Woke up to a nice hotel breakfast, and took the train to Riomaggiore, which is the southernmost town in the Cinque Terre. Very short ride of 
about 20 minutes.
Got off the train and walked around the town, which we enjoyed quite a lot. Chet took some grate photos, and we decided to have lunch here after walking up and down the stairs and seeing the sights both from the hills and the waterfront. We had the best lunch in a small self-service restaurant right at the entry to the Via dell'Amore, overlooking the town and the sea. Lynne ordered a fresh caprese salad with tuna, and an anchovy sandwich with tomatoes. Absolutely the best lunch we've had so far, with fresh fish, tomatoes, cheese and bread.
Then we walked the Via dell'Amore to Manorola, the next town over. Manorola is rather small, so we didn't spend much time there, but walked on to Corniglia, which is up on a hill above the Mediterranean. There, we took the green bus to the top of the hill for a bit of a wander before heading back to the train station and back to Monterosso. We ran into Rosetta (who works in the hotel in the mornings), who was on her way back from La Spezia.
Back at the hotel, Chet helped Maria and Marcello figure out how their light timer worked and - as a thank you - they offered us some homemade anancino (orange liqueur, similar to limoncino - which is nothern Italian for limoncello). What a treat! She and Marcello also told us about their lives there during WWII, when the town was bombed three times by the allies in order to break up the railway lines running from Northern Europe all the way to Sicily. Germans had occupied the town, as well - taking the finest villas for themselves. Families fled to the surrounding countryside - her family to the former farmhouse that is now our hotel, his family to a hut higher in the hills. Marcello told us how his elderly aunt used to scream when she saw big birds flying overhead, thinking they were planes coming to bomb the town. And the monks at the top of the hill would ring the bells whenever they saw airplanes or warships in the distance so the townspeople could take cover.
Maria and Marcello have been married nearly 50 years, having been engaged for 11 years - since she was 15 and he was 17 years old. She is now 75 and he is 77. But when he went down the hill to buy bananas, we noticed that he wasn't even short of breath when he returned from town - up that hill that leaves us winded still....
about 20 minutes.Got off the train and walked around the town, which we enjoyed quite a lot. Chet took some grate photos, and we decided to have lunch here after walking up and down the stairs and seeing the sights both from the hills and the waterfront. We had the best lunch in a small self-service restaurant right at the entry to the Via dell'Amore, overlooking the town and the sea. Lynne ordered a fresh caprese salad with tuna, and an anchovy sandwich with tomatoes. Absolutely the best lunch we've had so far, with fresh fish, tomatoes, cheese and bread.
Then we walked the Via dell'Amore to Manorola, the next town over. Manorola is rather small, so we didn't spend much time there, but walked on to Corniglia, which is up on a hill above the Mediterranean. There, we took the green bus to the top of the hill for a bit of a wander before heading back to the train station and back to Monterosso. We ran into Rosetta (who works in the hotel in the mornings), who was on her way back from La Spezia.
Back at the hotel, Chet helped Maria and Marcello figure out how their light timer worked and - as a thank you - they offered us some homemade anancino (orange liqueur, similar to limoncino - which is nothern Italian for limoncello). What a treat! She and Marcello also told us about their lives there during WWII, when the town was bombed three times by the allies in order to break up the railway lines running from Northern Europe all the way to Sicily. Germans had occupied the town, as well - taking the finest villas for themselves. Families fled to the surrounding countryside - her family to the former farmhouse that is now our hotel, his family to a hut higher in the hills. Marcello told us how his elderly aunt used to scream when she saw big birds flying overhead, thinking they were planes coming to bomb the town. And the monks at the top of the hill would ring the bells whenever they saw airplanes or warships in the distance so the townspeople could take cover.
Maria and Marcello have been married nearly 50 years, having been engaged for 11 years - since she was 15 and he was 17 years old. She is now 75 and he is 77. But when he went down the hill to buy bananas, we noticed that he wasn't even short of breath when he returned from town - up that hill that leaves us winded still....
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