The last of Lucca and the first of Vernazza!

Next morning we got up early for a fantastic bike ride on the wall of Lucca. This was so much fun. Linda, Rachel and I rode the wall and laughed the entire way. This was a total blast that I could do again and again. I love the fact that the people of Lucca have made the wall of Lucca….something that was used to fend off the enemy, is now used for family and friends for exercise and socializing.
Ok so now we are off to the train station to get to Cinque Terre. We arrive and Rachel’s words are still hanging in the air…..”only a gentle slop with very few steps”. What a big fat liar…hahahah it was 250 huge steps with only a few gentle slops. But as we were to find out soon enough, this was only the beginning. We have walked so much, I just know I will have model legs. We took the train to Motarossa, this is one of the most modern villages of the five. Beautiful beaches and the water the color of jade or emerald’s.
The next day was up with the dawn to make our first hiking run. But run we did not do….OMG….the trail from Vernazza to Conglia was kick butt. Up, up, up we went sweating all the way. By the time we made the village we were stink ball’s. But the view’s were fantastic….(hey look mom a new word)….yes fantastic. Every picture is a postcard. The hike was 2 hours and for most of you mere mortals it would have done you in. But we were on a mission and we continued on after some water, café and muffins to all 3 of our southern villages. Cognila, Montarolla, and Riomaggore. Each village so beautiful when asked later which village was our favorite could not be answered. We had a wonderful lunch in Montarolla. Don and I had a homemade pasta with a whole lobster…..total yum. Linda a scampi pasta and Rachel fried fish. Now for all you at home. Don’t be thinking about your fried catfish, cause now you are way, way, way off the mark. Think of the lightest batter you think of….maybe a tempura, then lighten that by half and you might get a notion. Then the fish was not your catfish. There were sardines and whole baby octopus and calamari. It was fantastic…there is that word again…..

By the time we made it back to our village we got the provisions for the night….wine, bread, salami and fruit for the morning, we were way ready for showers….and trust me, so was every villager we met. After showers we got to what has become a nightly event. Sitting outside and having our wine. Download the day’s pic’s and then a bit of our bring home dinner. Then the show begins. We look at Rachel’s computer of all the pic’s of the day. And none can believe that we did this or saw that or lived through it all.