Moneglia, Italy

When we left the villa, we headed northwest, eventually following along the Italian Riviera. We drove along the high road that runs above the beautiful Cinque Terre. It was amazing in many ways. First, it was a glorious day. The sun was shining, the water was calm and blue, and the views were spectacular. Second, it was quite a road. It twisted this way and that way, carving itself (literally, so it seemed) into the hillside far above the sea. Third, this was Easter Monday, or Pasquetta, as the Italians call it, and it was also 25 April, which is the Italian Fourth of July - Liberation Day. (The "liberation" is the end of World War II on 25 April 1945.) So this was a super-duper long weekend for the Italians. In the Cinque Terre, people were everywhere! So dodging cars, people, motorcycles, bicyclists and everything else made the whole drive a very beautiful and very sporty course! Here's a picture from the road. You can see the road in the left of the picture.
We finally made our way towards the town of Moneglia, on the sea just north of the Cinque Terre. That road along the sea had its own amusements in the form of old one-way tunnels. You wait in line for 15-20 minutes (the times are posted) and then go with everyone else through these tunnels that line the seaside. There were three sets of 3-4 tunnels!

We finally arrived in Moneglia and found our hotel. We set off to explore the city, which had a fair and dancing and other things happening for the special day. It was a lot of fun. We eventually found a place to eat that looked good. While we were sitting there, an Easter procession came by, much like the Good Friday ones elsewhere. People were dressed in different colors for their contradas, or neighborhoods. In this procession they carried three big crucifixes with ornate, very baroque gold and silver radiating suns. Others pushed on a cart (not carried) their local patron San Giorgio (St. George) complete with sword stuck in the dragon, and the requisite statue of Mary. The band was pretty good, and some people carried their own personal sound systems for chants along the way.We had a pretty amazing dinner with a big platter of local fresh seafood for the four of us. After dinner, we wandered back to our hotel through the beautifully lit streets. By chance Eileen popped her head into the church and came out and got the rest of us. It is a baroque wonder. It was very lovely to see. Here is a picture of the altar:
So all in all we enjoyed Moneglia and were glad to get some views and a little taste of the Cinque Terre and the Italian Riviera.