Dear Charlie and Polly,
Thursday was such a fun day! We thought it was going to be rainy, but it turned out to be beautiful weather! We got up very early and took a taxi to the train station where we met our group. We got on a bus for about a two and a half hour bus ride. Then we saw this - the Meditteranean Sea. This is the first time we have seen the ocean since we arrived.
Our bus dropped us off at Manarola, a small fishing village on the coast. It is so hilly here that the farms grow their crops on the hillside by terracing the land. They make rock walls to support the strips of soil up and down the hillside. It looks like very hard work to me!
The people here are very superstitious. They put all these wooden figures in their farmland to keep it safe.
Manarola is the second of five in a group of villages called Cinque Terre, which is Italian for five lands. The villages are very similar, but each one has its own unique personality. This clock tower helps you recognize Manarola.
You can see how steep the hillside is by comparing Doc standing next to it. I can't imagine trying to farm on that, can you?
These are some of the homes in Manarola. They look very different than ours, don't they?
Here is another view of a typical street in Manrola.
We left Manarola and took a (very crowded) train to the next village, Corniglia. It only took about five minutes to get there because the train went straight through a tunnel in the hillside.
The name of this village is pronounced just like your Aunt Neenie's name!
We ate lunch in Corniglia, and this is what we saw as we walked toward the restaurant - the beautiful ocean! The color of the water was the most beautiful dark turquoise, and it was so clear you could see the bottom!
Here we are just before lunch. We had an "interesting" meal of fresh seafood and pesto pasta. I was expecting shrimp or fish but instead we had squid and octopus!
Next we hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza. This was about two and a half miles across the mountainside. The trail was very steep but not terribly rough, because a a stone path had been laid the entire way. It was very old and many of the stones were worn smooth. We couldn't help but wonder how long ago the path was built and who built it. Doc and I were among the first of our group to arrive at Vernazza. It took about an hour of steady hiking to get there. This is a view of Corniglia as we hiked away.
Corniglia even further away...
Can you still see Corniglia?
Here we are as we were going down the many steps to the town. As you can see, Vernazza is right on the water. Can you see the next village in the distance? That is Monterossa.
This is our view from an outdoor cafe on the main street in Vernazza where we stopped for a snack. Although the villages have hotels, most visitors just come by train or boat for short visits.
We took the train from Vernazza to Monterossa which was probably our favorite of the five villages, because it had a beautiful town square and pretty beaches. We stopped at a cafe for refreshments! :-) I had some local wine, and Doc had FOUR scoops of gelato. Gelato is Italian ice cream, and it is delicious!
These are the olives they served with my wine. I think the came straight off the tree!
Next, we got on the top level of a big boat and travelled back to Riomaggiore, the first village on the coast but the last we visited. The picture below is of Monterossa as we sailed away. Can you see what a beautiful day it was?
We traveled back by Corniglia...
...and got off the boat in Riomaggiore! Right below us to the left is the small harbor where the fishing boats come in each day.
And here us what they bring in...squid and octopus!
They also had beautiful fruit, vegetables, and herbs for sale.
We left Riomaggiore by train and traveled about ten minutes to La Spezia, a bigger town where our bus was waiting for us. We were exhausted but had had a wonderful day. As we were driving back to Florence, we passed these mountains. Do you see the white areas on the sides that look like snow? It isn't snow, it's Carrara marble, a beautiful pure white stone that has been quarried from these mountains for over two thousand years. The big factory in the front of the picture is where they prepare the marble to ship it around the world - even to Clarksville, Tennessee. Sweetie is thinking she might like to have some Carrara marble countertops in her bathroom at home! :-)
We got back to the train station about 8:30, but we still hadn't had dinner. Our taxi driver had recommended a restaurant called Il Latini for supper, so we went there to eat. At most restaurants we have been able to find someone who speaks English or an English menu, but here, we found neither! In fact, we had no menus at all.
Our waiter spoke Italian only, and began to bring us plate after plate of food. We had no idea what was coming next! Finally, after several appetizers and three pasta dishes we asked for our check. It turns out, it was an "all you can eat" family style restaurant, and there WERE menus! Can you find them hidden in the pictures? We decided it would be like an Italian family eating at the Catfish House in Clarksvile, but without menus!
Love you and miss you both!
Sweetie and Doc
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