I can't stand it! I just can not stand it! This place is just too beautiful! It's every bit as gorgeous as it was four years ago. I'm so glad we decided to stop here. We had the most wonderful day today. Ann and Deb love this place too. We took a boat ride from Monterosso all the way to the last village. You have to understand that this boat ride is probably the highlight of the Italy portion of our trip for me. The beautiful royal blue water of the Mediterranean Sea has been calling my name since I was here last time. It was questionable that we would be able to take this boat ride because all along rain has been predicted for today. Had we been here yesterday morning, we could not have made the trip as the boats could not go out. I am so, so lucky that we are here today when the weather was perfect. So here we go--we board the boat, I get a pretty good spot (after climbing over people in a variety of places), and I've got my camera ready. I take about four pictures--and my memory card is full! No problem, though, as I had Deb bring me a new one, and I've got it in my day bag. I fish around for it and try to open it. It's wrapped in plastic. I try tearing it, biting it, bending it, screaming at it, and pleading with it. Nothing works. I bend and bend and finally get to a bit of the cardboard. I gnaw on it, pry it, lick it and do more pleading. I frantically look in my day bag for a box cutter. Of course not--why would I have one of those. Nothing! Ah, finally I find my pen. I'm able to poke a little hole in the cardboard and am ecsatic! Oh, no....more plastic inside! Several more minutes of bending, tearing and swearing, and finally I get to the prize. By this time, I've only missed one village, so all is not lost. The rest of the trip was wonderful, and I enjoyed every moment thereafter. We got off the boat and explored the little villages, all so quaint. We had our best lunch in Cinque Terre in Manarolo, pesto lasagna, pesto pasta of some kind and lobster pasta. Pesto is the specialty here. We learned that you never heat pesto, just pour it over hot pasta. Maybe that's way I don't like it at home. We walked on the Via dell Amore and saw some of the prettiest scenery you can imagine. Deb hiked the last two villages, which she said was very challenging, but she loved it. It took her two and a half hours. Afterwards we walked around town, had some gelato, watched the sun set on Cinque Terre and ended with a nice bottle of wine on our balcony. What a perfect day. However, that's not to say there weren't some issues. Deb is having just as much trouble with the plumbing as we have had. Today she took a shower and flooded not only the bathroom, but also our bedroom. We took a little food from from the breakfast buffet because we're leaving very early tomorrow, and we decided to hide it in the safe where we keep our money belts. Now all our money smells like bananas. Ann did not make friends in the store when she was looking through some linen cloths. People in Italy do not like you handling their merchandise. I tried to warn her... We seem to ask too many questions. The man at the boats was getting pretty annoyed with us because we couldn't decide which ticket to buy. The waiters roll their eyes when they have to explain every item on the menu. And look out if you pull out a 20 to buy one scoop of gelato. They look like they've lost their best friend in the world. And Ann had a problem last night. She's perfectly OK now, but her worst fears materialized. She made it through the tour without a problem, and here in Cinque Terre, she fell. She missed seeing a short curb. She says today that she was watching someone get into a cab and was wondering where they were going. She scraped the palms of her hands and her knees, but today she's fine. She was able to walk all day, so don't worry. Today we found out that there is a doctor in this village. He gets around by bike, and his name is Dr. Vino. Not kidding! Ann's just happy we didn't have to call Dr. Vino. And Deb said she's not feeling the love. She wants to know why none of her family or friends are making comments. She wants to know if you people are reading.