After having a nice continental breakfast at the hotel this morning, we hoped a train to Riomaggiore… the southern (eastern) most town of the Cinque Terre - the 5 villages that make up this section of the Italian Riviera.
From there we walked along the ocean high up on a cliff, on a trail called the Via del Amore. This is the trail that lovers from the town of Rio, and the neighboring town of Manarola took to be together. For yearrs, lovers have placed padlocks along the trail to symbolize their commitment to each other. There were thousands of them! It was beautiful, and near the end we sat down for a cappuccino at a little café right there on the cliff while an accordion player accompanied us...very romantic.
In Manarola, we walked the small town and stopped in to sample a Frinatta - a chickpea “bread” that is served like a slice of pizza. It was okay, but Joanie and I both wished we ordered the one flavored with pesto.
From Manarola, we hopped on a ferry boat, sailing past Corniglia, docking in Vernazza to unload a few passengers, and then disembarking in the town of Monterosso. We walked this largest of the Cinque Terre towns pretty thoroughly, and finally had lunch in a café in the newer part of town off the promenade. Sat next to a couple from Finland who spoke English - had a nice time.
Then we took the 4 minute train ride back to Levanto… where we did a bit more laundry, hung out at Da Bridgata and surfed the net, and ended the evening with a nice meal of penne arribiatta and rissoto con fungi for dinner.
Levanto is actually not a part of the Cinque Terre towns but is just north, and made a very nice place to relax and have access to this very nice part of the world.
Tomorrow we leave Italy, our home for the last week or so. It‘s been a real trip for both of us - the beautiful country, the amazing history, the people, the culture, the food (albeit much of it is food catered for tourists). We have both loved it here, but now it’s time for France and beyond. Our favorite part of Italy - well Joanie and both agree that if we were to come back to Italy, we’d spend time in either Tuscany or the Amalfi coast - those were our favorite parts of Italy. Ciao!
