Friday 15th: relaxing morning, Riomaggiore

[ pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/110144623598348247797/20110415?authkey=Gv1sRgCMiozbPCxLKquwE#  ]

I had a bit of a sleep in. Today I felt a little better but still not great. I spent the morning doing a little relaxing. I said goodbye to Laurent and Camila who are leaving today. Laurent is going to Pisa, and I think Camila is going to Florence.

I took some pictures of the hostel. It's a really good one I think! I was not sure about it, but I think this is probably the best hostel I could have chosen for this area. It is one town north of Cinque Terre ('five lands'. Five small towns connected via walking trails along the cliffs of the coast), but there is a walking trail south to the first town, and it is larger than the others, so you can buy food more easily.

Nice clean hostel.

After a while I decided to head out to see some things. This would be the last day in Cinque Terre so I had to make the most of it.

I found a little convenience store selling fruit. They were selling loquats! I've never seen these on sale at a shop before. From here I knew this would be an alright day. I also bought strawberries.

The land here looks really lush I think.

I bought a train ticket to Riomaggiore which is the last town of the Cinque Terre. I forgot to validate my ticket which can result in a 5 euro fine apparently. My ticket was only 2.1 euros, and I was feeling a bit delirious still, so I decided to get off at Manarola. There is a short walking trail from Manarola to Riomaggiore anyway, that I had originally planned to take. So it made sense to get off here, walk the trail going south, and slightly reduce my risk of having a ticket inspector appear and asking me to pay this amount.

Cool plants along this trail. Cacti, etc.

In Riomaggiore there is this cool pedestrian tunnel.

This cat is having a great time laying on the path. These people are thinking to say hello to the cat.

The cat isn't interested in this and the people continue walking. The cat stays where it is.

Down by the area where boats stop, they have all these rocks. I walked across them. It was good.

I sat down on the rocks and had some snacks.

Where I sat is apparently where the passenger boat stops.

I walked a bit further and found this nice rocky beach. The rocks are very big.

There was a path up and around this beach. But it is closed! I think i could climb over this sign, but I don't really feel like it and I don't really want to risk getting impaled today.

I walked back through Riomaggiore.

There are remains of a castle higher up on the hill.

The police in European countries are well armed. This guy has a small machine gun of some kind.

Looking down over Riomaggiore.

This dog thinks it's great to lie in the middle of the path for a sleep.

I walked back along the path to Manarola.

I caught the train back to Levanto.

Back at the hostel I had a quiet evening. I washed some clothes. This sign is in the hostel. It talks about a very large fine.

This turned into a really great day I think. Originally it was supposed to rain like yesterday. But the weather was really good for most of the day! The sun was out and it was warm. I'm very glad that I went out to see Riomaggiore.