17 May-Cinque Terra

   We could sleep in today but of course we woke up anyway but we moved slowly and didn't head to breakfast until 9:30.  Today's breakfast was a bit more than we have been getting while in Italy as we had fresh and canned fruit, not just rolls, cereal and yogurt.  The hearty breakfasts ended when we left Austria.  Today we even had cappuccino from a "person" and not a machine; delicious!  It seems warm already and I suspect it will be a hot day as we head to the old side of town to get the boat.  It is not so much that the temperature is so hot but it is humid.  There is either an overcast or humidity that keeps the air from being clear, just a haze hanging everywhere.  We headed to the old town and bought our boat pass for the day and went all the way to the last village on the 11:30am boat.  The views of each town were interesting from the boat.  I am sure they would be fun to explore.  I am a little surprised to see so many college age men with backpacks, apparently making their way through Europe as cheap as possible.  When we got to our destination of Riomaggiore we went on the little walking tour of the town in the Rick Steves book and enjoyed it.  We had lunch at Ristorante la Lampara and I had this delightful meal called spaghetti al cartoccia; a fragrant, baked spaghetti dish in foil with clams, muscles, shrimp, and langostino (sp?).  It was delicious and I really enjoyed that.  John had a pizza with clams, muscles, shrimp, scallops, and langostino.  However, back out on the street we are just overwhelmed by the heat of the day.  We meandered back up and then down the shady side of the street and decided to walk to the trail head to see if any of the path was at all shaded, it was not.  That determined our next choice that we would head back to the marina and return by boat.  It seemed like such a great idea to walk the trails  between the towns when we watched the videos of people romantically strolling along such a lovely path, it lost something from the video to the reality of it all.  I really can't imagine being here in the heat of the summer.  There are a lot of people swimming in the sea and it looks quite inviting but we are hot and just want to get back to our hotel.  Rolinka warned us many European women would be topless but we didn't see anyone topless, poor John. The old world views of the towns will have to do. 

   Back to our hotel room, more laundry as our clothes are dripping, and we spend the rest of the afternoon resting and relaxing in the cool hotel room.  After full recuperation we went out to eat at Miky just down the street.  Thankfully it has cooled off some.  We had another delicious dinner from a restaurant referred to in the Rick Steves book.  John had a huge, tender, succulent sirloin steak and I had sea bass ravioli.  A grilled plate of vegetables was an accompaniment and white wine from Cinque Terra went nicely with everything.  I had lemon tart for dessert and John had Le zeppole-a warm cream puff with vanilla and strawberry sauces with berries.  Yes, he ate every bite!  After dinner we went for a stroll along the beach and water front, did a bit of shopping, and headed back to pack as we leave in the morning.  Talking to a shop owner she said it got warm just the last two days and it is unusual to be so warm right now. 

   Throughout the day we ran into different people from the group.  Most hiked at least some portion of the path but we have no regrets as it was just too hot and humid for us.  Off to Switzerland tomorrow and we understand some cooler weather is ahead, we are glad of that.  Hopefully there will be some Wi-Fi available soon.