We woke up and finalized our packing. I pre-scheduled an Uber ride to the train station for us, so we were hustling to be on time for our ride. After we gathered all of our gear we made our way downstairs and outside to the front of the hotel to wait for ours ride. Our hotel is on a one-way alley so if any car stops, then the rest of the cars have to wait. We saw our Uber van pulling up but he got stuck behind another car and started honking. It was awkward for a minute, but when he got around them we loaded up really fast and were on our way.
After about a 15 minute winding trip through Milan we arrived at a deserted and inconspicuous doorway to a train station. As our driver drove away, shrinking into the distance, it felt like we had been left in the wrong place. But we went inside and saw there were definitely train schedules on the wall in this dark hallway. We checked our train and platform number. I picked up both our 50lb suitcases and made like a Crossfit workout and charged my way up the rather long staircase to the train platform. At the top of the platform there was no shade and also no people at all.
We were near some apartment complexes and some graffiti covered walls, but there were no signs of life at all around there. I guess that's how it is near the train tracks in Milan? Since there was no shade structure around we sat on the stairs to get a little shade from the staircase wall. We hung out for awhile watching as other trains zoomed by and one passenger or two got off occasionally.
When our train arrived we got on with our luggage and found one of the many open double seats. None of the trains we booked allowed for reserved seating unfortunately. I put our luggage up on the top rack and we sat down. This leg of the train journey would be a short one. Actually it turned out to be very short. We were at the next station in about 10 minutes. Hindsight would have just had us Uber to the 2nd station and skip the first train, but we had no idea what we were doing.
At the next station we got off and went downstairs to check the platform assignments. Unfortunately the way I bought my tickets, through the Omio app, did not provide ongoing status updates for the trip. After finding our platform I grabbed our suitcases and we headed over to the next waiting point. We were assigned to platform 11 which was like 5 platforms over. The train pulled up and we got on and realized this train had more people and less seats. Panic set in pretty fast when we got on that train and we started to sprint down the aisle with 2 suitcases and 2 backpacks looking for a worthy seat pair to occupy. When I saw a row that was open I would ask the neighbors if we could sit there and then I would look ahead and say "one second" as I looked for an even better option. I kept upgrading our possible seating scenario as we continued through multiple trains. We finally reached one of the front train cars and there were ample amounts of open seats. We setup shop and put our luggage up on the top rack. This leg of the train ride was about 90 minutes long. I spent some of the time blogging when the internet was working, but mostly just daydreaming. The Italian countryside was nice and full of hedgerows and farms.
We pulled up to our 3rd transfer point in Genova at the Genova Brignole station. As we exited the train we immediately noticed how much busier this station was compared to the last two. We only had about 15 minutes before the next train so we went downstairs as before to check the train schedules and platform assignments. I could not find our train number on any of the boards. So we continued through the station to the main ticketing area and the huge board on the wall of all train arrivals and departures. Still no luck in finding our train number or platform assignment on the board. We saw a little information booth and headed there to inquire about our ticket. The nice lady in the booth explained that since we booked our ticket so far in advance that the train has now been cancelled and we can take an alternative route to Riomaggiore. She basically told us the next two trains to get on and that I didn't have to buy a new ticket for the trip. And actually at no point in our entire journey has anyone asked us for our ticket.
We made our way to the platform for the train she told us to take. We anxiously waited as a few other trains stopped at our platform and people loaded and unloaded. When our train pulled up we realized this was a new train model with different seating and cargo storage. We struggled our way again to find a pair of seats that worked for us and our luggage. We finally settled on some sideways seating facing one another across the aisle. We had to put our luggage on the seat next to us because the storage shelf was too narrow for our suitcases. It was pretty frustrating. At this point the regret of booking this train trip become more apparent. I would suggest if you ever plan to go to Riomaggiore or any Cinque Terre locations, you do not take a larger suitcase. If you can travel with one large bag that you can carry and not have to stow then that will make your life easier. Or if you can afford it, drive, or rent a driver.
The next stop was not far along the coastline to Sestri Lavante station. We hopped off and yet again looked for our platfrom on the train board. After finding out our location we dragged our luggage along the busy tunnel passed the snack machines and up the next set of stairs to the platform to wait. It was really busy on this platform as well. The anxiety of the last train seating situation was causing us both to stress out a bit but as the train pulled up we charged our way on and found a four pack of seats in a nook by the exit where nobody else was. So we setup our luggage and relaxed for the last leg of our train journey to Riomaggiore.
We pulled up to Riomaggiore and exited in a cool and windy stone tunnel. It was quite nice actually compared to the rest of the stations on our trip. We paused and let the massive crowd push past us so that I could take a photo from the tunnel that included the sign and less people blocking the view.
We exited the tunnel and the railway area to go find the person our hotel had arranged for us to meet. We continued out of the station and to the right over by the tourist info booth. (We'll leave out the part where I went the wrong way and climbed about 100yards up a very steep driveway at first with all our luggage) We stood there for about 30 seconds when a man approached and confirmed he was our contact. He took Deanna's 50lb suitcase and hoisted it on his shoulder and began a very swift pace through a long underwater like tunnel walkway that lead through the mountain to Riomaggiore. Along the walls of this tunnel were lots of mosaic tile artwork, it was cool to see.
I followed suit and hoisted my 50lb suitcase over my shoulder and struggled to keep up with the pace of our helper. Deanna kept looking back at me like "wtf" as he was nearly sprinting ahead of us and we were lagging behind. The tunnel was very crowded with people heading in both directions and some folks weaving in and out of the slower people in the path. When we reached the end of this tunnel we immediately started down a flight of winding stairs that were thick with other travelers. We had no idea where and how far we were going, but just kept on chasing our helper.
With the amount of people and the amount of stairs on this path I now know why he put the suitcase over his head. The idea of dragging my suitcase along this walkway seems like an impossible feat.
We continued down the stairs and through a rustic and narrow concrete hallway which opened to the waterfront area of Riomaggiore. We could immediately see the Sea and marina ahead of us, but we still had more stairs to go down and more crowds to pass. We kept on and on through the marina to another set of stairs that lined the left side of the area and began going up. These stairs were pretty steep and lugging a 50lb suitcase above my head along with the 30lb backpack I was wearing made for a sweaty endeavor. We finally reached the top of these stairs and our helper opened a private gate which lead to yet another, steeper set of stairs. We started up those stairs and about 3/4 of the way up that flight I finally need a brief break. I dropped the suitcase to the step and took a breather. Our helper kept going up the next little flight to our door. I picked up the suitcase and caught up to him and Deanna. I was dripping sweat at this point. I looked at our helper an he didn't have a drop of sweat on him and wasn't breathing hard at all. He gave us a brief overview of the room and property and left us alone.
We finally arrived in Riomaggiore!
We setup our bags in the room and dried off from all the travel and stair climbing. After that we went outside and had a sunset photo shoot from one of our many private terraces on the property. We truly have the best location in all of Riomaggiore. Down below our property is a small bar near the peak of the stair path that people congregate on to take photos. We hung out on our terrace as the sun set in the Cinque Terre and everyone in town applauded in approval. What a lovely way to arrive here.
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| This is our first hot and sweaty photo as we arrived |
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| Our fridge gets restocked with beer, soda, juice and water. 1 free prosecco bottle on arrival |
We made reservations for dinner at a local "michelin suggested" restaurant called Dau Cila which was just a few steps away from the water in the main Marina area. Our reservation wasn't for a couple hours so we decided to wander around a little and then have a couple aperol spritz at a small café. The cafe was cute and built into what felt like a cave. The only thing I didn't love was the smoking people sitting at the table near us. But that is pretty common in Europe so it is what it is...
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| My view from the cave while having drinks |
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| Aperol Spritz all day every day |
When our dinner time approached we went up to Dau Cila and noticed that a couple girls were waiting by the entrance. They were speaking English and informed a passing server of their reservation to which they quickly told them to hold on. That was enough for me to realize we should just be silent and wait for them to talk to us. This restaurant has pretty mixed reviews so we went into it expecting interesting service. We stood on a step sort of out of the way of the servers and greeting area, there was not clear cut greeter station so we went with a guess as to where we should wait. After they took the girls in front of us we stood there for what felt like 15 minutes, but was probably only 5. Then they spoke to us and lead us to a seat. We had a nice view of the marina and uphill a little with the buildings nearby.
We ordered a bottle of wine to start out. For dinner Deanna ordered the Sea Bass with vegetables, I ordered the cheese and pork pesto ravioli, and we had a calamari and vegetable fried appetizer. Overall the food wasn't bad, but definitely not something to rave about. The service was indeed pretty poor. At one point we saw our waitress across the town square smoking a cigarette with folks from a nearby bar. I just imagined she didn't wash her hands after that and came back and started touching plates and things with her smokey hands. But maybe she washed her hands and everything is fine.
After dinner we went on a stroll up the city center. We picked up 2 aperol spritz to take along with us and a bottle of wine for later. We found some cute little shops with trinkets and in one store we bought a risotto jar kit with truffles for making back at home.
We were both still up and getting ready for bed around 1am when all of the power went out. We looked outside and saw that the entire Riomaggiore town was pitch black. Not a light in site. It was quite bizarre, but we found out that it was a planned outage to repair some damage from the recent thunderstorms in the area. No big deal, but after a few minutes of silence and blackness we heard a rather large thumping bass coming from the distance. With no air conditioning we had the window open and over the roaring ocean waves we could distinctly make out what seemed to be a pretty large sound system playing electronic music. On top of that, there were constant chanting, hollering and cheering to accompany that music. Normally I'm up for that sort of festivity, but at this point in our travels, we just wanted to sleep. I managed to mentally put myself in a burning man state of mind so I could fall asleep with all the ruckus, but I know Deanna struggled to sleep and eventually on her massive exhaustion put her to sleep for the night. At one point I was so curious what was going on that I was going to go investigate but with the power being out, I probably would not have been able to get back into the property due to the electric locks.
That is the end of Day 4. Thanks for reading!
Remember all photos will be linked here: Full Photo Dump