Monterosso, Italy

Written Monday, October 26th 2009
After many hours of train travel from Switzerland to Italy we arrived in Monterosso. Monterosso is the northern most town in Cinque Terre. The five towns that are along the seven mile costal walk are small, car-free and on or near the ocean. The area is fantastic! The warm, sunny weather is great and observing people swim in the ocean makes me want to join them. All I need is some snorkel gear and a speedo. Right now we are waiting in a lush tree covered patio area with Brett from Washington. We were told to come to this location for the most affordable place to stay in Monterosso. Unfortunately there is a sign on the door that says, “Will be back later.” So for now we wait. Maybe we should sleep on the beach. Bye for now.
So this is what happened… Mariella and I went to look for food as it was dinner time. Brett stayed at the hotel and watched the bags. While purchasing brushetta (sp?) at a near-by eatery, Mariella learned of an open apartment from the lady selling us food. Luckily Mariella is able to understand enough Italian because of the languages similarity to Spanish. The store owner contacted a friend who led us to her apartment, which we rented out for the night. The apartment was on the second floor of a building facing the town square (Piazza Garibaldi) and a church. Nice! We split the cost of the apartment with our new friend Brett. Later that evening we walked around the sleepy town.