Via dell' Amore

Monday. June 29th
The morning began nice and slow with a standard Italian breakfast. We had beach chairs/umbrellas reserved for a nice quiet and relaxed day. It has turned cloudy but still is warm, so we decided to 1st take a ferry ride to see the Cinque Terre from a distance and also do the Via dell’Amore” (walk of love). This is a pathway that links the towns of Riomaggiore and Manarola. That shouldn’t take long, right? Well, we boarded the ferry at 10:30am. Just going up the ramp to get in was a challenge. The ramp was steep and it rocked and swayed. Not a good combination, but with Ken in front of me, and Brian behind, and Jen carrying bags, we made it. Of course then we had to get off at Riomagiore to start the walk. It was even more difficult here with the swells rocking us all over the place. I kept pretending I was on The Amazing Race and I could win a million dollars if I could just get through this. Finally on dry land, we get to begin the walk. It was supposed to be an easy, flat walk. I think we took a couple of wrong turns because there were LOTS of stairs to go up and down. The walk was great though, with pathways to walk, tunnels to go through and a beautiful view to look at. Along the way we saw padlocks that couples have put on cables and lots of graffiti which is a part of the history of boys and girls finally being linked to another town and getting to meet each other. Of course, we had to stop at a bar midway for beer and bruscetta that had tomato and anchovies on it. Yum. Our tables and chairs that we sat on for lunch were on grated sheets that you could see the cliffs and the Ligurian Sea below. What were we thinking?
We finally made our way to Manarola and wove our way through the town filled with laundry hanging out and boats lined up right in the middle of town. It was now 1:30pm but the ferry didn’t leave to go back to our home base until 3pm. We killed the time having gelato and watching insane teenagers cliff dive. Just plain crazy. I was relieved when the ferry finally came, until after winding down some more twisted, crooked steps and through a narrow path, I saw the ferry. Just watching the ramp to the ferry made me queasy. It was not only steep and rocking and rolling…it was slick. Once again with Ken in the lead and Brian behind me and then Jen, I made it. I did freeze for a moment when I saw a man grab Ken because he was swaying so much. Later, Jen told me that Brian’s feet were slipping on the plank! Only relief for a moment because I remembered I would have to get off again at the end of our journey.
Our butts hit the beach chairs around 4pm and Jen and Brian took a swim and Ken dipped his feet in the Ligurian Sea. Monte Roso is much quieter today than yesterday.
We decided to try a different place for dinner tonight, even though last night’s dinner was so good, we felt we should branch out. We went to The Belvedere. The food was good, but not amazing as it had been the night before at Via Venti. We decided to not even get dessert. Jen and I kept thinking of the owner telling us about “the best dessert in the world” (that they had been out of) and wanted to go back and beg forgiveness for going to another restaurant and check to see if they happened to have the best dessert in the world tonight. The place was packed the night before and didn’t think we would be able to get in. Before we knew it, Jen was inside charming Michele and he said if we would be okay sharing a small table outside, he did, indeed have the best dessert. Ken and Brian sat on folding chairs and he brought out padded “queen” chairs for Jen and I. Dessert was chocolate ravioli with ricotta cheese stuffed inside with pear and orange sauce. Yum. In Italy, the tip is automatically put in the bill (usually 2 Euros per person) so we were expecting a VERY expensive dessert. He waived the “coperto” and then stopped someone walking by with flowers and bought a rose for both Jen and I. This guy knows how to do business ! He has our recommendation. While we were talking to him, I told him my family was from Calabria and told him our last names (Fuoco and Morabito). He just stood and thought about it like he was studying. He said his family went to Cosenza for work (Mom’s family home town). Then the couple next to us said her family was from Calabria and the fellow she was with lives there now. A very fun way to spend our last night in Italy.
Tomorrow we take the train to Pisa and take a look around and then fly into Paris, arriving around 10:30pm. Watch out France !