Italy Trip Day Six -- Going Local

We started our glorious day in the Cinque Terre with a tour through Monterosso with our guide Kate Little. Kate came to Italy on vacation over twenty years ago and when a rail strike led to her rail pass expiring, she took odd jobs to pay for her ticket back. Instead she stayed, married a local man and now has a son and a tour business. She knows all the good stories about the area and the best places to go.Her friend, Gianni, picked us up and drove us up high above Monterosso to his restaurant, Il Ciliegio or The Cherry Tree, for a cooking class.

Gianni's wife, Rosanna, and their sous chef, Juan, showed us how to make a local rabbit dish, pesto for pasta, lemon cured anchovies, and tiramisu. They also made us some stuffed anchovies just because we started talking about them and Rosanna thought we should try them. We chopped vegetables, and learned to de-spine anchovies; we learned about dishes of the area, and we laughed a lot. It was a great morning followed by Rosanna's special lunch and Gianni's wines under the trees.

After lunch we followed Gianni down to the house he built around his wine production cantina. He showed us a film of his wine operation and gave us another glass of his wine. The trip down the hill into Monterosso took us by his grape vines, asparagus, artichokes, lemons, grapefruit, the cherry trees, and fig trees. It's really a paradise up there.

We spent a free afternoon shopping and relaxing in Monterosso, then we met Paula and her husband, Angelo, for a sunset tapas boat tour of the Cinque Terre. Our two hour cruise took us all the way down the coast to Riomaggiore and back. Prosecco flowed and the tapas were amazing--grilled vegetables, cheese, a chickpea cake, and lots more. On our way back to Monterosso, Angelo pulled into a cove and grilled shrimp and chicken kababs and swordfish. We watched the sun set and the almost full moon rise as we made our way back to town. Check out Angelo's Boat Tour if you're ever in the CInque Terre. It's great fun.

A great day in the Cinque Terre was made more special by the local connections we made. We felt nearly like locals ourselves.

Karla wore black yoga pants, a black t shirt, a turquoise scarf and a coral sweater for today's activities. It worked for the cooking class and the boat ride.