Day 9 – Winding from the Alps to Levanto, Italy
Our ninth day of our journey began with an early breakfast, checkout, and walk to our train ride back into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. In the valley we rendezvoused with Paul and our comfy bus to begin the roughly seven hour journey from the Alps and into the Italian Riviera, our destination being Levanto.
The bus ride was a scenic feast for the eyes as we navigated the snow capped alps through winding passages. The kids particularly enjoyed a brief stop to enjoy a snowball fight, a very special moment before we journeyed further south and into the much warmer climate of Italy. I was particularly impressed with Paul and Sašo’s excellent navigation of the tight and winding roads of the Italian Riviera, when Sašo had to briefly hop out and conduct a deft unwinding of a particularly entwined traffic jam. The architecture and vibes of Levanto were such an interesting contrast from our previous mountain location, I could dig it. We met again once settled for an absolutely stunning seafood buffet. I am writing this nearly one year later and I still can conjure up how delicious it was. We scoped out the town a bit and settled in to tackle Levanto and Cinque Terre the following day.
Day 10 – Free day in Levanto
It seems most families had booked something for this day months ago. One thing about us, we are spontaneous, and although Angelina is an excellent planner, that is a skill that I’ve never developed and I’ve resigned that I may never. In moments like these…I have a cheat code. My trusty Aunt and Uncle, the Rick Steves tour veterans who just so happened to be on their own tour at the exact same time in Spain. After reaching out to them briefly with my Uncle David’s suggestions in hand, I hastily booked a boat ride that visits all of the stunning cities along the coast line. This boat had special meaning to me though, the boats are themes after The Little Prince character by the author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I even have a tattoo of a quote from the book. By some miracle, the sunset tour was available with charcuterie board and Apéritif on-board…sold. We explored the town, ate the food, took the opportunity to wash clothes and set out for our boat ride. The crew, views, swimming, and food were an absolute highlight of the tour. What a magical ride that was, such a stunning area and to this day I haven’t stopped thinking of when I can return. Cinque Terre is a stunning seaside destination, a place you could see yourself settling down in and peacefully living out your days. I want to give a special shoutout to Rosa Dei Venti Boat Tours for having availability and showing us the time of our lives. They were amazing and the coincidence of the primary captain, Marco, also sharing a love for The Little Prince absolutely won me over. If you are visiting Cinque Terre, please reach out to them!
What a perfect day and visit to Cinque Terre…and sadly we had to say goodbye but that also meant we were off to Pisa and Florence!
My apologies for the photo dump here, it was too beautiful to not share.
