Day 9 Riomaggiore

we woke up fairly early and checked out of the hotel monica, 5 days =475euro
We got to the train station and bought tickets with about 5min to spare.... ok so we go to the track that we the schedule tells us. and unless youve been to florence you should know there are 2 track 1's, one is on the main concorse and the other on a sperated platform. we get there and we the doors are closed to the train. i push the button and the doors ont open. we wait.... then on the track behind us a train come in and opens its door, we check the schedule and this is the train we want at the wrong time....? so we almost get on... then and italian live annoucners come on the PA and says the track has changed... luckily for me i understood it all. they moved the track to track 3, but which track 3, main concorse of this platform. we hussle to the track 3 on this side platform.... hop on and sit down. WE GUESS we are on the right train????? oh and we got on the train at the exact time of SCHEDULED departure. we sit down, stow are luggage and guess what, FORGOT TO VALIDATE THE DAMN TICKETS!!! uhoh, heard this fee could be 50euro. so i decide not to get off to validate bc i didnt see a machine and the train was about to leave. well we ended up sitting for another 5min but i couldnt count on that. the train leaves, and we still think we are on the right train. we hope the conductor doenst check. our first stop is the right scheduled stop that we should be at... so we conclude we are on the right train... close one AGAIN. well bout 10min later the conductor some by... fuck!! i say in italian, 'im sorry i forgot to validate the tickets, what is the penalty fee,' and slapped my head like a dumb american. and he said some fast words i didnt understand, but he smiled and get going, WOOHOO, no fee.
we got to pisa, and found the right track, bc the scheduled one had maintence on it, so we travel thru liguira and arrive to beautiful RIOMAGGIORE!!!! the highly anticipated part of the trip for me. we get off the train, found the right via to be on and followed it UP the moutian, we thought about the elevator... but huffed it instead (take the elevator people!!!!) we get to this house that looks like our hotel, knock on the door, and this guy comes down and just starts describing the area... i guess this is the right hotel. check in and holy shit what a view!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great room, cozy, spacious enuff, clean. our view was of the moutain, city, marina, and ocean, cant ask for a better one. we turned around and walked the town and ate at bar central, the bar where that damn rick guy told us to eat. mr steves is everywhere!. we both had pesto, mine was shipped frozen jenn was fresh, but they both tasted great!!! right after that we went to the train station, bought a 5terre card and started the trail!!!!!!!!!!! time is 1:45pm
Riomaggiore - Manarola 15min, great smooth trail on the via del amore, saw the famous combo lock bench.
Manarola - Cornaglia 45min, the train gets a little rocky and the terrain isnt to bad, still see old people and kids. got a liter of water in cornaglia.
Cornaglia -Vernazza 2hrs, ok trail gets hardish, great damn views. at 1 point you walk past like 3 houses, (looks like ur coming into a city) we thought that was vernazza, we kept walking to get to town, we it wasnt vernazza, so we walk another hour and we start thinking we are off track, oh well keep walking!!! we finally walk down into vernazza. we are pretty fit people, we didnt struggle at any time, but you do get a lil tired. we finished, we were tired, long day so we ended the trial at 3hrs. time 4pm
We walked around vernazza for a bit, we saw the train station was packed!!!!, bought sum tix back to riomaggiore and stood in the car connection area all the way. got into town and i decided to buy some wine and toothpaste. i walk into a wine store and buy the first bottle of 5terre wine, then i price shop for some toothpaste, put the more expensive one down and got cheap pepsodent. we i forgot to look at the price of the wine. typical jew paul and i didnt pay attention to the alcohol bc that doesnt matter.... well the bottle was 25euro, not outrageous but it was like the most expensive on the trip. anyways got showered, took some videos and walked to manarola for dinner. we ate at 'aristide' and got bad service. the food was alright though. we took a very dark walk back to riomaggiore and when we got to our room, we pulled some chairs out on the patio and a couple of thick blankets to shield the 55deg and we say and chugged wine out of the bottle, (no cups in room, oh and broke the wine opener and almost didnt get it open) another close one. we drank until it was gone and went inside and settled in for a long ligurian sleep in. during our sleep we kept hearing the church bells go off at wierd times for wierd intervals, i dunno.

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