Cinque Terre

Yesterday we had a gentle introduction to Italy (I say that because it was small towns, and not a crazy city) and we visited the Cinque Terre -- 'five lands' in English. They're situated northwest of Florence on the coast, and these towns build their houses on the cliffs facing the sea. We saw four of the five 'lands' -- four are on the ocean, one is on the top of a cliff. We walked between towns and then took a ferry (strangely named a 'UFO' on the back) and hopped from town to town. (It was a rough ferry ride too...lots of bobbing up and down, good thing we didn't have lunch yet!)

There's a train that runs through the towns, connecting them to France and the rest of Italy. (Some trains would blow their horns coming through the towns, and at one point I had a spoon full of parmesan cheese that jumped out of my hand thanks to a loud honk.)

It was a busy day, getting up before 6am and back on the ship around 6pm.

Lunch for Trevor - scampi and penne.

A cool door.

One of the 'lands'.

Such a pretty picture -- and I've forgotten the name of this town.

Containers clustered around a front door.  So pretty.

Some of the best gelato we've eaten yet (I wonder if it's because the gelateria ladies were full of rage...they were not happy! LOL!)

My lunch -- pesto sauce of course, you have to sample the regional specialties!