Saturday. I suppose you've been waiting with baited breath to find out if we made it to Moneglia, if we met the whole mob, and if it is all going to plan. Well, of course, the answer is yes to all. The Hotel La Vigna is a treasure, with pretty rooms and wonderful staff. It is about 5 km out of town and there were no taxis at the station, or answering their phones when we rang for one. Phillip's mobile wasn't answering - because he didn't bring it and I didn't have Melinda's number, so we rang the hotel. Next thing we know, the lovely Ciccio has driven down to collect us and given us a great welcome. We arrived at the hotel and there were Phillip and Melinda, looking relaxed and ready to greet us. People kept arriving through the afternoon and a few hours later we were all sitting down to the first of many enormous meals - all very traditional local dishes. Yesterday we headed off to explore the Cinque Terre towns. Alan drove us to the station and the four of us caught the train to Riomaggiore. We then walked on a very civilized and scenic walking path to the next town, Manarola, where we had lunch. From there we caught the ferry to Vernazza. It was packed with people. This is the first area where we have seen huge crowds of tourists. We had a wander round Vernazza, a gelato (of course) and then caught the train back to Moneglia. Melinda and Phillip had organized specially printed Tshirts for everyone, which must have taken up most of the space in their cases. So we all wore them down to pre-dinner drinks and had a group photo taken. The staff had made some diabolical cocktails and lovely nibbles, which were followed by another huge meal, with a seafood theme. I am about to go down to breakfast and I think we're going to check out Portofino today. I'll let you know at some stage in the future.