June 22 Thursday
Levanto
We were out of hotel Parma by 0900 not feeling a need to linger in the city when the Cinque Terra was so close. We got on the train without too much trouble - we're getting better at this. Again we were the only two bikes on the train which helped since we took up about three quarters of the space alloted for bikes. We rode in the engine car with the bikes, standing by the window knowing it would be a short ride to Levanto. Between tunnels we were able to catch glimpses of the towns making up the Cinque Terra. It was like a postcard but with a lot more people and this was just the beginning of tourist season. Jon said that he thought there was a lot more people than he remembered from his last trip. We pulled into Levanto and disembarked. We were the only ones getting off at this stop. The town had four campsites and since it was before noon we took our time and decided to look before deciding on which to stay at since we knew we would be here for several days. The town is very quaint and not yet overrun by tourists because it's not part of the Cinque Terra Park but just outside making it a good home base. The first campsite we went to looked a lot like the others we've stayed out. Lots of "permanent residents" and tents that were really packed close together. We decided to see what else was available. The next one we went to, Camping Pian di Picche, was close to the train station, quiet with few campers at the time and had shadey areas for tents. When we pulled up the proprietess asked about the bikes. She was very welcoming and genuine - we immediately liked the place and decided to stay. We have a great campsite with lots of shade, clean bathrooms and good hosts. Their market is open late and they have Sky TV which carries the World Cup - so you know where we are at five and nine pm every night! The place is family run and it looks like there are about three generations of family involved.
After setting up camp we went down to the beach and just laid out for a while relaxing. After a while we were approached by a woman offering massages. She was from Canton, China and knew right away that I was Korean. I declined the massage but encouraged Jon to just go for it - so he did - the full body massage - on the sandy beach, in the Italien afternoon heat. I could tell the woman, who was very nice, was good - so could Jon.
"She's doing a really good job" - J
"Yeah, she's wiping sand out from between you toes." - S
That woman earned her twenty euro for over 30 minutes of massage - Jon felt like he got his money's worth. He attracted a lot of stares from nearby sunbathers.
After the beach we watched a World Cup Italy vs. Czech Republic at the corner Gelatoria. You could hear the cheering and yelling from nearby bars who were also showing the game. Afterwards, we came back to camp and made plans to spend the day in Monterossa. We would hike the trail connecting Levanto and Monterossa so we wanted to leave earlier in the morning to beat the heat. Then we would take the train back that evening.
