Day Four - Sunburn anyone?

Day Four – Sunburn, Anyone?

For some reason, Jamie let me sleep in this morning. She was evidently awake at 8am, but let me sleep until 9:30 before she got bored watching the vista from the balcony. We got ready (well, I got ready) and we walked the long way into town. Our first stop was for a pair of those touristic beach mats made of hay that smell of the countryside and/or cheap seagrass carpets – we were getting ready for an Italian Riviera Beach Day.

After our new traditional breakfast of a cappuccino and apricot-jam-filled croissant at the place beside the place with the nice view of the harbour, we caught the train to Monterosso; the town with the nicest beach.

Jamie managed to get onto the train without getting stuck in the door and the train ride was uneventful. I’m not sure that there was much going in Monterosso other than the beach – I think it’s the only of the five villages with a mostly non-rocky village (not in the sweaty guy from Philly sense, although there very well may have been some sweaty guys from Philly there). We claimed a spot on the last bit of sand left (other than the pay beach), despite the construction going on 10 feet behind us.

Fortunately the Italian tradition of the afternoon extended lunch/siesta saved us, and soon after we sat down the workmen left for their lunch/naps. The beach, despite being somewhat pebbley, was amazing, with great views of both the ocean and along the waterfront to the village. The water, as is to be expected of the Mediterranean was warm and amazingly clean (as far as we could see at any rate).
Despite all of the SPF 25 we liberally applied, after a couple of dips in the sea and a few hours lounging on the beach, we were both feeling a bit toasty (okay, we are both the shade of bright red only people who have lived in the gloom and cloud cover of London for several years can attain). We retired to a bar just beside one of the private sections of the beach for refreshments, which may have included wine, just for something different. We also had a very tasty bowl of fresh sliced strawberries in lemon juice with sugar – can’t get much better than that, if I’m honest.

We spent a few hours trying to work out how we could afford to move to a place that had sunshine and the Mediterranean within easy reach while drinking our wine and eating our strawberries. Nothing confirmed, but several promising plans made (lottery winnings placing high on the list of likely contenders), we made our way back to the train station to catch the 4:07 back to Manarola.

Other than a very odd family in the seats beside us (the son nibbled on his mother’s ear, then she returned the favour, all while dad watched – creepy doesn’t even begin to describe it), the train ride was as expected. The grocery stores in town (there are only two) were closed until 5pm as they are every day, so we went back up to the flat for a glass of wine for Jamie and a bottle of Birra Morretti for me (I’m better at rationing the beverages). We enjoyed the afternoon sun for a bit. Having re-applied the sunscreen, before heading down into town for essential supplies at the grocery store and dinner at the Michelin recommended restaurant in town (Marina Piccola) for dinner
Dinner was very tasty – Jamie started with a classic tomato and mozzarella salad and I had the local anchovy in lemon and oil. I’m not normally a fish fan, especially super fishy tasting fish like anchovy, but this version is really tasty. For mains, Jamie had trofie (a type of local pasta) with artichoke and scampi, and I had cuttlefish with chick peas. Both were excellent, and the view of the setting sun over the Manarola harbour was incredible.

After dinner, we grabbed a cup of gelato each and sat on the benches above the harbour to enjoy our treat. I have to say, my pistachio was better than Jamie’s mint, although I suspect she might argue with that. Dessert having been consumed, we headed back to the hotel to write our day’s report and enjoy a final glass of wine before bed.