DAY 11

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Cinque Terre here I come! I have been excited to see these five lands for many years. But, first things first. We stopped in Carrera to visit a marble quarry. It was very interesting to see the hillsides of marble and learn the process of extracting it. Our guide's father and grandfather once worked in the quarrys, it was a very tough job. 

 

Once back on the bus we drove to Porto Venere. We had hoped to take a boat ride from here to the Cinque Terre but the seas were too rough. Our awesome bus driver then drove us to the next village, Levanto, where we caught a train to Monterosso, our home for the next two nights.

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Monterosso is the largest of the five lands and after we got settled in our rooms, it was off to a fabulous seafood feast. This tour had the most amazing food in restaurants that I would never have gone to if I was traveling independently. Thanks Rick Steves!

The evening ended with a leisurely stroll along the promenade, listening to live music while watching the waves slowly roll onto the sand.​​​

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DAY 12

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Today is all ours to explore this beautiful place. Insert happy face :) My goal was to see all five lands and I found five of our group to join me! We each bought a day pass so we could use the trains all day. Cristina recommended we start with the furthest village, Riomaggiore, and then work our way back to Monterosso.

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The train line wasn't too long as we waited to board for Riomaggiore, but it was still morning. We walked the main road, looked in some shops and climbed up a steep set of stairs to view the town from above, then it was back to the train station. We still had a busy day ahead. Manarola was next and it was time to find a cold drink and do more strolling. By now we were all hungry so we decided to eat in the next village, Corniglia.

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Corniglia is high in the mountain and accessible by 345 steps or a mini bus, we took the mini bus.  We then found some arrows painted on a rock wall that said 'viewpoint' and I am so glad we followed them. We found  a secluded restaurant with a wonderful view of the town. Check out the panorama on top of this page. The spaghetti with clams was excellent.

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Duty calls and there was still another village to explore. At the train station there was a delay as the train before ours broke down, clogging the track.  An hour had passed and it was starting to get very hot, but don't despair because suddenly the train started to move! Our train pulled up and we were on our way to Vernazza. The crowds were congested in town but gelato was the cure for the crowded town blues. We found a quiet place by the harbor to people watch and enjoy our treat.

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We did it! All five lands explored. Back in Monterossa we found out about an impending Italian train strike and Cristina work diligently to find Sue and I a way to get to our post-tour journey. (More on that later). After resting a bit we joined some other travel friends for dinner. I had Farinata, chickpea pizza with pesto. It was a long day, but so satisfying.

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Tomorrow is our last day of the tour....insert sad face :(​

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