Monterosso de Mare,  Cinque Terre
   We had an amazing day visiting Monterosso, the 5th town of the Cinque Terre.  It was an easy $4.00 ride on the Regional Train,  taking only about  20 minutes.
   Monterosso de  Mare means, on the sea.  It does have more useable beach area than the other 4 towns. The Italians call the Cinque Terre, "Land between sky and sea.  I suppose because looking from a boat, there is only sky above the green and from the top of the green mountains down to the rugged coastline, is land.
   We wanted to go there today for a couple of reasons.  First,  today was Market Day in Monterosso and Debby and Nancy were in the mood to shop.  (I think they also hit the ATM.)  Second, we wanted to rent some chairs and lay out on the beach.   And so we did.
   It was fun walking around the market area and roaming the old town streets.  The pastel buildings are much like ours in Manarola,  except this town has more and newer and has more flat area.  I saw a huge Crane set up for new construction towards the upper end of town.  There are rules governing this area.  Cinque Terre was proclaimed a National Park because of its unique beauty and rich history, to limit any changes that might alter the characteristics of these 5 towns.  Buildings and homes are required to use one of the soft pastel colors approved by a commission.  Apparently, it cannot be painted the same color as the building next door.
   We did enjoy the market.   It was a little different from the market day in Vernazza, although some of the same merchants were doing business in both places.
   There were a couple of old churches, many shops and places to eat.  Tourists, hikers and tour groups were plentiful.
   It was noon when we decided to head for the beach to swim and sun.  Before going, we had been eyeing some rotisserie chickens.  We bought one of them and some fresh fruit.  We had lunch on the beach.
   When it was time for a swim, we did.  The cool water was borderline to cold but we we had to do it.  The salty, Mediterranean Sea  was clear and buoyant.  We warmed up under the Tuscan sun and enjoyed a conversation with a couple from Toronto, Canada.
  We've all heard the term "money laundering" for years as a thing some people do, but have not actually witnessed such a thing until yesterday.  Ron has always been one of our traveling companions.  We thought we knew him pretty well.  It never occurred to me that he was a money launderer himself.  He went out into the sea to swim and totally forgot to remove us watch! He worked hard to get that watch to the shore.  He finally made it close to shore and gave it a heave.  Unfortunately, he should have removed his wallet!  😆    (The next morning, at the dining table, he was laying his money out to dry.  But, hours later, that poor wallet is still wet.) 😎
   A short ride later, we were back home preparing to have dinner before enjoying another sunset on the Italian Riviera.