Cinque Terre, Italy

On Tuesday, May 28th, we woke up early and took the train from Milano-Centrale to Vernazza, with a brief stop to change trains in Levanto.

We were once again renting from Anna Maria.  Upon arrival in Vernazza, we walked uphill to our rooms with our luggage, then helped Ed and Betty bring their luggage up the comically tight spiral staircase to their room.

Then we walked down and had lunch.  The Acciughe (Anchovies) were fried, not prepared in the same way as last time we were here.  And so our search began, to find properly prepared Acciughe, filleted, cooked in olive oil, garlic and lemon.

In the afternoon, Rick, Carol, Ron & Lori arrived in town.  We met up with them at a beach cafe. So fun to see them in this amazing place!

In Vernazza, Karen and I shared a place with Don & Ann for the 1st and 4th nights. They slept downstairs and we were up.  We had to walk through their bedroom to use the bathroom.  Not ideal, but we made it work.

For nostalgia, the 2nd and 3rd nights Karen and I rented the same place we stayed in 16 years ago, the unit in between Ed & Betty's and Don & Ann's.  They had added onto it, so it was slightly larger than before. Unfortunately, it was only available two days of our four-day stay.

On Wednesday, 5/29, we hiked the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia with Don, Ann and Lori.  It took about two hours and was a lot more strenuous than we remembered, maybe because we were 12 years older than the last time!

A day or two after the hike, Karen's ankle that she had sprained two years before, began acting up, swollen and sore.  Unfortunately, it plagued her the rest of the trip, but she pressed on.

In the afternoon, the 10 of us spent two hours viewing the five towns by boat, something that Ron set up.  The skipper, Stefano, was enthusiastic and knowledgeable.  He made it super fun!

On Thursday, our day started at Il Pirata, the best espresso and pastries in the Cinqueterre!  After, we purchased day-pass train tickets and visited all five towns.  It rained off and on that day, but we didn't let it dampen our spirits.

In Manarola. we had a delicious lunch at Il Porticciolo that included Acciughe, cooked in olive oil and lemon.  We found it!  It was delicious.

In Monterosso we walked along the beach, but it was rainy and too cold for Don to take a dip in the Mediterranean, which he had planned to do.

Back in Vernazza, we dined at Antica Osteria Il Baretto for dinner with the whole gang.  We had Acciughe and gnochi with red sauce, delicioso!

On Friday, May 31st, feeling like we had done all that we wanted to in the Cinque Terre, we took a day trip to Pisa.

On Saturday, June 1st, we said goodbye to Vernazza and took the train to Firenze!