Day 21: Lucca via Cinque Terra

We decided to do a day trip to the highly anticipated Cinque Terra on the coast for some much needed respite from the heat. We were on the road by 7 am and our early starts in Rome seemed like a long time ago.  We have become all too Italian in our ways, with the kids not getting to bed earlier than 10.30 pm all week.  The drive there was lovely via a series of tunnels cut straight through the sides of massive mountains.  The bridges were incredible and the little towns dotted all over the terrain and hilltops felt like the backdrop to a fairytale again.  We parked at Levanto, the town north (France side) of Cinque Terra and caught the train down to the fifth town and made our way back to the first town.  The train ride was lovely and there weren't too many people.  First stop was Riomaggiore where we had some milkshakes and coffee.  We took a stroll through the township dotted with buzzing cafes, grocery stores, fruit shops and boutiques. The colours were bright and screamed fishing village. We headed to the tiny waterfront and watched people having an early swim. It was just so quaint and charming.  The water was blue and clean and clear. There were tiny little boats lining the path and bobbing in the water.  I wanted to see more and was so excited to be here. Back on to the train to town #2 and things had changed.  It was packed with tourists and we had to fight to get on the train after a 20 minute wait in the hot sun. It was already 35 degrees and it was only 10.30 am.  Manarolo was pumping and the tourists kept coming.  We headed straight for the water.  Rick and the kids had a swim and it was pretty awesome.  Sadly I couldn't find my swimmers in the madness this morning and had to sit and watch.  I thought about going in my bra and undies (that's how hot it was) but there were just too many people to brave it.  I was pretty gutted.  We decided to board a boat for a seaview of the towns as the boats were departing from next to our swimming spot and the next boat wasn't for 2 hours.  It was lunchtime and we were hungry so it seemed like a good idea.  We met a lovely couple from Adelaide (city of cultured diners) staying at town #5 who recommended a great restaurant on the beach and it all sounded perfect. Fab, lets do that I said.  And so began the demise of the rest of the afternoon. The boat ride was an awesome way to see it all and to cool off.  It bypassed town #3 which isn't accessible by the sea anyway.  We thought about getting off at town #4 but lunch (and that cafe) was calling and we thought we could always pop back for a gelato.  The cafe was a "good" walk in the full sun along an esplanade littered with tourists, that wasn't quaint and looked a little gold coast like actually.  When we finally reached the sign that said "Micky di Catina" we cheered. A 20 minute wait for the table, was followed by another 20 minute wait for the one waiter serving 40 people to clear the table, and then another 20 minutes to actually wipe it clean of the pesto and oil over it.  I tried to get a cloth to wipe it myself and had a run in with the very unpleasant bar staff inside (who made me stand waiting for 10 minutes while she chatted).  It wasn't pretty.  Then it took about 30 minutes to get our drinks (warm beer) and another 25 minutes of waiting for our food.  Our cutlery was filthy.  The food was average and it was unbearably hot.  The kids were near tears.  I was near tears. And as I sat cursing my bad decision, I noticed the name of restaurant was not as I had thought. Micky's was next door, closed sadly. We had been waiting for 2 hours for something that ended up being pretty pricey to add insult. Back for a long walk down the stinking hot esplanade past the train station. It crossed our minds to call it a day, but we hadn't seen any of the town.  So we soldiered on and quickly found the village area, ordered a gelato and things seemed a little brighter. Rick was determined to get a cone of fried anchovies so we thought we'd sea hop back to town #2. A boat appeared in the distance and we did a mad mercy dash across the marina only to find out it was the wrong boat.  The kids were covered in melted gelato with no tap in sight.  They directed us to the other boat across the other side of the marina so we ran to it only to find it was also the wrong boat and the next one to town #2 wasn't for for another 40 minutes.  There were people everywhere.  I was hot, irrational and very cranky.  So then began the long walk back down the esplanade to the train station.  And to top it off Scarlett and I got lost from the boys in the crowd (highly stressful) and we all missed the train.  We waited on the platform for another hour.  I sank to the filthy ground that I have detested since we arrived and sat in defeat, speechless.  It was not a good end to such a gorgeous start to the day, and I cursed the heat and the tourists and started to miss home.