Cinque Terre

Salve a tutti!

And happy mother's day mom! (and all of you moms reading this).

Today is Sunday and our first chance to check in online in Monterosso, one of the towns in the Cinque Terre (the "lesser" Italian Riviera according to some guidebooks, but clearly still stunning). We arrived in Manarola (the smaller town we are staying in) Saturday afternoon where we met up with Claudio, who showed us to the apartment we are renting. WAIT to you all see the photos from this apartment: We are on the top floor of a house that is already high up on the cliff. We have THREE decks overlooking the Ligurean Sea. It's unreal. We didn't realize we'd find an Internet cafe so we don't have the connection to upload photos here: perhaps from Siena later this week. We sat on one of the decks last night and watched the sun set.

I should also note that the young couple in the apartment below us is from Portland, Oregon;=)

Manarola is small, quiet but stunning. Many of the tourists are Germans and Brits with hiking poles (there are many hiking trails nearby). We took the train to Monterosso today which is much bigger and bustling with tourists since there are several sandy/rocky beaches. We plan to stick our feet in the sea soon. It must be near 80 degrees today and sunny. There are so many non-Italian tourists here that the sales people are pleasantly pleased when Mike and I try to speak Italian, and especially when we say "prego" after they say "grazie"!

White wine and grappa and limoncino (which we haven't tried yet) are the popular drinks of the area. There is also a raisin dessert wine we haven't tried yet. Instead of pizza, foccaccia and a chickpea bread seem to be everywhere. With luck we'll remember to take pics of the food. I did take a picture of a beautiful german shepherd sitting regally on a bench in front of a fancy wine shop--John and Cora will love that picture since it looks like Rosie!

Two young British girls are booking tickets to Dublin then Glasgow on the computer next to me. Two days in each city---that's a little too rushed for me. As it is, the 2 nights in Lucca were not enough.

Mike is on the other computer posting something, too!

Ciao for now,

Stacey