Cinque Terre At Last

4am wakeup was brutal. I think I woke up every hour out of excitement/nervousness that I wouldn't wake up in time for the flight. Made it to Munich and Mom was supposed to be there before me, but I couldn't find her. Asked about her flight and it was on time so checked the gate again and found her! Reunited!!

She'd been traveling since yesterday, but somehow still had some energy. Exchanged $ to € then grabbed a bite at a little cafe. Hopped on another plane to Florence - much smaller than my plane to Munich which probably had a total of ten passengers. When we arrived in Florence (excuse me, Firenze) we took a bus to the train station where we bought our ticket to Monterosso (where we're staying in Cinque Terre), but had to transfer trains in Pisa (chocolate break!).

The train to Monterosso became crowded as beachgoers hopped on at the different towns. Monterosso al Mare was packed because I guess it was a bank holiday on Tuesday - we weren't expecting this because this time of year is considered before high season. Dropped off our bags at Villa degli Argentieri that Dad's friend Tony had recommended for us. Right on the beach road - perfetto!

Settled in and then walked around to explore. Right on the water and lots of cute restaurants. This is the biggest of the five Cinque Terre towns and most resort-like thought it still feels like old-world Italy. Nice that the tourists aren't just American, Italians come here to vacation as well. Made reservations at a place on Fegina Beach called Barabba. Did some more walking around and bought a CT guidebook with history and helpful information about the towns/walks. Made reservations at this great place for Tuesday night right on the cliff overlooking the water called L'Ancora della Tortuga. This was one of the places Mom had seen mentioned in all the research she'd done beforehand - very helpful so we were good to go.

Walked into the old town part of Monterosso which was very cute, then made our way back to Barabba for dinner. Both had trofie al pesto (worm-like pasta) as our primi piatti then had fish in a bag (literally - sea bass in a plastic bag with mixed veggies). 

Incredible first meal finished off by a chocolate fondant for me and Mom had the local cherry icecream. Walked around after dinner and saw Il Gigante - huge sculpture of Neptune over the water. Really cool lit up at night - almost 100 years old.