, grabbed some breakfast and then hopped on the train to Manarola, one of the 5 villages of Cinque Terre.  All 5 villages are built on cliffs and there is a walking trail linking all 5 towns.  The trail is along the coastline.  We decided to do the hike between Manarola and Vernazza (there are actually 4 trails, and we would be doing 2 of them.)  Apparently the trails get progressively harder and we were going in the direction of harder rather than easier.  Our first hike started with a somewhat difficult uphill portion, but then eased up considerably until the end where you have to climb 382 steps.  The views were incredible.  Some of the little villages could be seen from the trail and they looked so cute with their colorful houses.  The first hike didn't take us too long and we stopped for a quick snack in the village between Manarola and Vernazza, Corniglia.  Then we started the next trail.  It started automatically uphill and it seemed like it wouldn't stop.  It was crazy and the steps were high.  The trail was not flat so you had to pay attention more to the trail than the amazing views.  I was surprised how difficult the trail could be.  They warn you, but you would never guess that it was actually true.  I have to say, though, I was very impressed that no one was wearing flip flops.  I have been on too many hikes and walks where people think it's okay to have flip flops.  Here, everyone had runners or hiking shoes!  Thankfully, about 45 min into our uphill climb, the trail started to head downwards and didn't stop until we got to Vernazza!  With all the downhill, I couldn't imagine walking the trail from the other direction (even though I'm sure our direction was just as bad).  One lady along the way asked how much more uphill and I just couldn't give her false hope so I said, "Lots".  It was not very reassuring, I'm sure.  Once in Vernazza, we had a lovely lunch by the seaside where a group of 4 people sat next to us wearing Hockey Canada caps.  I couldn't help asking where they were from.  Would you believe Saskatchewan?!  Not only that, but then the people behind us chimed in that they were from Calgary!  We had a lovely chat after that about where we had been and where we were going.  It was fun talking to fellow Canadians.  After our good meal, we walked around the rocks a bit and then I headed to the beach to relax a little.  Trevor bought us some gelati and we ate it on the beach.  We then walked around some more and decided that we weren't going to do the last hike and since we were pretty much done in the village, we tried to find a train that would get us into Nice sooner.  We had already booked tickets for one of our trains to Nice and so we asked if we could change our reservation.  Apparently the only way to do that was to head back to Le Spezia.  So, since we were ready to leave, we headed back to Le Spezia.  Waiting in the train station I heard two girls singing the Teletubby song.  It was hilarious.  The train ride was really nice, with views of the sea along the way.  In Le Spezia, we lined up to ask about an earlier train and were told we don't need reservations for the next train, but it would only get us in an hour earlier to Ventimiglia (even though the train left 2.5 hours earlier).  Since we were already there, we took the train.  It was a good train because it had bench seats instead of individual seats, so we took a bench each and we were able to sleep.  We got into Ventimiglia around 22:00 and were waiting for our train into Nice when we started to realize that there might not be a train into Nice.  Trevor ran out and found some internet where he read that the French train drivers were on strike.  Now we started getting into a little bit of a trouble.  We had already booked a hotel in Nice and we didn't want to lose the money, but if we got into Nice, would we be able to get out?  At first we were going to take a taxi in to Nice with another man that needed to get there, but the fear of not getting out of Nice was causing us a bit of an issue, plus the unknown cost of the cab.  Luckily at 23:32, when our train was suppose to leave, a coach bus showed up to take all the people to Nice.  We were talking to some people and they were telling us that the strike was going on since Tuesday and that they already had had problems with the trains.  They told us to get into the train station early the next morning to find out when the next train left Nice to get us to Switzerland.  They were very helpful.  Riding to Nice, we drove through Monaco and saw some of the cool hotels and the Grand Prix track.  At around 01:30 we got into Nice.  Thankfully our hotel was right across the street from the station, so we quickly walked to the hotel and pretty much passed out as soon as we got there.