Last two days in Italy. Cinque Terre

Okay, there are a lot in this one post, but I decided it was just easier to fit my last two days into one blog. I had a little bit of a later start since I got in late the night before. I also had to move to the new apartment I was staying in for my last two nights. Once settled, I went back to Portovenere (the place I had taken the night photos the night before) via Ferry. This view is of the Church I had photographed at night and the following ones are from around the town. 

The next few are from Riomaggiore when I got back from the Portovenere. I had a little rest down on the harbor and then went off to Monterosso to meet with Connie, my new friend from San Fran. We met the day before on the ferry and since we were both traveling alone, we decided to meet for dinner and drinks. We had an amazing dinner (shocking, I know). 

Last day. :(  It was a cloudy and rainy day. I went to Monterosso for two reasons. One was that I wanted to start a hike from there to the town of Vernazza. The other was that they were having a lemon festival. Lemons are one of the main things they grow there. There are lemon trees everywhere including right outside their doors and windows. It's awesome. The next bunch are from the lemon festival. They had lots of things made from lemons. I decided to try a torte. It was SO Decadent. 

The next bunch of pictures are from the hike I took from Monterosso to Vernazza. It was another great hike with a million stairs and up into the mountains. It wasn't as beautiful as the other big hike, but still good. It rained pretty hard, but a little rain never hurt anyone. The downside was that I couldn't use my camera much during the hike, so less pictures. :) 

This is apparently how they get things to and from the gardens up high in the mountain. Yeah, there's no way i'd get on that thing. 

The area was devastated by heavy rains and flooding on October 25. Monterosso and Vernazza were affected the most with homes, business, and the main roads being destroyed. The next pictures show this devastation. The first two are of a home that was ruined and the third shows the rebuilding happening. 

Next, I wandered through town until grabbing an artichoke pizza for lunch. Individual pizzas are enough for 2-3 people, but they do taste good...as much as you can eat of them at least. 

My last really good cappuccino at the local Bar, Bar Centrale. 

I spent my last evening shooting pics in the harbor and of the local kids playing. I was totally bummed to have to leave and can't wait to travel again, whether it's to Italy or somewhere else.