Vernazza..Lots of Gelato and lots of stairs.
We arrived in Vernazza, Italy last night after a very long day on the train. We were met in the street by Rosa, who showed us to the apartment that we are renting from her. It has a small kitchen and some lovely windows that the kids love to poke their heads out and watch the people pass by below.
Vernazza is one of the 5 small towns that make up Cinque Terre(5 villages). It is in the upper part of the Italian Rivera. I came here back in 1997 when I backpacked for 3 weeks around Europe with my good friend Sarah Catherine. We stayed one night in Vernazza and I loved it and have always wanted to come back here. It was one of my very favorite places I have visited. It just feels like Italy! It is very small and the only cars they let in are the small vans that bring the food in for the market and restaurants. It has one main street with many alleys that twist and turn up many stairs to the locals’ homes and apartments people rent out. It use to be very secluded but now the train runs through it and Rick Steves has made it a very popular destination with many. I usually see many people toting his book around.
My kids have loved climbing on the big rocks that guard the harbor from the sea. If the surf is high, you have to be careful how far out they go because the waves can really smash the rocks.
The church bells help you keep the time when you are eating gelato, playing in the surf or just people watching. Isaac loves to watch the bigger boys play soccer in the plaza next to the harbor. He is very drawn to anyone with a ball.
Today we grabbed breakfast and got our things together for a day at the next village, Monterosso. We planned to go on the 1hr 30 min hike that links the two villages. It turned into 2 hrs for us because there was one child (that I will not name) that complained the first 45 mins and we had to take many breaks but we made it to the top and then going down was easy. We even stopped for some fresh squeezed lemonade that
someone gave us that they were making right on the hill where the lemons were growing! Talk about fresh!
When we arrived in Monterossa, we grabbed some pizza and changed into swimsuits to swim. They have the best beach/place to swim in all the 5 villages. We even brought the kids the snorkel gear so they could explore the fish and beautiful water. Cooper enjoyed that the most I think. Isaac eventually worked his way into a game of beach volleyball down the beach. We had to duck into a overhang with the rest of the beachgoers when the sky let some rain downpour. Another excuse for gelato for us. The sky cleared pretty quick and we were back out enjoying the beach. We ended our beach adventure with a shuttle boat that took us back over the Vernazza. The children really enjoyed the short 5-7 min boat ride and I enjoyed seeing the coastline from a different view. We had dinner under the famous castle in Vernazza. This was the same place I remember eating at in 97 and have dreamed of going back to. It has very stunning views and it was lovely to have a glass of wine and watch the sun go down while having very yummy food. Of course we had to cap the night off with more gelato. Even to get the castle restaurant, we had to walk up a lot of stairs so we feel we deserved another treat for the dayJ
We have another full day in Vernazza tomorrow! We will see what kind of adventures we can get into. I hope you plan to visit here one day. It is so lovely.
Ciao
Wow Wendy. Can I come there too. It looks absolutely gorgeous.
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