The dawn of day 8 meant more time on the autrostrada and a promise of rest as we zoomed towards the sleepy, slow-pace of the Cinque Terre - 5 traffic-free villages connected by trains and a hiking trail in a remote part of the Italian Riviera where there are no museums to tour, no monuments to ogle at...just sand, sea, wine, boats, gelato and unadulterated Italian experience.Oh - one more thing about the autostrada before we talk about Cinque Terre - Dan and I saw one of the funniest things of our entire trip while we were waiting to pump gas at a service station along the highway. We felt like we were on Candid Camera or at a circus watching not one, two or three...but SEVEN people get out of and back into a Ford Focus! Just like clowns in a clown car! Seriously? We still can't believe they all fit in there.
Ok, so the Cinque Terre....nearly everyone we had talked to about visiting Italy before we left Washington had said that their favorite part of Italy had been the Cinque Terre and that they'd wished they'd had more time to spend there. We were determined to find out why.
As we drove from our hotel outside of Verona, I called and made last-minute reservations at a Rick Steves' recommended place in Riomaggiore, the Eastern-most of the five villages. Basically, it was the only place we could find that had availability both for us and for our car (since you definitely don't want to drive in the Cinque Terre!).
Arrival in Riomaggiore involved a nail-biting descent down the VERY steep one-car-width lane into the village to drop off our baggage and then an equally steep climb up the 3 flights of stairs to our room which was lacking in character but fully adequate with its humming air conditioning unit.
With our luggage tucked away in our room and the car parked safely back up the hill (thanks to Dan), we were free to wander, roam, soak in sunshine, and snack the rest of the day away with nothing but relaxation on the agenda.
Now, keep in mind that it's a part of Italy with cliffs...so you can't relax 100% with a little Jackson who likes to RUN! But we did the best we could.
We grabbed some yummy focaccia and had a picnic in the sunshine by the cliff's edge (keeping Jackson safe, of course) before we made our descent down to the water to cool off amid kayaks and splashing swimmers.
(Below, look closely and you can see Dan and Jackson in the water in front of the yellow boat.)
Next we made our way on foot to the neighboring village of Manarola by way of the Via dell'Amore. This "Pathway of Love" is a cliff-clinging, nearly flat trail that's popular with lovebirds for obvious reasons - the views of the waves and cliffs are spectacular.
Throughout the trail, we saw padlocks clamped onto anything and everything, put their as symbols of eternal commitment by doting couples who had hiked the trail before us.
While we didn't contribute a padlock of our own, we did sign our names on the rock wall like thousands of others had done.
Jackson slept soundly while we made the transition from trail to train in hopping from village to village. 
In Village #5, Monterosso, we cooled off yet again - this time with yummy gelato - while we watched a busy sea of sunbathers and swimmers swarm on the beach and in the waves. From this spot we had a clear shot of the other 4 villages.
For dinner, we snagged one of the last tables at Bar & Vini A Pie de Ma. The wine bar served only light meal items but we chose the cliff-clinging cafe because its location at the Riomaggiore trailhead of Via dell'Amore offered an unforgettable view of the Mediterranean and the cliffs as the sunset gave the rocks a decidedly orange glow.
We ended up inviting a couple of vacationing US Army soldiers to join us at our table toward the end of our dinner and it was cool being able to thank them for their service to our country.It was a pretty fabulous day.
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