Today we took a drive toward the coast. We stopped in the town of Carrara to pick up our local guide for the marble quarries, Sara. It is really incredible how they harvest the marble from the mountains.
Our next stop was the beautiful Porto Venere where we were set free for lunch (pesto pasta) before hopping on board a boat to see the Cinque Terre from the water! Just stunning! We got off the boat in Monterosso and took the train to Levanto and to the Hotel La Primavera where we had a fantastic dinner of seafood prepared by our host, CARLO. This was also our last dinner with Mario, our bus driver. |
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Highlights: Mom loved walking around Porto Venere and exploring that beautiful town. Lori really loved the boat ride to the towns of the Cinque Terre.
Lowlights: It was sad to see the mountains slowly being chipped away at, and thinking that someday those beautiful mountains would no longer be around. At the same time it was neat to think that this marble was used in the Pantheon in Rome, or in Michaelangelo's David! |
We woke up in beautiful Levanto. Last night Trish discussed some different options of things that we could do today. We started by walking to Buonassola, a nice, quiet town, and sitting on the beach sifting through the rocks. When we returned to Levanto we headed to the train station and out to Riomaggori where we got some fried fruito misto (mixed fried fish). Manarola was our next stop, and it was an incredible view! We stopped by Vernazza to go into the Pirate Church and enjoy looking back at the town. We made it to Monterosso al Mare by dinner time for our special reservation at Ristorante Belvedere, the infamous Amphora, a must have for any seafood lover!
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Highlights: What a lovely day! We saw so much going from town to town! There was some breakthrough of sunshine! Our Amphora dinner was certainly a highlight of the day though!
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Lowlights: Today was just not long enough to fit everything in. That would be the biggest lowlight. It was just such a wonderful day!
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