Cinque Terre!

The morning after Florence, we took the train out to the costal villages of Cinque Terre.  It...was...wonderful.  And so picturesque.  After rushing through Rome and Florence, it was just what we needed.  This first picture was taken between the first and second villages.  

Cinque Terre, ti amo!

Just lovely.

And look at that water?!  So blue!

Swimming in the Ligurian Sea!  Definitely a highlight.  It felt so good.

This is the second village, Manarola.  I think if I were to come back to Italy and spend a week in one place, it would be here.  

Shamae had Rick Steve's guide book (such a good idea) and he recommended this restaurant up on the hill.  

Since we were on the coast, we just HAD to get seafood.  Confession:  I had never really had seafood before this.  But, I thought this would be the best place to have my first-seafood experience.  When I saw what they brought out, I wasn't so sure!  We got cuttlefish ink pasta with a variety of sea creatures. Honestly, seeing the animals as they came kind of freaked me out.  But...I did it!  I ate it!  I even decapitated my own shrimp.  Are you proud of me?  I certainly was.

While we were waiting for the train back to La Spezia to catch our connection to Verona, we somehow got on the topic of Barbara Streisand and her movie What's Up Doc?  The man next to us heard our conversation and said "I don't usually tell this to people, but I was the composer for What's Up Doc.  I went to school with Barbara Streisand."  What proceeded was a lovely conversation about the movie, Barbara Streisand and the other projects he's worked on.  He was very nice.  It's not everyday you meet Artie Butler while waiting for a train in Riomaggiore!

Here are my treasures from Cinque Terre: water collected from the Mediterranean sea, a shell from our meal and a message in a bottle to leave in Venice, our next destination!

So, we missed our train so we got to Verona very late.  This was our bed and breakfast.  It adorable and such a pity that we were only there to sleep.  Our hostess was very nice except that once she found out we spoke (some) italian, she spoke a mile a minute and my brain was so tired, I didn't catch much.  Thankfully, Shamae did and it all worked out.