Upon arrival and after check-in, our first task was to go out on the balcony and enjoy the beautiful view of the bay. We accomplished that task and enjoyed the fresh air and sea breeze.

From the balcony we could see that there was an abundance of activity in town. We could see the tour boat coming in fully loaded and each time a train came by, there seemed to be a surge of people.

Since it was already late afternoon, it was time to find a place to eat dinner tonight. We arrived after lunch, so most of the restaurants were closed for siesta. We did catch one guy, who said the best they could do was 9:00 pm.

We passed and wandered on. Not having any luck, we decided to come back when the restaurants were open again. But we did enjoy taking a look around town. Though crowded, it was still quaint.

We left the room about 7:30 and I felt like Oliver Twist searching out a bowl of gruel. It seemed like all the restaurants were full and busy. We finally found a place that could accommodate us – Osteria La Cambusa.

With it being dinner time for the mosquitoes too, we decided to sit on the inside. The restaurant appeared to be family run and while not in line for any Michelin stars, we had a nice first night’s dinner.

Update: Turns out the mini crowds were due to a Rick Steves tour in town).

After dinner, we took a nice walk back to the hotel, stopping by the sea wall to listen to the surf lapping at the shore. That sound is very soothing to me.

For our second day, since the weather was nice, we took a boat ride.

The boat stops at each town in the Cinque Terre except Coniglia, since they don’t have a waterfront. In my opinion, the towns look great from the water as you approach them.

Once in the towns, their charm is somewhat tainted by all the tourists, souvenir shops, bars and restaurants. Ironic that the very things needed to support tourism, diminish the tourist destination.

We stayed on until the last town – Riomaggiore. We walked around town for a while and then found a place to have a little lunch.

Trattoria LaGrotta was a friendly little place with very good food. We thought we’d be sharing a pizza and ended up with a delicious meal.

It turned out to be a very nice lunch – so much so, that we chose to skip dinner that evening. Instead, we bought some breadsticks and popped open a bottle of wine that we just happened to have with us from Alba.

There were a few flashes of lightning over the mountains. Bright enough to light up the sky, but no thunder booms. Tomorrow they are calling for rain, so we’re going to wait and see what the weather is like before making plans.

For tonight, it’s just pass me another breadstick, per favore. 🍷🥖