Our last day with 'Walk About Italy'

Well ... the forecast is for more rain, but the radar map looks good! 🤞 I'll carry my rain coat ... just in case.

We took the train to Chivaria. This is a very affluent community. It remains authentic in that there are very few, if any, tourists ... except us! It was such a treat to meander amongst the locals and get a window into their day to day experiences.

We stopped at a restaurant for lunch that was recommended by our guide. We arrived right at noon when it opened and got a table. By 1:00pm there was a line up of locals waiting for a seat.

The menu is posted on a blackboard outside the door. We opted to have the farinata, the vegetables and the minestrone soup! It was absolutely delicious!

Oh ... when we were in Spain, I discovered an eyebrow pencil that I loved from KIKO of Milan. I bought one ... for $16.99Eur. Once I knew I really liked it, I looked online to order more, but they were $30! I found a Kiko in the Naples train station. The pencils were $13.99Eur there. So I bought six. Then, I got to thinking that my life expectancy might be more than six eye brow pencils worth, so when I saw a Kiko here in Chivaria, we went in. Only $9.99Eur here!! I bought six more! 🙌

After our delightful lunch, we were in search of an espresso and a dessert. The old boy had "the baba of all babas" ... i.e. the best ever! 😉

We also learned that espresso has less caffeine than a drip coffee because the water is only on the coffee for such a short while! We also learned that it is be drank in two sips! Who knew???? Oh, and it's a cardinal sin to drink Cappucino after 11:00am. I might have mentioned this before, but it's such a faux pas that it bears repeating! 🤣

After some free time we met our group for our last walk together. We hopped a bus that took us high us the cliffside to Ruta. From there we walked all the way down to the seaside!

My eyes enjoyed it, but my knees weren't so fond of that trek. After about an hour of walking, we were invited to use the public toilet on the cliffside ("probably no paper though" because it would be " two hours before the next toilet stop." Thank goodness one of group members had some wipes.

We finally arrived at a remote little cove where a rubber dingy was parked! My heart skipped a beat becsuse there was no one in sight! It was raining more by then and my thoughts were anxiously racing: "Seriously????? It's been a top notch tour thus far. We can't be heading off into the Liguerian Sea during a rainstorm in a dingy?????" 

Before I panicked completely, someone caught sight of a larger rubber ducky speeding  towards us!  It was like a scene out of 'Survivor' when the castaways see a boat slowly coming into view out of the mist/fog over the water!

Unfortunately, it was so small that it could only take 7 of the 15 of us ... due to the weather. The rest would have to wait until the next run. Fortunately for us, we escaped on the first tour back to civilization! It was wet but added some drama to the day!

We made up tall tales about our narrow escape from the jellyfish as we sailed the stormy seas to safety! 🤣

We landed in a gorgeous little seaside village called Camogli! Despite the increasing rain, we explored a little bit before we arrived at 'La Rotonda' for dinner!

We thoroughly enjoyed our final dinner together and hopped a train home for night. Many hugs were exchanged, along with hospitable invitations for reconnections that were extended "if you ever come our way!"

All in all, our time walking about Italy 🇮🇹  has been so rich and rewarding. We are tempted to do another tour ... maybe Sicily or Tuscany  or The Lakes in the north.

I guess time will tell, but ... I could not believe my ears when the old boy  uttered the following:

"Walking is addicting!"

I couldn't agree more and am grateful he's got the bug! ❤️

P.S. It's so funny because the itinerary said that today we would be having a relaxing day. It turned out to be almost 20,000 steps by the time we got back to the hotel!!
I'll post some pics of our time in Camogli in a second post!Leggi altro