Hello Cinque Terre

Today was full of goodbyes and hellos. The Vances had to say goodbye to the rest of the family going back to the States and Canada so I woke up early so I could see D-Daddy, Grandma, Aunt Lisa and Cousin Connor before their flight. I was up at 6:20 down in the lobby kissing everyone goodbye. 

Right after their car came I went back upstairs and tried to go back to sleep. After breakfast Aunt Tracy, Uncle Tom, Samantha and Jacob walked us to the train station (with our luggage) to say goodbye there. After more hugs and kisses we boarded our train just to wait another 50 minutes until it actually left the station. We had our own little compartment (like on the Harry Potter train) with really comfortable seats. If you leaned the two seats across from each other all the way back, they formed a little bed. I laid down but still only got around 30 minutes of sleep. Something about being on a moving vehicle and closing my eyes just isn't appealing. 

When I woke up I could see the ocean. The water here is so pretty. Next to the cliffs it's all white and foamy. Then next color is a really light sea green. That fades into a darker green that finally fades into a really dark blue on the horizon. We switched trains at La Spezia and took a subway like train that took us to Manarola.  Manarola is on a cliff like almost all the Cinque Terre cities except Monterosso (the beach town). We walked up the hill to the apartment rental office and had an agent take us to our apartment and show us around. After we settled down and claimed rooms, we set off to explore the city. 

We walked down beside the water to a little restaurant for a drink. The drink made everyone hungry so Dad and I went and got some french fries and fried seafood. Now I can say that my favorite food on the planet is little fried octopi. We walked around with our food up to a little panoramic point where we could take pictures. Then we went back to the apartment and with the groceries that Mom and I got while Helen and Dad were swimming, we cooked a yummy spaghetti dinner. 

Before we ate we went out to watch the sunset with wine and lemon Fanta. The sky turned gorgeous colors but the sun never hit the water, it went straight into the clouds. After dinner I sat patiently through Helen's freak attack and went to bed.