Sentiero Azzurro Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre

To continue, we took a fast train to La Spezia, which was quite a beautiful ride in the countryside. We would see little towns, and the next thing we were, by the ocean enjoying its beauty. We saw the Carrara quartz mine on the hills of Carrara. You could see the pattern of quartz chipped out of the mountainside. At first, it looked like snow, but it is just too damn hot for that today. A regional train took us on a short trip to Corniglia. We missed the original train due to a delay, but we had no issues. Ron tried a few times to see if Linda would get off the train to get him a coffee before it left for the next station. She did not bite for that, and we are learning that the sibling rivalry is only going to get worse as the weeks go on. The fun began as we stood in the hot sun baking, waiting for the town shuttle to pick us up and bring us to the center of town in Corniglia. When we finally got on, we were packed like a can of sardines. I sure said my prayers as we are pretty high up and the roads are slim.
Our accommodations are beautiful. All the single ladies have a full apartment with beautiful views of the ocean and town. The married ones have bedrooms pretty much, but a lovely garden terrace. Our first priority was going for gelato at Alberto's. 5€ for a large cup with two flavors. My choice was caramel and pistachio. There are so many flavors so many days to try it all. No one was disappointed. We enjoyed some local wine before going for dinner. Ron's wish is to have his Eat, Pray, Love story on this holiday. I quote him as saying, " I hope I find love on this holiday." He started by getting a single candle, but it is going to take much more than that, or he will just get burned. Our next blip was a mix-up with our reservation at the restaurant across from our door. Our mistake took us to a restaurant across town for dinner on short notice. CC for short came recommended by our Airbnb host. They took our reservation last minute, and the meal was a totally spontaneous fish dinner, head and all. It was an expensive piece of fish at almost 250€. It was served with potatoes, green salad with olive oil, and balsamic vinegar and bread for soaking. Again, it is very simple and enjoyable. We enjoyed a dry local white wine with dinner. Dessert was offered and taken. Tiramisu, lemoncake, chocolate cake, along with our first complimentary lemoncello in Italy. It is a panty remover compared to what we have experienced at home. The wait staff at the restaurant were awesome and did well with their recommendations. The town of Corniglia is quiet at night, and we were the loudest echoing off the walls of the town. We all went to bed after as we have a full day ahead for hiking, swimming, drinking, and eating tomorrow.Lue lisää