We packed up from the hotel near Florence and headed out to Cinque Terre. I was very excited – I had been looking forward to this day since the tour agenda had been published. We had a pretty long drive but saw some nice countryside – lots of olive trees and vineyards as well as marble quarries in Carrara and lots of marble yards with HUGE pieces of marble waiting to be cut and shipped out. It was pretty neat!
We arrived at Cinque Terre (Spezia actually) and walked from the bus to the train station. Everywhere seems to be about a mile – we have walked between 5-10 miles per day since arriving!
We got on the train at Spezia and went with the tour group up to the farthest North town in Cinque Terre - Monterosso. We got off the train and immediately found a seaside restaurant where we could sit overlooking the beach and have lunch. We had pesto bruschetta, a local pasta with pesto and octopus with potatoes and olives. Everything was delicious!
After lunch we walked on the beach, collected some rocks and Aidan and his teammates climbed a huge rock outcropping on the beach. We strolled around the town and tried to find some shopping but it is mostly a fishing village. We grabbed the train to the next town down the line – Vernazza – and were very surprised to encounter huge crowds and a much dirtier town. Not nearly as nice as Monterosso! We didn’t spend too much time there and wanted to head to Riomaggiore before we left. The train was running late and was super crowded but we made it down there with just enough time to grab a few pictures and rush back to the train and our group. We made it by the skin of our teeth!!
We headed back to the bus for a three hour ride to our new hotel just North of Milan. It is a much more American hotel and much more comfortable than the other two – maybe are just spoiled Americans!
We had a nice dinner as a group in the hotel restaurant – dinner is so late here!! Tomorrow is Lake Como – so excited!!
Pictures:
https://beckycullinan.smugmug.com/American-Football-Worldwide-Italy-2023/Italy-Day-5/
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