Breakfast?  Same as yesterday.

We hike to Accademia to see the most famous statue in the world, Michelangelo's David.  There's very little to say about this, except a couple of trivial details:

• From most photos, it isn't obvious just what David is doing with his hands.  From the rear view, though, you can see that his left hand is holding one end of the sling, which drapes down and across his back to his right hand, which holds the cup of the sling (and possibly a rock -- it's hard to tell).
• According to the description at the base of the statue (by Accademia scholars, no doubt), this is a portrayal of David after he has killed Goliath.  This is clearly the case in all the other "David" sculptures in Florence, since they all portray Goliath's head at or under David's feet.  Rick Steves and Gene Openshaw claim that it is a portrayal of the moment David resolves that he "can take this guy."  Because of the missing Goliath, and the impression (at close range) of a hint of worry in David's face, I'm inclined to agree with the ETBD interpretation.
• David became Florence's symbol, supposedly to represent the ability of "right" and ingenuity (Florence) to overcome brawn (the rest of the city-states).

We enjoy lunch at a cafe in the northeast corner of the main square.  The weather provides a constantly changing background.  First sunny, then windy, then sprinkling, then sunny...  We tough it out, while munching on:

• Hors d'oeuvres of Firenze:
• toast with warm chopped (chicken?) liver
• parma (?) ham, sliced paper thin
• salami (with big chunks of fat) sliced very thin

 

 
 
 

...this all seems rather German, doesn't it?

• spaghetti al' pesto.  Good, but there's more oil than basil/etc.
• vegetable soup with bread -- pretty good

We then stop at Vivoli's gelateria, one last time.  New flavors for us:

• fresh fig -- excellent!  (But, pistachio is still my fave.)
• chocolate/orange (I can't really taste the orange, but Brig says she does.)

We board the bus (another precision upload on one of the bridges), and are off to La Cinque Terre.  Along the way, we enter a very long tunnel (as Gene is using the bus' phone to advise another tour guide on the status of Florence), and when we pop out, we're on the Mediterranean coast!

It's an exciting ride down the hill, on the hairpin switchbacks into Levanto.  Johny earns his pay on this drive.  He honks at every turn (the bus seems to have a couple of different horn tones), but still manages to scare several drivers coming up the hill.  I'm glad he's good at what he does.

Vernazza is 2 train stops from Levanto.  Did I mention that the train is very much like a subway in the 5 Terre?  It mostly runs through tunnels in the cliffside, and pops out for each town.  You usually end up getting off in the tunnel (there's a sidewalk) and walking to the exit, which is outdoors.  In Vernazza, vineyards and fig trees grow right down to the mouths of the tunnels.
 
 
 

Our room in the pensione associated with Trattoria Gianni Franzi is #21, with a spectacular seaside view balcony, but no wash basin or toilet -- we share one in the hall.  According to the price schedule on the door, a double room with external toilet costs L90,000 ($54) per night.  Getting from the train station to the room means walking around 300 meters to the harbor area, then around 100 steps (past several cute kitties) to the pensione entrance, then up two flights of a narrow spiral staircase (with a rope hung down the center, as a banister).

Dinner is at an outdoor restaurant fronting against the harbor (probably Gianni's).  We start with a choice between

• spaghetti pomodoro
• spaghetti in mussel sauce (Russ' choice -- and it was a very good one, too!)
• spaghetti with pesto (Brigid's choice.  Good too, but lots of olive oil, like in Florence.)

Speaking of salt, the bread is salted here.  Actually, it's just right, and very good.  Secondo piatti:

• roast veal (we tasted Linda's:  very good)
• mixed seafood, fried (My choice.  Very good, indeed.).  It had calamari, baby squid, shrimp in the shell, and baby octopus -- all in an exceptionally light batter, and deep-fried to perfection.  With a little lemon juice, it was great.  I had to convince Rick not to shell the shrimp -- he finally believed me, and agreed it was good.  Connie K. wouldn't follow suit, though.
• stuffed mussels (Brigid's choice).  Also good, but not our cuppa.

I finally decide that this would be a good time to ask Gene about the opera he mentioned in Europe 101.  The answer is that he actually did get to put together a production (2 weeks, 6 performances) last June.  I was very glad to hear he had managed to successfully achieve this extremely difficult goal.  He says that when he completes his tour season this year (he had a Spain and Portugal tour immediately following this one), he is planning to rethink his goals.  I wish him all the best.

On the way home from dinner, we notice a fellow selling silver and brass jewelry.  Brig buys a graceful silver pendant with a simple string necklace.

We fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the cliffs.  Ahhhhh.....