Monday, May 12
We left Venice on the train going to Florence, then Pisa, and then to La Spezia. There we would catch another train to Corniglia. The train ride to La Spezia was pretty nuts. We found out, the hard way, that the stereotype of Italians being slow and late holds true even for the trains. We made it to Florence fine and saw that our train to Pisa was delayed ten minutes. So we went and got a drink and came back and it was there! Early! We ran over there but there was a big crowd waiting to get on and then the train left! So we waited another twenty minutes for the next one, but it was late too. We climbed on and then just hoped we would make it from Pisa to La Spezia. Our next connection was really close to when we were supposed to have gotten off the first train. I was getting nervous because I thought this was the last train that would let us get to Corniglia for the night, but there was nothing we could do other than watch the clock and will our train to go faster to the station. When we stopped we ran off like crazy people to find that our next train was delayed. Bless those Italians and their train schedules.
We got to Corniglia at around 11 PM and our host Cristiana was there with her car to pick us up and take us to the apartment. We loved her right away! She was so nice and fun to talk to! She took us to our apartment and I was dying of excitement because I had been dreaming of this place since I booked it months ago. Cristiana talked with us and gave us a map and a train schedule. She also told us how to get to the cafe she and her husband own for our breakfast tomorrow and then she left us to settle in for the night. Even in the dark the view from our balcony was breathtaking. It was cloudy and there was a full moon, so we stayed up enjoying the view. Out on the balcony you could hear waves and lots of loud frogs. Finally we went to bed- completely stoked to see the view in the morning!
Tuesday we woke up and saw the most beautiful view! It was so wonderful that we just sat out on the balcony for a while trying to breathe it all in and burn it in our memories. The balcony overlooks the tiny town of Corniglia with pastel homes clinging to the cliffs above an ocean of turquoise blue; I really can't think of a better view. After a while we went to our hosts' cafe and bar where they gave us breakfast included with our room! I got this pastry that has little crunchy delicious things on top and was full of apricot jam. I don't usually love apricot anything, but let me just explain how good this was. I had dreams about it. I know that one day when I'm pregnant I'll crave this and be so sad that I can't have any. Rusty got a chocolate pastry and was stoked about it, but honestly I didn't even try it because I was so involved with my apricot one haha. We met Cristiana's husband Stefano and he is super nice! We had our first experience where not drinking wine or coffee was a big deal. He asked if we wanted some of his famous cappuccinos and when we said no he got really confused and sad and said, "No cappuccinos, no Cinque Terre!" We told him we didn't drink them and asked for just water and he offered us some juice. I hated hurting his feelings like that. He gave us our juice and it was the best stinking juice I've ever had! I didn't know what was in it, but the next day I found it it is just blood oranges that he juices fresh into the cup when you order it. Best thing ever.
After our delicious, and simple breakfast, (the European way) we decided to stay around Corniligia because it was supposed to rain later in the day. Cinque Terre means Five Towns in Italian, and that's exactly what they are. There are five towns all very similar that dot the coast and are close enough you can hike between them, if you like hiking. Corniglia is in the middle of the five and we were planning on hiking to the other towns while we started here. With the rain coming we decided to stay and explore Corniglia. We walked around downtown (which took literally about three minutes) and then hiked down to the ocean to watch the waves crashing on the rocks. Each town had something different to offer, and Corniglia doesn't have beaches but it has beautiful views and it is the least touristy which is exactly what we wanted.
The weather was looking great so we decided to hike to one of the neighboring towns, Vernazza. The hike was harder than I thought it would be. What I had heard and seen made it seem like they would be little dirt paths, but this trail was definitely straight up and straight down the entire way! It took about an hour and a half but it was beautiful with outstanding views of Corniglia clinging on the cliff and the open ocean. Once we got close enough to Vernazza we could see that it juts out into the water on a rocky spit, and at the end is a large tower. This used to be a look out tower for times of war and you can still climb to the top. We made the tower our first stop and made our way through the town to find it.
We decided to climb up the tower for our first stop when we got there. The views were really great from up there! You could see the three southern towns one way and the one northern one the other. We started chatting with some people up there and found an old man that knew Grandpa Porter and a stake president from Rusty's home stake. It's a small world, especially when you're Mormon! After that we were hungry and wanted some lunch so we found this restaurant with great views and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad we did because it was delicious! Rusty got a seafood spaghetti that came with two whole crawfish (with their faces and everything) and I got a tomato basil pasta. Both were really good, although the crawfish really freaked me out haha. We had a delicious fruit tiramisu for dessert (with no coffee!!) and the cute old Italian waiter we had gave me the best piece and said to Rusty, "Sorry, this one is prettier and bigger and it goes to the beautiful lady." So cute! I love Italians!
After our lunch we went to walk around the town but then it started to pour rain, and it even hailed! What in the world?! It wasn't even cold enough for that. We waited for the bus huddling under the umbrella and then hiked up the big hill in the rain from the station to Corniglia. It was actually kind of fun and relaxing. When we got back we put on dry clothes and then opened the balcony doors and listened to the rain. We spent the rest of the night being lazy and relaxing in the room, which was wonderful. We hadn't done anything like that for a while it felt like, even though our time in Switzerland was really laid back as well.
Tuesday, May 13
Today I was so excited to start the day, due in part to the fact that I would get another one of those heavenly apricot treasures for breakfast. We woke up and got ready and went to breakfast, and Stefano told me that there were no apricot pastries! Ah! But it was ok, I just had more of the delicious orange juice and tried a different kind. While we were eating our breakfast, the craziest thing happened. This young couple like us walked into the cafe and Rusty started talking to the guy. Turns out, they had a class together at BYU and talked about this trip! They were staying in one of Stefano's rooms too! Crazy! Anyways, after breakfast today we took a train to Riomaggore, the town that was the furthest North. This town is famous for the big rocky beach and lots of steep stairs. There were definitely lots and lots of steep stairs! At the rocky beach there was a man made water breaker that created a really great environment for fishing. As we got into town and climbed down the thousands of stairs to the area with the shore, we decided to climb down on the rocks. It was so wonderful to look out at the ocean and listen to the waves crashing on the rocks. We also saw a lot of fishermen and while we were down there we even saw one of them catch something!
After hanging out down on the rocks for a while we decided to walk around the town a little bit. We got some gelato and this was honestly the best gelato I have ever had in my whole life. It was peach gelato and I looked all over Italy to find some that tasted this good. I did find delicious gelato (especially in Florence) but nothing matched this peach gelato!
After our time in Riomaggore, we wanted to go to Monterosso but we accidentally got on a train that took us to La Spezia... Oops. Eventually we went back to Monterosso, which had the best beach because it is sandy. It is also the most resorty of the towns. We walked along the boardwalk for a while and find a cute bakery where we got some delicious focaccia margharita pizza and the fabulous apricot pastry! (Although not as tasty as Stefano's). We ate our spoils on some rocks at the beach soaking in the sun and watching the waves. Then we went and laid out and sun bathed on the sand. We were trying to take naps, but I never could fall asleep because these women kept waking past asking if we wanted a massage haha. It made me to nervous to sleep.
After our relaxing time at the beach we hiked back to Vernazza. Because the last time we were there it rained, we took some time after we got there and walked around the little town for a while. It was really cute, and our second favorite (behind Corniglia).
While in Cinque Terre, we saw a lot of these raised tracks. I had learned before we came out that this was still a common way that farmers would move crops up and down the hillsides. When we were hiking back we saw these three grown men riding up the tracks haha. We laughed and then they laughed and started posing for us. I love Italians.
Then we took the train from Vernazza back to Corniglia and the shuttle up to the city center because we had the transportation pass for the day. That night we walked around Corniglia taking it in and found a place for dinner. I ordered my first ravioli and Rusty got gnocchi. We loved sitting out on the square watching the townspeople go about their evening. There was an old man that couldn't speak, we assumed he had a stroke, and it was so inspiring to watch the people (including teenagers and children) all stop to say hello to him even though he couldn't respond. He was a sweet, sweet man that laughed a lot. I love him.
Thursday, May 14
Today we woke up and went to our little cafe again, and great news, they had the apricot pastry. So I got it with more of that juice and loved my life. We ate outside this morning at the little tables by the door and then hiked to Manorola, which was south one town. It was really steep because the real trail was closed due to mud slides and floods that happened in 2010. Things in Italy move slowly. :) The trail went strait up and we saw beautiful views over the top of Corniglia and out into the sea. Everything was green and gave me a feeling like we were in a rain forest. We were so amazed on all of our hikes here by the vast vegetation that there was. There were different flowers and bushes that I had never seen, and they were beautiful! There was cactus, bamboo, wild iris and lilies, poppies, and ton of different trees.
As we got higher, the trail started winding through vineyards. Somehow we got lost so we just went up on the road because we were hoping that eventually it would meet back with the trail or get us to Manorola. Right before we got to the town we hopped back on the trail and went straight downhill for a while with really wide dirt steps with a very narrow rock lip. They had just cut some branches so there were leaves and branches everywhere which made it even more slippery. We had to walk really carefully to make sure that we didn't fall all the way down (and to avoid the random guy peeing off the side... what?!?). At one point the trail forked, and we decided to go out on a point to see a viewpoint of Manorola. This is where the trail got even more sketchy. The steps grew narrower and stepper. The view was worth it, but we almost died coming down! Up above that town it was really hot and felt like we were in a desert, which was not what we had anticipated. Each town really did have a different feeling to it even though they weren't that far away.
We got into the town and spent some time walking around. It has a little area by the water that is protected and makes a little cove with giant rocks that you can walk out on and sit on. We had lunch at a sit down restaurant and because it was our last day in Cinque Terre, I thought I would get some seafood. I ordered something that I want really sure what I was getting, but when it came out it was not what I expected. I saw two large shrimp looking things (face and all), a big hunk of grilled tuna steak, three mussel shells, two weird shelled things I couldn't figure out, and an octopus leg. What. In. The. World. Well, I surprised myself and Rusty and decided to just start going for it after my shocked facial expression wore off. I found that the two things I didn't recognize were actually one lobster tail that they had cut in half and grilled. I tried the tuna steak first and it was delicious! It was my first time eating just a big slab of grilled fish like that but I loved it. Then I went for the lobster because that felt comfortable. By the end, I ate everything on my plate (although I shared a lot with Rusty). Surprisingly the octopus leg was pretty tasty too. Rusty ended up getting something that he wasn't expecting either; a plate with five of those shrimp looking things on it with some pasta in the middle. We were quite adventurous!
After lunch we obviously got some gelato and then we walked along the path to Corniglia for a little. It is the one that is closed, but it stays open for part of the trail. It curves around on the cliff following the ocean and gave us some beautiful views of both Manorola and Corniglia. Then we went and sat down by the little cove before catching a ferry, eating some chips called Rustica (which our friends called us in college haha).
So, all day long we had debated between riding the ferry and kayaking. We had lots of pros for each and hardly any cons, which made it a difficult decision. Stefano told us that the ferry had beautiful views but probably wasn't going to run today because the waves were too choppy. So we decided we would kayak. Then in Manorola we saw the ferry ticket office open and the ferry running so we decided to do that that! That way we could see four of the towns (we started in Manorola instead of Riomaggore) from the water instead of only seeing two on the kayak, and we wouldn't have to fight the choppy waves. The ferry was a lot of fun! We went up on the second deck and were just having a great time seeing all of the views when Rusty leans over to me and says, "I think that's Steven. He was in my class... But it can't be him." About five minutes later this guy stands up, turns around and sees Rusty and freaks out. What a small world! Another BYU couple from Rusty's class. We talked with then for the rest of the ferry and told then what to do in the towns. They only had that afternoon in Cinque Terre so they were rushing trying to fit it all in. It was fun to share all of the things we had done and loved in Cinque Terre. Pretty soon others on the boat were asking us questions about trails and suggestions of what to do. Pretty cool!
We got to Monterosso and bought another focaccia pizza and ate it on the same rock (don't change it if it's awesome haha). After that we decided to chill on the beach again because the weather was so nice! The kayak place was there and we had enough time to go out quickly, but the waves were just a little too crazy and it sounded so nice to lay on the beach and take a nap. So we did. :)
After our nap, we went back to Corniglia on the train and got ready to go say goodbye to Cristiana and Stefano. Oh, I forgot. The day that it rained so much I hung my socks up to dry the next morning outside on the clothes line. This morning I found out that I only had one sock. After looking around, I saw that the other one was up on a big wall, about 12 feet from the ground. We tried to climb it but no such luck. The wall was right next to a garden area, and as we were getting ready to leave Rusty said, "Hey, there's a lady in the garden. Why don't we just ask if we can come get your sock." I was so embarrassed, but we had a long time left on our trip still and I needed my sock! So I looked out and it was Cristiana! We asked her and she invited us into her garden. We looked at the vegetables she was growing, tasted some of them, and talked with her to learn more about the culture and Cinque Terre in general. We tried these things that looked like giant peas that she said are very common to eat in Italy with cheese, bread, and wine (fava beans). They were really good! She also pointed out some weed looking plants that they eat in salads, which explains why my salads have been so bitter! We talked about the schools there and the taxes in Italy and buying a property in Cinque Terre (we seriously started talking about buying a vacation house there. That's how much we loved it). She told us that Italians never eat dinner before 9, and they let their kids stay up way later than other cultures. She said she had a German neighbor that made her kids go to bed at 9 and it was so strange to her. It was so much fun to get to have a little chat with her like that. Then we went down to the rocky cliffs to watch the sun set for our last night here. A prefect way to end our time in Cinque Terre. Corniglia really did steal our hearts. We fell in love with it here and it became one of our favorite stops on this incredible trip.
We left Venice on the train going to Florence, then Pisa, and then to La Spezia. There we would catch another train to Corniglia. The train ride to La Spezia was pretty nuts. We found out, the hard way, that the stereotype of Italians being slow and late holds true even for the trains. We made it to Florence fine and saw that our train to Pisa was delayed ten minutes. So we went and got a drink and came back and it was there! Early! We ran over there but there was a big crowd waiting to get on and then the train left! So we waited another twenty minutes for the next one, but it was late too. We climbed on and then just hoped we would make it from Pisa to La Spezia. Our next connection was really close to when we were supposed to have gotten off the first train. I was getting nervous because I thought this was the last train that would let us get to Corniglia for the night, but there was nothing we could do other than watch the clock and will our train to go faster to the station. When we stopped we ran off like crazy people to find that our next train was delayed. Bless those Italians and their train schedules.
We got to Corniglia at around 11 PM and our host Cristiana was there with her car to pick us up and take us to the apartment. We loved her right away! She was so nice and fun to talk to! She took us to our apartment and I was dying of excitement because I had been dreaming of this place since I booked it months ago. Cristiana talked with us and gave us a map and a train schedule. She also told us how to get to the cafe she and her husband own for our breakfast tomorrow and then she left us to settle in for the night. Even in the dark the view from our balcony was breathtaking. It was cloudy and there was a full moon, so we stayed up enjoying the view. Out on the balcony you could hear waves and lots of loud frogs. Finally we went to bed- completely stoked to see the view in the morning!
Tuesday we woke up and saw the most beautiful view! It was so wonderful that we just sat out on the balcony for a while trying to breathe it all in and burn it in our memories. The balcony overlooks the tiny town of Corniglia with pastel homes clinging to the cliffs above an ocean of turquoise blue; I really can't think of a better view. After a while we went to our hosts' cafe and bar where they gave us breakfast included with our room! I got this pastry that has little crunchy delicious things on top and was full of apricot jam. I don't usually love apricot anything, but let me just explain how good this was. I had dreams about it. I know that one day when I'm pregnant I'll crave this and be so sad that I can't have any. Rusty got a chocolate pastry and was stoked about it, but honestly I didn't even try it because I was so involved with my apricot one haha. We met Cristiana's husband Stefano and he is super nice! We had our first experience where not drinking wine or coffee was a big deal. He asked if we wanted some of his famous cappuccinos and when we said no he got really confused and sad and said, "No cappuccinos, no Cinque Terre!" We told him we didn't drink them and asked for just water and he offered us some juice. I hated hurting his feelings like that. He gave us our juice and it was the best stinking juice I've ever had! I didn't know what was in it, but the next day I found it it is just blood oranges that he juices fresh into the cup when you order it. Best thing ever.
Outside our front door
Some of the walls were made out of shells!
We stayed in the pink house on the second floor
Bliss
and heaven
Walking down to the shore
The weather was looking great so we decided to hike to one of the neighboring towns, Vernazza. The hike was harder than I thought it would be. What I had heard and seen made it seem like they would be little dirt paths, but this trail was definitely straight up and straight down the entire way! It took about an hour and a half but it was beautiful with outstanding views of Corniglia clinging on the cliff and the open ocean. Once we got close enough to Vernazza we could see that it juts out into the water on a rocky spit, and at the end is a large tower. This used to be a look out tower for times of war and you can still climb to the top. We made the tower our first stop and made our way through the town to find it.
The beautiful pathway to Vernazza
Corniglia behind us
They had GIANT yucca plants!
Our first view of Vernazza! The hillside is all terraced for their vineyards.
Each little town has a church, and you can see the beautiful church in this picture!
Hooray for Vernazza!
The tower!
The stairs up to the top of the column.
Delicious seafood spaghetti
And my delicious pasta! YUM!
The town square was full of these sail boats waiting to be taken out into the water. It was really cool.
Today I was so excited to start the day, due in part to the fact that I would get another one of those heavenly apricot treasures for breakfast. We woke up and got ready and went to breakfast, and Stefano told me that there were no apricot pastries! Ah! But it was ok, I just had more of the delicious orange juice and tried a different kind. While we were eating our breakfast, the craziest thing happened. This young couple like us walked into the cafe and Rusty started talking to the guy. Turns out, they had a class together at BYU and talked about this trip! They were staying in one of Stefano's rooms too! Crazy! Anyways, after breakfast today we took a train to Riomaggore, the town that was the furthest North. This town is famous for the big rocky beach and lots of steep stairs. There were definitely lots and lots of steep stairs! At the rocky beach there was a man made water breaker that created a really great environment for fishing. As we got into town and climbed down the thousands of stairs to the area with the shore, we decided to climb down on the rocks. It was so wonderful to look out at the ocean and listen to the waves crashing on the rocks. We also saw a lot of fishermen and while we were down there we even saw one of them catch something!
Water breaker
Sitting on the cliffs
YAY! A fish!
After hanging out down on the rocks for a while we decided to walk around the town a little bit. We got some gelato and this was honestly the best gelato I have ever had in my whole life. It was peach gelato and I looked all over Italy to find some that tasted this good. I did find delicious gelato (especially in Florence) but nothing matched this peach gelato!
Oh, the stairs!
Town center. Here they have all of the boats in the middle of town too.
The doorknobs were in the center of the doors here.
THE PEACH GELATO!!
There are wild lilies here in Riomaggore. I love this place.
Beautiful views from Riomagorre!
After our time in Riomaggore, we wanted to go to Monterosso but we accidentally got on a train that took us to La Spezia... Oops. Eventually we went back to Monterosso, which had the best beach because it is sandy. It is also the most resorty of the towns. We walked along the boardwalk for a while and find a cute bakery where we got some delicious focaccia margharita pizza and the fabulous apricot pastry! (Although not as tasty as Stefano's). We ate our spoils on some rocks at the beach soaking in the sun and watching the waves. Then we went and laid out and sun bathed on the sand. We were trying to take naps, but I never could fall asleep because these women kept waking past asking if we wanted a massage haha. It made me to nervous to sleep.
Monterosso's beautiful beach
Paddle boarders!
It is the most touristy town with all of these umbrellas and chairs
The main street
A ferry coming in to Monterosso
After our relaxing time at the beach we hiked back to Vernazza. Because the last time we were there it rained, we took some time after we got there and walked around the little town for a while. It was really cute, and our second favorite (behind Corniglia).
There were lots of stairs on our hike back to Vernazza.
The terraced hillsides
Looking back at Monterosso
While in Cinque Terre, we saw a lot of these raised tracks. I had learned before we came out that this was still a common way that farmers would move crops up and down the hillsides. When we were hiking back we saw these three grown men riding up the tracks haha. We laughed and then they laughed and started posing for us. I love Italians.
The pathways were just stunning
and kind of narrow.
We can see Vernazza!
Then we took the train from Vernazza back to Corniglia and the shuttle up to the city center because we had the transportation pass for the day. That night we walked around Corniglia taking it in and found a place for dinner. I ordered my first ravioli and Rusty got gnocchi. We loved sitting out on the square watching the townspeople go about their evening. There was an old man that couldn't speak, we assumed he had a stroke, and it was so inspiring to watch the people (including teenagers and children) all stop to say hello to him even though he couldn't respond. He was a sweet, sweet man that laughed a lot. I love him.
Thursday, May 14
Today we woke up and went to our little cafe again, and great news, they had the apricot pastry. So I got it with more of that juice and loved my life. We ate outside this morning at the little tables by the door and then hiked to Manorola, which was south one town. It was really steep because the real trail was closed due to mud slides and floods that happened in 2010. Things in Italy move slowly. :) The trail went strait up and we saw beautiful views over the top of Corniglia and out into the sea. Everything was green and gave me a feeling like we were in a rain forest. We were so amazed on all of our hikes here by the vast vegetation that there was. There were different flowers and bushes that I had never seen, and they were beautiful! There was cactus, bamboo, wild iris and lilies, poppies, and ton of different trees.
I don't even know what kind of flower this is, but it was crazy! I loved it!
Poppies are one of my favorite flowers (despite the drugs, and death symbolism) :)
This white and red line mean that you are on a hiking trail. These are what we followed on all of our hikes
Looking down on Corniglia
On our hike!
As we got higher, the trail started winding through vineyards. Somehow we got lost so we just went up on the road because we were hoping that eventually it would meet back with the trail or get us to Manorola. Right before we got to the town we hopped back on the trail and went straight downhill for a while with really wide dirt steps with a very narrow rock lip. They had just cut some branches so there were leaves and branches everywhere which made it even more slippery. We had to walk really carefully to make sure that we didn't fall all the way down (and to avoid the random guy peeing off the side... what?!?). At one point the trail forked, and we decided to go out on a point to see a viewpoint of Manorola. This is where the trail got even more sketchy. The steps grew narrower and stepper. The view was worth it, but we almost died coming down! Up above that town it was really hot and felt like we were in a desert, which was not what we had anticipated. Each town really did have a different feeling to it even though they weren't that far away.
Manorola!
The terraced hills were so cool!
I loved Manorola's church building.
Walking the main streets
The little cove
Our lunches! Lots of crazy seafood that we don't normally eat.
On the path walking towards Corniglia looking back at Manorola
I took Rusty's gelato...
And ate it all.
:)
Waiting for the ferry in the cove
USS Rustica!!
So, all day long we had debated between riding the ferry and kayaking. We had lots of pros for each and hardly any cons, which made it a difficult decision. Stefano told us that the ferry had beautiful views but probably wasn't going to run today because the waves were too choppy. So we decided we would kayak. Then in Manorola we saw the ferry ticket office open and the ferry running so we decided to do that that! That way we could see four of the towns (we started in Manorola instead of Riomaggore) from the water instead of only seeing two on the kayak, and we wouldn't have to fight the choppy waves. The ferry was a lot of fun! We went up on the second deck and were just having a great time seeing all of the views when Rusty leans over to me and says, "I think that's Steven. He was in my class... But it can't be him." About five minutes later this guy stands up, turns around and sees Rusty and freaks out. What a small world! Another BYU couple from Rusty's class. We talked with then for the rest of the ferry and told then what to do in the towns. They only had that afternoon in Cinque Terre so they were rushing trying to fit it all in. It was fun to share all of the things we had done and loved in Cinque Terre. Pretty soon others on the boat were asking us questions about trails and suggestions of what to do. Pretty cool!
The ferry!
Manorola
Corniglia
We love the ferry!
Vernazza
Monterosso
We got to Monterosso and bought another focaccia pizza and ate it on the same rock (don't change it if it's awesome haha). After that we decided to chill on the beach again because the weather was so nice! The kayak place was there and we had enough time to go out quickly, but the waves were just a little too crazy and it sounded so nice to lay on the beach and take a nap. So we did. :)
Getting off in Monterosso!
After our nap, we went back to Corniglia on the train and got ready to go say goodbye to Cristiana and Stefano. Oh, I forgot. The day that it rained so much I hung my socks up to dry the next morning outside on the clothes line. This morning I found out that I only had one sock. After looking around, I saw that the other one was up on a big wall, about 12 feet from the ground. We tried to climb it but no such luck. The wall was right next to a garden area, and as we were getting ready to leave Rusty said, "Hey, there's a lady in the garden. Why don't we just ask if we can come get your sock." I was so embarrassed, but we had a long time left on our trip still and I needed my sock! So I looked out and it was Cristiana! We asked her and she invited us into her garden. We looked at the vegetables she was growing, tasted some of them, and talked with her to learn more about the culture and Cinque Terre in general. We tried these things that looked like giant peas that she said are very common to eat in Italy with cheese, bread, and wine (fava beans). They were really good! She also pointed out some weed looking plants that they eat in salads, which explains why my salads have been so bitter! We talked about the schools there and the taxes in Italy and buying a property in Cinque Terre (we seriously started talking about buying a vacation house there. That's how much we loved it). She told us that Italians never eat dinner before 9, and they let their kids stay up way later than other cultures. She said she had a German neighbor that made her kids go to bed at 9 and it was so strange to her. It was so much fun to get to have a little chat with her like that. Then we went down to the rocky cliffs to watch the sun set for our last night here. A prefect way to end our time in Cinque Terre. Corniglia really did steal our hearts. We fell in love with it here and it became one of our favorite stops on this incredible trip.
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