Day 30 - Cinque Terre

An early start again today as we had a bit of travelling to get to our pesto making class. First a taxi to the train station and then over an hour on the train to get to Cinque Terre where the class was scheduled to start at 10:30. Unfortunately, the whole scheduling and ticketing thing with the trains is not straightforward so when we realised that we’d missed our stop and tried to double back, it was the start of a bit of an issue. We’d left plenty of time to get to Cinque Terre but when we went to the ticket office to try and get back to the correct station, the queue was nearly out the door. Barb tried to order new tickets online but that also seemed to be taking forever. We decided to just board the next train going back (so that we’d at least be on time) but that’s when it all came to a head - we got sprung by the conductor and despite trying to show that we’d tried to buy online tickets, we got a hefty fine. Although it was pretty rubbish, we didn’t have a lot of choice so we tried to just move on and not let it mess up the day.

Luckily, we got to the pesto class in good time and it was well worth all the hassle - really one of the best things we’ve done on the trip. An amazing view, plenty of wine and food, and an excellent teacher. I’m all inspired now to give it a go when we get home - our pesto turned out rather bloody good if I do say so myself! I just have to see if I can remember all the steps (we all needed a few drinks after the train drama which didn’t help with keeping track of the details). After the class, we explored the town (Manarola) a bit, headed to Riomaggiore for another meander, and then to the largest Cinque Terre town of Monterosso to revosit where T2 had stayed last time. So we checked out 3 of the 5 towns that make up Cinque Terre. They do actually look exactly as you see them in pictures. Late in the afternoon it was back onto the train for getting back to Portofino. Another really good day despite it not going quite to plan early on. 

As predicted, he storm’s finally set in at Portofino so it’s back to the apartment for the evening to wait it out. It's forecast to blow through overnight so hopefully we can do some more exploring tomorrow, our final day before travelling home. Barb and Toni have high hopes for a final sea swim but we'll see...