We continued our streak of al fresco dining at breakfast, in the charming garden of the Oasi Hotel.  Judging by the selection of unbrellas here, it must rain sometimes, but the weather has been gorgeous so far and the forecast is clear for the rest of our trip.

  
The coastline is very rugged here, but someone has taken the time to carve out not one but two rail lines that follow the Mediterranean shore.  The larger one is still in use (in fact, we arrived on it yesterday) but a portion of the smaller one has been converted to a pedestrian/bicycle trail heading 4km up the coast from Levanto to Framura via Bonassola.  Of course, we had to rent bicycles to explore.

What a treat!  The route passes mostly through tunnels, punctuated by brilliant views of the sea through arches and brick arcades.  As a bonus, the temperature underground is cool and pleasant.  We liked it so much, we biked the roundtrip twice!

   
    
   
We lunched at a foccaceria in Bonassola (after the pre-lunch gelato, of course) where Ben had a sad focaccia moment, having ordered one with anchovies thinking they were some kind of sausage!  Luckily, they had more pesto ones to fill the void.

   
 
After spending the mid-afternoon relaxing back at the hotel, we ventured out once more in search of a small bathing cove we had noted on our morning ride.  The water was cool and refreshing, the locals were jumping off of rocks, and the cove held a special treat – a sea cave with a narrow channel you could just swim through (not pictured for fear of drowning the camera).

  
For dinner we ended up at a not-so- fabulous restaurant following a meandering walk through town looking for a different restaurant that may not have even existed.  Hoping for better tomorrow…