Last Days...

It's hard to believe we have to leave soon.  This trip has been a dream come true.  It's been great for our family to have this wonderful time together and all of these precious experiences.  We love being together and wish this trip could go on for a lot longer.  

We've gotten comfortable here in Monterosso and have the routine down.  Reese & Dad buy fresh produce off the truck with the locals in the morning…

Coffee at our favorite cafe

We've eaten at the same incredible restaurant four times this week.  It's called CIAK and they have perfectly prepared, fresh catch daily.  It's hard not to stop in for a little bite.

The kitchen

                            

An order of Anchovies with Salt & Oregano and an order of Anchovies Marinated in Lemon

Spaghetti with Clams and Mussels

The BEST ever, Gnocchi al Pomodoro.  Light as air, fluffy pillows from heaven :)

                     

For our second course, we picked out a fresh fish & they cooked it right up & it's de-boned at the table.

The Second Best Gelato for Dessert

Strolling through town every evening

Walking to and from the beaches through the tunnel...

The girls made lots of lemonade.

We watched the fishermen

We hang around the harbor dance party

We rented a paddleboat with a slide, which was super awesome

We love Italy so much!  We will definitely be back to explore more of this beautiful country!

We bid a fond farewell!

            

Beachin' It, Italian Style

We decide to try the beach on our end of town, close to where our apartment is and most of the shops and cafes.   After a little exploring, we find there is a beautiful, little beach hidden around a corner that’s a public beach – no chair rentals going on here…  We like. 

We start to catch on to the Italian way to do the beach  - Do as little as possible.  There’s no constant selfies, no videorecording, no wave running, no parasailing, no paddle boarding, no beach walking,.  There is no building of sand castles.    There is laying there.  Without much movement.  Total ….. complete ….. relaxation  (and possibly sleeping).  Let’s just say it’s a little different from the typical day at the beach on Sanibel Island.  You can’t walk 4 feet without tripping over a sandart sculpture that a family of 6 worked on for 12 hours that day.   We try to beach it Italian style.  The girls can’t help but accumulate a moderate rock collection by the end of the day but that’s the only accomplishment we can rightfully claim.

Catchin' waves

Yesssssssss!

Hanging out on the breakwater (we are so cool)

Loving Monterosso!!!

Visiting the Other Cinque Terre Villages & Hiking

Today, we hit the train station & head to the furthest town, Riomaggiore.

It's beautiful…

we walk up and down the steep streets checking out the incredible views...

Ciao! Riomaggiore!  Thanks for the views!

Next stop:  Manarola

It's completely adorable.  And also stuffed with boats - amazing

These towns, chiseled into the rocky coast, are amazing.

 Ciao! Manarola!!! Back on the train

  Vernazza!!!

 Lunch  -  Reese has her pesto

 Avery & Quinn get gnocchi pomodoro

Gelato topper

 We love this quaint, charming town full of boats!

We decide to hike the last stretch back to Monterosso from Vernazza.  It's supposed to be about an hour-long trek.

Up we go...

 Vernazza is getting smaller...

The trail is steep!!! 

The views are spectacular!

There’s Vernazza behind us - way down by the water!

 Beautiful

 They're getting ahead of me

After an hour, we are about…….…half way

We see Monterosso waaaaay over there… looks tiny

We keep on truckin'

 We can see Monterosso….

…but it still looks pretty far away.  These are awfully pretty vineyards, though.

Two hours later, we are getting close.  And we see this sign for the hikers coming the other direction.  We giggle a little bit (it says, "1 hour" - HA!)

About 2 hours, 20 minutes later, we are above our favorite beach – none too soon.  

Here's a crazy guy cliff diving below us!!

It was a strenuous hike! Even by our standards and we trekked the Everest region of the Himalayas back in the day.

We reward ourselves with the 2nd Best Gelato in Tuscany!

Whew!!!