Eating in Cinque Terre

Don't you want to jump in?

The thing in Italy, and most of Europe I learned is that it is quite common to rent a beach chair or space -- as space is quite a premium. Free (public) beaches are not as common in Europe. I guess that is a good thing if the money raised goes to beach clean up costs and other things -- if you look at the state of the more popular beaches in America.

Our meal in Monterosso

The hoteliers (Pasquale) own both Pasquale and another hotel. We were actually fortunate to be on the Rick Steves tour because most of the rooms in a lot of the "affordable" and highly rated hotels in Cinque Terre were already booked with all the Rick Steves summer tours -- we found out by meeting a solo traveler, who was griping to us. The good and bad thing of traveling on tours.

Anyway, the meal in Monterosso was excellent! Oh my. My mom tried to get the recipe from the owner and replicate it, but it wasn't the same. It was a fish dish, with a sauce (the one above is not the fish -- this is a pasta). Anyway, I was ALL OVER THE FISH... I think my mom and I were one of the big fish lovers on the tour so we always asked for more! more! more! So fresh and delish!

During dinner, the mother (or grandmother) made pesto by hand -- oh, so damn delicious! She taught it to her granddaughter ... that was so cute. Anyway, it was her pesto sauce that is served on the pasta above.

The Scheibes

The star attraction!
(I think it was swordfish, I'm not sure... whatever it was, it was scrumptious!)