CINQUE TERRE AND THE FIVE VILLAGES!!! (Sunday, 8-29-2021)

Mike just explained that Cinque Terre means “five villages”.  Who knew?  We spent about an hour this morning practicing how to pronounce “Cinque Terre” while enjoying our coffee!  If you don’t know, and would like to, it’s pronounced something like “Chingca Terra”!  After we all felt like we had a good grasp on the pronunciation, we walked over to the train station!  (This is the front of our Airbnb!  It is WONDERFUL!)

Mind you, last night on our cab ride back to Rappallo from Portofino, we asked our driver what was the best and easiest way to get to Cinque Terre.  He replied, “Taxi is GOOT.  Ferry is GOOT.  Stinky train is not so GOOT!”

So, as I was saying, we walked over to the train station to purchase tickets for a ride on the STINKY TRAIN!  😳😳😳

With a slight hiccup regarding what tickets we purchased for the trip and what we SHOULD have purchased for the trip (thank you, Mr. Conductor, that just cost us MORE EUROS!) we made it to the first village called Monterosso!  And, FYI, I’m happy to report that the “not so GOOT” stinky train turned out to be clean AND the most efficient way to get to Cinque Terre!

The following photos are of the five villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Mamarola, and Riomaggiore.  They are in no order, but we’re fabulous to see!

We opted to take the ferry from village to village!  It proved to be the BEST way to travel on a hot day!

Our day was complete when we scored a table and enjoyed fabulous drinks and lunch, on a cliff, overlooking the bluest, clearest water EVER!  It doesn’t get much better than this!

The water of the Mediterranean Sea is absolutely breathtaking.  The beaches, however…not so much!!!  OUCH!

We had dinner at a little street side cafe in Rapallo, across from the water, and ate the best pasta EVER!

Friends had recommended trying Aperol with Spritz to make the local drink less bitter!  We tried it tonight!  Not Bad!  Thanks for the recommendation!

CIAO FOR NOW!