Cinque Terra

Day 9: Today was our only full day here in Cinque Terre. The majority voted on doing the beach first thing this morning. So, we packed up with intentions of spending most the day at the beach. It’s exciting to say we’ve swam in the Mediterranean Sea. We way over spent to get chairs and umbrellas to park ourselves under. But within 45 minutes of being there, Aliza got stung by a jellyfish! The poor thing was in so much pain!! Luckily a local guy had some magical ointment to put on it. It stayed pretty swollen all day, but the pain was manageable for her. It definitely left a mark! After this, no one wanted to go back in the water. 😏Fortunately, after last summers trip to Maine, our kids favorite hobby is hunting for sea glass. They combed through the rocky beach for hours hunting for the perfect pieces. Some did get brave enough to go back in the water. We did leave after lunch because I really wanted to go to one of the other villages to visit. So we took the train to Manarola and explored the village some over there. It was postcard perfect. We were wishing we had stayed in our swim suits because the swimming looked more fun over there! We hiked up the trail to get a better view of the village from a distance. After dinner everyone was tired and cranky from the heat so we took the train back to Monterosso. Our Airbnb is at the top of the hill in the village. On the way up we shopped in the little stores along the road, but noticed a storm coming in. Everyone else ran ahead to get our clothes off the clothes line while Charlotte and I went to the market to get food for breakfast tomorrow morning. I snapped her picture just as we left the market and before we got to the top of the long winding stair path to our house it was pouring rain and lightning striking all around us! The power has gone out and the thunder is louder than any I’ve heard before. We played some card games and now the kids are watching a movie on the laptop. I think today everyone has hit a wall a little bit. We’re all tired, melting from the heat and craving some familiar food just a little bit. But we feel so fortunate to be here and experiencing this part of the world together. Tomorrow we head to Rome!

The next morning, heading to the train station to go to Rome. 

 Whenever we had a long wait between trains be would play BS.