We crammed in one last visit to Allesandro at our neighborhood ristretto for cappuccinos and croissants (my favorite is the Nutella one) before heading to the train station.  Our final destination of the day was Vernazza, a town of barely 1000 on a section of the Italian coast called the Cinque Terre.  It turned into a day of us versus the Italian rail system with the added, more advanced, level of them being on strike.  Like any game where your target keeps moving, one has to be on her toes, ready to adjust at any moment. 

The short story is we were on seven different trains between Rome and Vernazza, but we made it here.  And, we were only a couple hours late.  I also suspect we may have set records for quickest cross platform sprints, including time from settled on one train (bags and shoes off) to boarded on another train (bags and shoes off), to yet one more train.  Yes, I mean all within one station.  Like I said, this is the short story, so I’m not going to take the time to explain now. 

Instead here are pictures of Vernazza and why it was worth the trip.