Cinque Terra!

We have been looking forward to this part of the trip since we first booked our tickets.  We were not disappointed.  We left at 8:15 and took the coach to La Spezia.  From there we took a boat ride to 

Porto Venere.  That was such a lovely little town and that is where pesto was invented'. We bought a jar of pesto and some focaccia bread to have later for our lunch.  After spending about an hour and a half there, we got on another boat and took a ride along the coast of the Cinque Terra--five little villages built into the hillsides centuries ago.  There is a hiking trail connecting the villages, but because of rain and rock slides, some parts of the trail are closed.  The boat landed at Monterosso, the last village.  We had about 3 hours there, shopping, eating, climbing to the St. Francis convent, looking at the old buildings, enjoying the beautiful Mediterranean Sea!  Finally we boarded a train back to our hotel in Santa Marguerita.  What an amazing day!