Day 5 - Manarola

Donna was up at the crack of dawn, stepped outside and--it was so beautiful--that she ran back inside to grab her camera.   She confided to Mary, "This is when it is good to wear your actual clothes for pajamas".  She left the others sleeping and wandered around the village of Manarola taking pictures.  She returned about an hour later saying, "Oh my god...you should get up.   It' s so beautiful out there".  

We all got ready and Donna actually took the time to put on real clothes.  We strolled down to Aristide, where we had caffe macchiato,  yogurt, cereal, marmalade- and chocolate-filled croissants.  After breakfast we strolled along the path Via dell'Amore (the Romantic Road) .  Thousands of people have written on the walls, so we joined in the fun.  Beth commemorated our trip by writing "Celebrazione di Amicizia (celebration of friendship):  Beth, Brenda, Donna, and Mary 4/5/2012".

Brenda also left a message saying, "Miss you, Michael.  I feel you watching from heaven.    Love always, Mom".

We saw hundreds of padlocks attached to the fences along the way.  It is an old tradition that is said to bind two people's love forever.  We took some humorous pictures of flat Terri with some creative drawings on the wall!

We had a wonderful long walk in the town of Riomaggiore.  We passed the local shops on Via Colombo and a young boy practicing with his soccer ball  helped to point the way to the church and castle.  We made our way up a steep path to San Giovanni Church.  Kids were playing soccer in its courtyard.  

We ended up eating dinner overlooking the water and the view was beautiful, the food was ok, but the service was lousy.  It was very disappointing after the previous nights feast.  After dinner we returned to Aristide and had the heavenly panna cotta for the second night in a row.