Bless their little cotton socks--a great day in Cinque Terre!

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Weather in Italy--Mamma Mia! Today's forecast for the Cinque Terre area in Liguria was rain and more rain. So we dejectedly packed rain jackets and umbrellas since we got soaked yesterday (sunny forecast). By the time we got off the train in Monterosso al Mare we were shedding jackets. Never did need the umbrella! What a gorgeous day! The expression in Today's title is what Igor says about someone who's done something good. So mine is for the weatherman who never gets it right.

After a look around Monterosso, the first town of the five, we boarded a boat for Vernazza, one of the most beautiful. From the sea, the towns are most charming. The sea color is a deep almost cobalt blue, and the brightly colored houses of the towns cluster what almost seems to be a crevasse between the hills. The streets are few and so narrow that you could almost reach out and steal your neighbor's laundry hanging from her windows. Our early arrival helped us avoid the crowds but by lunchtime it was getting hard to walk around. I climbed up to the Cinque Terre connecting trail above the town for some photos. It entailed too many steps to count and a steep climb and I was the last to arrive but it was worth the effort!

Back down in town we had lunch at the Lunch Box--Delicious foccacia sandwich. My seat faced a small stone chapel with candles to light and an altar inside and a flower seller outside. Looking on up the road you could see the terraced fields above the town where fresh vegetables are grown. Just beautiful!

We made our way down to the quay to get the ferry to Portovenere at the other end of the coast, but not one of the five towns. The trip provided beautiful views of each town as we docked to let people on and off. There were people swimming from the beaches and diving from rocks. It looked so inviting. Beaches everywhere are rocky. However, they are well utilized. And in order to capitalize on the coast, concrete decks are built with row upon row of sun lounge chairs on them. They also have cute wooden cabana cabins to rent by the day or week, but expensive.

At Porto, we walked up to the top of the town and the entrance from the sea to Portovenere to see the church of St. Peter, built on the site of a former Roman temple to Venus. It is from Venus that Portovenere gets its name. The church is typical of the region with alternating stripes of grey and white. The views from the church are stunning.

We met our tour bus in Porto and drove back to Santa Margherita de Liguria where we will have a other delicious meal in our hotel tonight. Since I have logged 10000 plus steps and 13 flights of stairs two days in a row, I'll be ready..

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Comments

[Judith Rhoades]

Beautiful!
Enjoy! Have a glass of red for me :-).

[D MJ Binkley]

Joys of Italy
Looks yummy.