Wednesday, 14 Oct, 2015: Monterosso

We got a bit caught up on sleep after 36 hours of being awake and started the day with breakfast in our apt. I should mention that our landlady, who I thought spoke English does not...but her son Roberto does. He's in Ireland, so that makes for some pretty strange communications where I mostly nod and say OK but don't understand most of what Lella says. Somehow we manage, though.

We headed out towards the Tourist Info office and did some sightseeing along the way...like these flowers in front of a restaurant.

And some wondeful trompe l'oeil painted buildings.

Then we went into the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista with a beautful "rose" window.

Right next door was one of 2 "confraternities, the "Black" one where the brothers were charged with caring for widows and orphans and arranging funerals. Note the suitable interior decor.

Walked through town doing window shopping and admiring the scenery and architecture.

Til we came to the northern end of town and encountered what is left of "Il Gigante," a 45 foot tall statue that once supported a dance terrace before that was washed away by a big storm.

We decided to walk up the hill to the top of the Punta Mesco... little realizing what we were getting into. We did see lots of interesting gates along the way...

...and of course the higher we went, the more spectacular the vista!

Until FINALLY we reached the top and found the ruins of an old monastery, San Antonio del Mesco.

More pics of houses on the way down.

Wandered back through town, stopped in "new town" for lunch at the focacceria "Simone," and out the breakwater where we could look back towards Monterosso.

 On out the south end of town where we saw a couple of old German pill boxes

And then wandered up the hill towards "home" exploring side streets as we went. Came across this tour group in front of the "White" confraternity and saw a cat curiously watching the proceedings.

Had a little rest then went out for pasta (Paula) and veal (Anne) dinner at Ristorante Belvedere. Pooped tonight and expect I will have some sore legs tomorrow!