Cinque Terra and Rome

It’s almost 11PM and I’m exhausted.  Rome is wonderful.  We have been on our feet somewhere between 8-10 hours a day seeing the sights, hence this brief blog entry.

We had a fabulous visit in Cinque Terre where we met our friends Don and Marilena from Arlington, Virginia.  Don found a lovely apartment near the beach in Levanto.  Our first day we all hiked 3 of the 4 Cinque Terra cities: Monterosso to Vernazza to Corniglia and the Lover’s walk in Riomaggiore.  The Corniglia to Manarolo leg was closed due to a landslide.  We also met a young couple, Angela and Jeremy with whom we hiked and shared a meal.  The following day Mark and Don hiked from Levanto to Monterosso while Marilena and I caught up on email and lazed around the apartment.  That afternoon we took a boat from port to port.  The sunset we saw in Vernazza that night was magical.  Mark was eager to share the hike he had done with Don from Levanto to Monterosso so the last day, at 6AM, Mark and I set out.  All was well until around 7AM when Mark heard a noise that he thought was either another hiker or an animal.  As he got closer he thought he saw a dog.  He walked more slowly since he didn’t see a person with it.  Within a step or two he realized it wasn’t a dog but instead a juvenile wild boar.  A few yards behind it were two mature wild boars and another youngster.  That was enough to propel Mark quickly backward toward me.   We gave the boars ample time to leave before we headed back with rocks in hand singing loudly with hope of scaring the boars off the trail.  It must have worked because the boars were nowhere in sight.  Despite the encounter with the boars, we were still able to enjoy the beautiful vistas and complete the hike in time to shower and pack before heading off to Rome. 

Happily we haven’t run into any wild animals in Rome, only lots and lots of tourists.  Turns out that September and October are the top months for visitors.  Lucky us.  Nevertheless, it has been worth joining the crowds to take in the wonderful history offered here. We are off to see more ruins today and then to the Vatican tomorrow.  On Thursday we board the MS Noordam for a 10-day cruise to Croatia, Greece, Turkey and Italy.  We will be off-line so for now, Ciao!