Planes, trains, and seaside views

DAY 9

Today was a long travel day with two flights and three trains and took us from Hungary to Italy. We had one flight from Budapest to Munich and then another one from Munich to Pisa. Once in Pisa we had to take a train from the airport to Pisa Central Station. We had a timed ticket, but got our luggage earlier than expected so went to the train. We had timed tickets and we were supposed to get a 1:40 train from the airport to the Pisa Central Station. This was what we were anxious over. We were supposed to have a six minute transfer and that was stressing us out. But since we got on an earlier initial train, we didn’t have to rush. From Pisa Central we needed to get to La Spezia Migliarina, and then finally from there to Monterosso. Initially our second train ticket was scheduled for 1:54, but there was a 1:34 with the same route so we asked one of the conductors if we could get on the earlier train with our timed tickets and he said yes, but god forbid something happened, we weren’t insured with these. We wanted to take the earlier train so we didn’t feel as rushed at the next station. These trains seemed to be like Metra commuter trains leaving quite frequently so I was pretty sure we were doing this correctly. But it was quite nerve racking though being in a foreign country and not being familiar with things and just hoping to make the right trains and not to get lost. 

The ride from Pisa Central to La Spezia was a little over an hour and then we had to get one more train to Monterroso. This was easy enough, but the train got crowded as people from each Cinque Terre town were getting on and off the train. When we got to Monterroso, a cab from the hotel was supposed to be waiting for us and wasn’t so we were a little confused. We talked to another cab driver and he got us to the hotel fairly quickly. We checked in and got settled and then decided we were so hungry and so hot that we put on our bathing suits and headed to the pool to jump in and order some lunch. My first meal back in Italy was exactly what I wanted it to be, a fantastic focaccia with some prosciutto and mozzarella. So simple, yet so so good. And it tasted even better because I was sitting along the coast of Italy and by a pool. 

Fed and cooled town, it was time to walk back down to the Old Town section of Monterroso to explore a bit. The guy at the hotel told us there wasn’t exactly a ton to see here so we just kind of wandered around there and then to find this one statue, the Gigante Statue, but it was under construction so there was nothing to see when we got down there. We walked around a bit more than came back to the hotel and sat on the patio a bit, then went down to the beach. It’s super rocky here, but this year we bought water shoes so our feet wouldn’t hurt on the rocks in the sea. I started to go in the water and less than a minute in up to my calves, I saw a jelly fish. I bolted out of the water so fast and that may be it for me in the sea for this part of the trip. The last thing I need is to get stung by a jellyfish so this may be a hard pass moving forward, especially since we have a pool at the hotel. 

As the sun began to set, we walked to the town square again and got some gelato before slowly walking back. On our way back, the sunset was spectacular. The sky was pink and purple and I couldn’t stop staring at it. I’m a sucker for a good sunrise and sunset so this made me super happy. When we got back to the hotel, we sat on our balcony a bit before showering and getting ready for bed. We want to be up early tomorrow to visit the other four towns of the Cinque Terre because it’s supposed to be really hot again and we want to beat the heat. Hopefully these villages are as gorgeous in person as they are on IG and I for one can’t wait to see!