Cornelia,  Cinque Terre
September 30, 2016
   Corniglia, town #3 of 5, is the town on the hill, although it's train stop is not.
   Ron and I hiked to Corniglia from Manarola, a distance of over 11 Km across the mountain.  I will make a post of that hike later.  But Corniglia has much of the same look as the others.  Each town has its own charm.  All have been worth discovering.  There are many steps to take to get down to sea level. As we were returning to Manarola, we needed either the train or the boat.  Both are way down there!
   Ron and I went into a small market and bought a sandwich and Coke.  We sat down outside and watched tourists scurrying about, like trying to figure out where they were going, or something!
   Sightseeing is pretty typical of the other towns.   There's a main church, souvineer shops,  cafes and residential apartments. It is unfortunate that the train station and train tracks occupy a valuable beach front.  That would have made a great area for beach activity, sidewalk cafes, shops and a boardwalk.
   Beginning at 9:00 PM last night and continuing until 9:00 tonight, there is a nationwide train strike in effect.  But from high on the mountain on our hike, looking down on Corniglia, we could see trains occasionally stopping.
   We thought it's worth a try to see if we could catch one.   The ticket agent said that one out of three trains was running, so we bought a ticket.  We had to wait half an hour.  As we sat outside the station on a bench,  we could look east along the coastline to the next point and see Manarola perched on the steep mountain.  We could have easily walked the interconnecting Coastal Trail if the landslides had not taken it out a few years ago.
Oh, good!  The train is stopping!  We'll be home in two shakes of a Lamb's tail!