Our Trip to Lisbon, Barcelona, the Cinque Terre, and Paris - Part 2

Apologies for the delay in posting part 2 of our trip report...
Before leaving Barcelona we spent some time wandering the streets of the El Born neighborhood. We had watched several videos produced by James Blick to "study up" for our visit. We were excited to visit some of the spots he recommended in Barcelona!
We also visited the MOCO Museum in El Born and enjoyed it's collection of modern art. We had a delicious lunch at El Xampanyet which was just across the street from the museum, and was highly recommended by good friends of ours.
With our time in Barcelona ending, we flew Vueling Airlines from Barcelona to Milan. After reading mixed reviews about Vueling we were pleased with our flights. I would recommend spending the extra money to get the seats with "extra legroom" as the seat spacing is very tight in their standard seats. Upon arrival in Milan our schedule was upended as one of our bags did not make the trip with us. After about an hour at the lost baggage window we were told the bag would be sent on to us when it was located. I'll write another post about this as it warrants a more detailed explanation.
Our day of travel was not over as we caught the train directly from Milan Malpensa, connecting in Milano Centrale to our train to Genoa then connecting to the local train to Corniglia on the Cinque Terre! The trip went smoothly, although we recommend bringing your own snacks a definitely water as no service is offered on any of those trains. It is quite something to see the Mediterranean as you travel from Genoa to Corniglia, very beautiful! We arrived Corniglia about 7pm (about 90 miuntes later than planned) and were thankful for the bus that took us up the hill to the town. Our host met us and helped with our bags. Massimiliano from Daa Maduneta was absolutely the best! He helped us with dinner reservations and was quite gracious. We recommend his hotel for anyone as we had a wonderful, if too short, stay. After a quick change of clothes we enjoyed a delightful dinner across the street overlooking the water on the outdoor terrace of La Posada Ristorante.
The next morning was spent with a breakfast of pastries, some eggs for the girls, and cappuccinos all around, wandering the narrow "streets" of Corniglia, in and out of small shops, and taking in the views. Such a cute town, and very busy but not uncomfortably crowded. We then hopped on the train for our move to Manarola, where we would spend the next 3 days. I was able to book an apartment overlooking the sea several months ahead, and wow was it worth it! Our stay at La Lampara Sea View Terrace was quite different from our accomodations in Lisbon and Barcelona. Upon our arrival in Manarola, we followed the directions up the hill to the apartment. Luckily the route was up a sloped walk most of the way. We did encounter a few stairs, and then down a short walk to the unit. A compact 2 Bedroom unit with a living room and kitchen and the best part, a terrace off the living space large enough to hold a dining table and two chaise lounges, we were in heaven! We made good use of the terrace enjoying wine and cheese and bread, looking out over the water and listening to the waves crashing on the rocks directly below. No traffic noise, nothing but the breeze and the waves!
The walk down to the main central street could be taken by following the same route from the train station tunnel, but we found that we were back-tracking back too far, and we found a couple of different routes down the 154, yes that's correct, I counted, 154 steps to the street. Downhill was fine, but the return back up definitely got the heart pounding! We got set up in the apartment and went directly to the bar at the base of the street facing the harbor to enjoy well earned Aperol Spritzes! At that time the town was quite full of people, many hanging out at the railing cheering on the kids diving off the rocks into the water in the middle of the harbor. More to follow...