We were so looking forward to visiting the beautiful Cinque Terre or the five towns of Italy. Let me describe this shore excursion:
Friday we were tendered off of Portofino Italy. It has an amazing shoreline of colorful homes on hilltops by the sea. Scattering the shoreline were cute little cafés and shops. We did not spend time in Portofino. Instead we started what turned out to be the most ridiculous waste of a shore excursion and it lasted over 10 hours! First we took the very rocky tender boat to shore. We met our tour guide and then walked to another boat that took us to another gorgeous town of St margherita. From there we met our coach bus. We then took a one and a half hour scenic bus ride to the first if the five towns. We walked down steep stairs and cliffs through the crowded town. We walked to the sea front to pick up another very rocky boat to get to the next town. This was also hot and crowded. We had lunch in a cafe. Pizza and pasta. It was good but the town was basically a square lined with cafés and fast food stands. We were there for an hour and then yes we got on another rocky boat to go to the next town. By this time Sydnie was extremely sea sick. The barf bag was her friend. This final town. It starts with an m. I think it is Montmorroso. Something like that. Was the nicest of all. It had a beautiful beach nicer cafés and shops. We had a wine pesto and olive oil tasting. Wish we had lunch in this town. After the tasting we walked to a train station and waited on the hot and crowded platform for over a half hour. Took the train to another town where the bus was wAiting for us to take us the one hour drive back to St margerhita where we took a boat to Portofino in order to get the tender to the ship. We realized that we should have just taken the train to the nicest town and then spend a few hours there to really enjoy it and then go back. Normally people hike from one town to the next. We went all that way to have lunch when we could have had a more relaxing day and wonderful lunch right in Portofino. I know I should not complain. After all how often does one have lunch on the Italian Riveria? We still enjoyed the scenery and other parts of the trip. I just don't like when things are poorly planned. We arrived back on the ship after 7 and showered and got dressed for the white night dance party and Mediterranean buffet on deck. Everybody dresses in white. The music and food were good. We had a nice end to the long day. Of course it was not the end for the kids as they went to the casino and the hung out with their friend ti almost 3 in the morning. Everyone is sad for this cruise to be over as we are all having an amazing time. We will be spending our last day in Monte Carlo. We cancelled the 3 hour excursion which seemed like mostly a bus tour. We will go to the famous Jaque Cousteau Oceanarium and explore on our own. Fortunately we are docked on shore. Until the next blog. Arrivaderchi
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Location:Portofino Italy
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