Every last Terre

We slept in a bit this morning and woke to pouring rain. However, by the time we had all assembled th essential ingredients of the day, the rain had slowed to a slow dribble and the forecast said it would be clear for most of the day. We decided that we would try to visit all of the towns of the Cinque Terre and go for a swim.

We spend a good deal of time in Riomaggiore. It is a beautiful town and we went down by the rocks and watched the waves come crashing in to the shore.

We also got several cones for ok fo fried things - veggies for Ellie and seafood for Liz and I.

Next we went to Manarola and checked out the amazing views.

The water was a perfect aquamarine.  

Next we visited Corniglia. It is the only town of the Cinqua Terre that is not on the water. This was probably very helpful back in the days where there were pirates who raided the towns. Today it means that there are 385 steps to get from the train station to the town.

Ellie decided to run up the stairs. Liz and I decided to walk and take plenty of photo breaks. We rewarded ourselves at the top with gelato.

We then went back to Monteresso to eat cheese and lemons and then take a swim. The sea had modest sized waves which seemed huge at the time. I ended up with a great deal of sand in my swimsuit but had a very fun time. 

For dinner we went to Vernazza, the final town for the day. It was rather lovely at night.

We had an okay meal, the highlight of which was the cat hanging out by the front door. The location was amazing, up on a terrace right below the castle.

After our meal we headed back to Monterosso. We considered getting dessert but this late the trains only run once an hour and we did not fancy keeping the kiddo up quite that late. 

Tomorrow forward to Milan.