Porto Venere is not officially a Cinque Terra entity... it is disqualified on the basis of being too large... and too vulnerable to attack. But if measured on historical significance... charm... and grandeur ... Porto, Venere can match it with any of the special five.
This morning we were in a quandary ... having done all the major walks... explored all the quaint villages... ridden the tunnels... what else was there to do? Kate, our landlady, had recommended the boat trip past the the Cinque Terra towns to the next town on its own peninsula... Porto Venere. Our only commitment for the day was to meet our Tasmanian friends... Hazel and Meredith... for dinner... so we followed Kate's recommendation.
We were surprised by the large numbers of people using the boat. We had experienced large numbers of tourists on the trains... but hadn't realised the boat numbers were also high. It would seem that tourist travel to the Cinque Terra towns, by one mode of transport (say, trains)... have a cup of coffee... walk the streets... carrying their walking poles... walking gloves... mountain boots... backpacks with hydration tubes over each shoulder... then catch another form of transport (say, boat) back to their apartment... never setting a foot on the walking trails. All this time, we thought we were just lucky in avoiding the crowds on the trail... but half of these tourists are posers... fakes... pretenders... who have never had the intention of breaking into a sweat... but want a portfolio of photos that suggest otherwise!
Portoe Venere has some 12th century buildings in an excellent state of repair. The English version of the brochures had run out... so we still don't know who was attacking who... what treasure was at stake... who had God on their side. The fortifications were so large that it wasn't a local job... probably the building was sponsored by some empire... probably the Genoans throwing their money around trying to keep the cultured Venicians at bay. Anyway, the builders did a great job with fortification... just hope they worked.
Tonight we met Hazel and Meredith to celebrate Meredith's birthday. We met them on the Balkans packaged tour... and have accidentally bumped into them a couple of times thereafter. We had an enjoyable meal. Tomorrow, they will travel in our car (if we can all fit) down to Lucca... they will then catch a bus up to Lake Como... and we will head towards Rome.
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