Transportation

Tonight at dinner we listed all the things about levanto that we had learned since coming here last.  Eleven years ago when we visited we saw a place where you could rent scooters for the day.  That was such a unique experience for us and we drove into the mountains and over to the next town for dinner.  We didn't really realize at the time that scooters were just one vehicle for adventure here.  You can rent boats and kayaks to explore the coastline or snorkel around the reefs.  You can take the train and water taxis into any of the cinque terre.  We took the train one morning into vernazza and then hiked along the mountains to cornigilia.  They also recently renovated the coastal path going north and you can rent bikes and ride through old train tunnels to visit other towns and beaches.  This was one of my favorites since the tunnels are so cool on a hot day.
All of this makes for an excellent compromise when one member of your party wants to lay on the beach and the other has their heart set on cliff jumping.

We have no idea where we're going at this point

Showing off

This looks like a good place to stop

Wait, there was someone with me a minute ago

Oh, there he is.  Can someone tell me where the nearest hospital is please?

Pretty views around every corner

Thankfully we started our hike early because I was hurtin getting up all those stone steps.

Before leaving vernazza you can really cheese up the experience by "locking up your love" and throwing the key into the water.  

I am only smiling here because we are headed downhill and there is a promiseland of gelato on the other side.

Almost there

Finally made it and celebrated by finding a "take away" restaurant so Ben could order fried chicken.  I think we saw all five cinque terre towns that day and even though they are beautiful, they seem to cater exclusively to tourists and it is hard to get a feel for them.

Since b was on a protein high and looking for more, we decided to take the train into la spezia for dinner.  It did not disappoint.  You probably can't tell but underneath all these veggies is an entire roasted cow.

This town does transportation up right.  If only we had found the elevator before climbing six thousand steps up to the castle.

Loved this sculpture of a little boy pulling a (to scale) humpback whale up the street.  Kind of made me miss my kiddos, until I realized it was almost ten at night and we had to walk five miles back to the train station.

Another beautiful night