our port tofino day

we woke up to the sound of heavy rain on our second morning in santa margherita...it is sunday morning...we had an incredible day yesterday in the cinque terre...we are a little slow to get moving...the weather has much to do with our laziness i think...we get ourselves out the door at about 11:00 am and realize that the the shops are all open for the morning...a strange revelation...they are only open until 2:00...the restauants will also close at 2:00 but re-open in the evening for dinner...these folks eat dinner quite late...this has been a challenge throughout the trip for me...

we stop in to catch the end of mass at the church around the corner...a basic looking building...really...then we get inside and i can't believe my eyes...holy over the top batman...i thought the gothic french churches were ornate...i was so wrong...i have never seen anything quite like it...ginny promises that i will see more of this kind of thing in venice, florence and rome...wow...

this picture does not do this space justice...not an inch untouched...i risk offending someone perhaps, but it is far from my experience...on the way out i realize that the candles lit at the various alters for prayers on the sides of the church are not real...they are pay boxes with faux candles...this suprises me...i am used to lighting little votives...no votives here...you drop your coin and the candle's bulb lights up for the purchased time...

after church we head to the square to catch a bus...we are going to port tofino...ginny has talked about her last trip to port tofino many times...so i am eager to go with her today..the rain has stopped but the wind has picked up...

we get on our bus with a group of tourists from somewhere unknown...that is unusual...the unknown part...ginny is so quick to pick up on language and accents...this group stumps her...we arrive in port tofino...

we make our way to the water and mark our spot...

we stopped for a latte...

we walked along the port...we came across a sculpture garden...could not get in but what we could see from the docks was wonderfully bizzarre...these six hot pink meerkats were definatly ginny's favorites...

we decided to climb a little...there was a castle (sort of) and a church up on the hilltop...so we figured we would take a look...up we go....

and up some more...

the view from the top...amazing....

the castle is closed for part of the afternoon..so we mark our steps outside the castle and head off to the church...we have walked on thousands of stones today...carefully placed in wonderful shapes and patterns...

our second church today...oh the difference from the morning experience...

one last look from the top...the color of the water is vibrant...i really enjoy the sea...i have enjoyed staying close to the water these past few nights... 

we return to santa margherita cold and ready for rest...i nap in the afternoon...we watch a movie in the evening...we pack and reorganize for the next leg of the journey...venice!