Taking in the View!

That's what Garrett yelled several times today during our impromptu
hike. We were visiting the neighboring town, Vernazza, and somehow
decided to hike home to Monterosso instead of taking the train. I've
mentioned before that the 5 towns have trails between them. Yesterday
we hiked the 2 shortest trails and until this afternoon we had no
intention of hiking the other 2- too long, too vertical, and too much
rough terrain for our little family...but then we were in darling
little Vernazza and it was a little cooler than yesterday, and the
kids really wanted to. So we did. C was asleep on my back (in the
beloved Ergo) for most of the way. It was seriously a climb though.
Lots and lots if stairs, but such gorgeous views. A lot of the time
we were straight up from the surf- 500 feet probably. Other times we
were winding through amazing terraced gardens and lemon orchards. The
kids did get tired, especially towards the end and especially G, but
it was SO worth it. At the end we soaked our hot, dusty tired feet in
the ocean. Oh, and Crocs aren't half bad to hike in!
When we were about a half mile from the end we smelled the delicious
scent of fresh lemons. A few feet later, around a corner was an
Itslian farmer selling fresh squeezed lemonade. Amazing!
Yesterday the owner of our apartment gave me a big bag of fresh
lemons, so when we got back from our hike, G and I squeezed them while
J and M went out for sugar (and pizza). The fresh lemonade was SO
good, matbe tven a little bettet than the one on the hilltop. G
REALLY wanted to have a lemonade stand right away, here in Monterosso,
but I think I've convinced him to wait until we get home. But he made
it clear that we have to do it with Grayson, and as SOON as we get home!

Anyway, other highlights of the day included:
-sleeping in (we are getting good at that!
-kids playing at the park while I rounded up some cappucino and fresh
croissants
-more train rides than we'd bargained for (reading the schedule is
usually a better idea than hopping on a train that just happens to be
there)
-FINALLY finding wifi...although not free. I rarely actually get
online from the iPhone- it uses a lot of MBs ( or something) to do
that. So I usually just use the email on the phone to post. It was
lovely to be able to read all your comments! M would like to say
hello to her teacher and her class-she REALLY misses you, and was
thrilled to hear that you check on her here every now and then.

Ok, the rest of the crew here is asleep, so I'd better join them. On
tomorrow's agenda- more capuccino, more gelato, a ferry ride, a more
playing on the beach. Sounds like a full day!
Ciao!
Sent from my iPhone