On the road again

Saturday, 6/25

Morning came too early, as it was our last morning in Tuscany! We packed quickly and got one last visit from Luciano to say ciao! On the way back to Chiusi, we found that we were turned around once more and ended up getting lost, or should I just say going a different way than we expected. Though we thought we'd traveled this route before on our way into town, it turned out we'd entered yet a different way. (There are way too many options for how to get to these small hill towns and I'm positive that the local Italians get up at night and move the street signs around, I wouldn't put it past them). In the end we saw some sunflowers and sheep and managed to get the car back in time and just make our train to Florence. This was a crowded train, we sat next to a talkative eight year old Italian boy, who was playing a blaring computer game. Luckily, it was only an hour and as we exited he patted my shoulder as if to say, "I know you don't speak my language but I liked sitting next to you and having you smile at me even though I was loud and squirmy." A quick wait for the train to La Spezia landed us chatting to some young travelers, a couple of young ladies who were doing a farm stay, working for their lodgings during the week and traveling around on their own during the weekends. We found out we were headed in the same direction we ended up visiting during the train ride. One young lady was from Indianapolis and the other was from Perth on the west coast of Australia. It was fun to talk to them about their individual travels and their time here in Italy. When they found out Greg is a musician, they wanted to talk shop, whipping out their iPhones and playing for us a few of their favorite new international bands and song writers. Greg responded in kind sharing a song or two that he discovered by listening to KSPC, the college radio station in our home town. Yes, he finally got the chance to promote the tune-yards while on vacation. With a final train change, we were on the road to the Cinque Terra. Our train almost immediately popped into a long dark tunnel. Too long to hold your breath through! When we emerged from the darkness, the sea was revealed momentarily, then back into another tunnel. Our twenty minute ride to Monterosso continued in this way, like a peep show of the shore. We disembarked and marveled at what a different world this was from Tuscany, swamped with tourists in bathing suits, the beach blanketed in umbrellas and the sea beyond sparkling blue-green. We walked toward what we thought was the town, only to find a large map and realize we were walking toward the new town and our hotel was in old town. Switching directions we found several streets named by the hotel in their directions, so we were puzzled when we ended up on hiking trail just above the village. there were dangers crossing the road here as well, but instead of nearly getting run over by a Vespa, Greg nearly trampled a skinny snake. (Don't worry, neither of them are worse for wear, both just startled). So obviously we were headed the wrong way again, we returned to the main square and Greg asked a man sitting outside of a barber shop about the street we were looking for. "Souvenir?" he asked (which is the name of our hotel)...Hurray, he knew it! As he walked us over to a wide street we got some directions in Italian like... walk up that street to the hotel Margherita, take a right at the fish fountain, its easy, you can't miss it. Believe it or not his directions were right on. We checked in and dropped our baggage. Compared to our previous accommodations, our room seems so small. This is a backpackers hotel so cheap is the key word, but it is clean and safe. We have two small twin beds, pushed together and just about enough room on either side to get out and walk to the bathroom, which is so narrow, you have to turn sideways to squeeze past the bidet to the toilet. Though we were tired from our several train trips today, we were eager to get back outside and see the beauty of this sea side town. We had dinner at a small cafe; gnocchi with pesto (this area is famous for their pesto) and swordfish Monterosso style, sauteed with tomatoes and capers. When we left Creatoile, Carlo asked where we would travel to today... we replied Cinque Terra and his response was, "Ahh, mangiano pesce... EAT FISH!" Glad we took his advice. After dinner we made the rounds (walking around the boardwalk, eating gelato, window shopping...we even got our first taste of lemoncello at a wine shop that was giving out free samples). Now we are completely spent, our tiny room has the one thing we have still yet to enjoy today, beds! Good night from Monterosso!