Today we got up early and had breakfast again on the Terrace of our hotel. We saw the friends that we met last night from the bay area and chatted with them while we had coffee. Afterwards we packed up all of our stuff which was harder this time in that we picked up a few things. Shelly went to the train station and reserved our seats to Milan and Tony and the kids packed the last few items. We took our bags downstairs to be stored while we spent the day in the towns of the Cinque Terre (CT).
We decided to go to the first town of the CT which Riomaggiore. We met a "buckeye" on the train who was traveling with her friends. We learned that one of the was robbed which was good to be reminded. Once we got Rio. we grabbed some foccacia pizza and something to drink. We hung out for about an hour and caught another train to the next town; Manarola. We walked around for a while and window shopped and then watched the cliff divers. Shelly met someone who knew someone we know from Grand Rapids...its a small world. We were thirsty so we stopped at a cool little bar (8 tables). They gave us a menu and based on the food we saw being served around us we decided to get some. We ordered bruschetta and salad and we were glad we did because the salad was one of the best...ever! Tony put on the olive oil and white wine vinegar but the vinegar was incredible. All of us agreed that it was awesome.
Our next stop was Corniglia. This town is different than the rest because it sits up on a plateau. The only way to get up there from the train station is to walk UP or take crowded bus (like how many can we fit into a bus crowded) full of tourists. We decided to scrap it since the kids really wanted to get back to Monterosso to swim. Both towns were nice to visit and had something unique to offer and both were quieter than Monterosso however we were glad we chose Monterosso!
We got back to our hotel and changed into our bathing suits. We rented 4 chairs and hung out at the beach until about 6. We rinsed off at the beach and changed back into clothes at our hotel. We took the short walk to the train and picked up a few snacks for the road. Our train was on time and we found our compartment that had 6 seats but 2 of them had younger guys in them which was fine. The train rolled along the coast and the views of the sea and the small towns is helping the time go by. The train will be heading north (toward Switzerland) to Milan shortly and then we will get into the sleeper car where we will sleep for the night.
The next morning we will be in Paris and our next post will be from there. Until then...ciao.
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