DAY 6Lucca and Monterosso al Mare
On our way from Volterra to Cinque Terre, we made an afternoon stop in the small town of Lucca. Even though it was just a quick visit, I like that we were able to squeeze it into our busy schedule to see how charming this town was. The architecture of the churches was certainly something to marvel at. Now, for the vacation within a vacation: Cinque Terre. We took the train from Levanto in the north down into the first village in the Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare. Once we settled into the hotel, we all gathered for another wonderful group dinner, this time a feast of seafood (and more of my favorite tiramisu!). |
DAY 7Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza
What was particularly lovely about Cinque Terre was that it was literally a vacation inside our vacation to Italy. We were given a free day to do whatever we pleased, so naturally we couldn't decide on any one thing to do together as a family. Jeff and Rebecca took the ferry to the next village Vernazza, while Lisa and Elizabeth explored more of Monterosso. In Vernazza, half of us climbed a castle tower and ran into some fellow travel buddies from our tour group, while in Monterosso, the other half of the family shopped and explored. Once all four of us got back together, we ate a delicious lunch of antipasti at a restaurant our tour guide had actually recommended (as do we!) called Piccolo Diavolo located in Monterosso. |