The Rich & Beautiful North!

Good morning from the Cinque Terre. We arrived yesterday and hiked from Vernazza to Riomagiore. It was hot & humid, but beautiful. We had hoped to catch the boat back to Vernazza, but missed the last one of the evening. It is amazing that they decided to build towns on the sides of cliffs. The food here is better than we had expected. The lemon trees are bearing full fruit, the olive trees and vines are just starting to grow olives and grapes. The seafood we had last night was amazing--we never thought anchovies could be so good! Today we hike to Montorosso for a beach day, and hopefully will rent kayaks to tour around the area.
Emilia Romagna was amazing. It will be hard to top Bologna and Parma in Gilles' mind. You assume Italians are good dressers, but this region proves it to be true. They have an incredible fashion sense, whether it's a workday, or a Saturday. And they love their bikes! Not the hard-core mountain bikes that everyone uses in Calgary. They're at least 10 years old, and meant for strolling. Why rush? We borrowed some from our bed and breakfast while in Parma to bike into the town. I even ventured out with a skirt on the bike, which I did not find as easy as the Italian ladies make it look! And the food! Gilles figures he has eaten enough pork fat to last awhile, so perhaps it is good that we have left the interior for the coast. We did love being surrounded by Italians doing their everyday thing. It's a little bitter sweet arriving in Cinque Terre where it seems as though there are more Americans than Italians....
Gelato count for Gilles is 6.5, for April 5. New favourite flavour is biscotti, but it is not found in many places.
Bye for now!