Day 5

Pamela must be a morning person. We were herded and ready to board the 9a.m. train to La Spezia, saying “good-bye” to The Cinque Terre and our base of four days in Levanto. Although today began early, the surprises on the other side of the tracks were worth the extra cup of cappuccino to stay awake.

I knew it would be good when we were greeted by two diminutive Italian women in sensible shoes. We were escorted from the train station to a restaurant/cooking school, inconspicuously located in an alleyway just minutes from the Friday marketplace. We dropped off our belongings, then went directly to the market to purchase ingredients.