Rick Steves advertises this day as "a vacation from your vacation". The only scheduled event all day was a very optional pot-luck snack reception in the evening at the hotel. We had been given a Cinque Terre pass at dinner the night before--basically a train ticket and entrance to Cinque Terra. In the morning we took the train to Monterosso where we headed to the harbor to take the ferry to the next town, Vernazza. After walking around Vernazza we took the train to Riomaggiore and, after walking around a little, headed back to Levanto. It was hot and we thought a trip to the beach sounded like more fun than hiking through the hills.
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After returning to the hotel we went to a local place for some yummy pizza. I also tried a local soft drink. It must have been good.
Then it was beach time. My husband enjoyed the waves but I found the water to be too cool. I laid on the beach and people watched while he played. I did put my foot into the Liguorian Sea.
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We headed back to our room to clean up and then set out to explore Levanto. We looked at the castle on the hill as well as the local church (yup, church nerds).
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| You can barely see him, but think he's cute, even if he looks like a tourist |
That evening our tour group met in the hotel lobby for wine and snacks and to share our adventures of the day. Some folks hiked from town to town in Cinque Terre but we were the only ones who hit the beach.
From there we headed down the road for dinner. Because I had not done so yet, and because I'd heard you should order a Spritz while in Italy, I ordered one. It came with an American-sized order of ice. and I mentioned that to my husband, with obvious approval. Shortly thereafter, I heard some guy at a nearby table say in English "too much ice", which I guess was for my benefit as they had been speaking Italian.
We thought Levanto was a charming town and really enjoyed this "vacation from our vacation".
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| The drink was tasty and had plenty of ice to stay cold |
