Cinque Terra - Arriving in Vernazza

We arrived about 5PM from Pisa. The last 5 K were on extremely narrow roads winding along the edge of a cliff. A couple times we met a car going the other way and one of us had to back up to get to a point where there was enough width for 2 cars. Now I know why so many people just take the train here.

The views, although I was keeping my eyes mostly on the road, were spectacular! I don't remember anything like this.

We finally got to the parking lot, parked our car, and realized we needed to be in a different lot. I had to back up 200 yards up a 45 degree slope with very little space on either side. I think all the time in reverse gear stressed the engine as it started to smoke. Luckily it didn't start smoking too badly until we were at the new parking lot. I closed up the car and headed for the bus to town, wondering if it would start when we returned to it in a couple days.

We arrived in Vernazza, the 4th of the 5 towns in the Cinque Terra and I was immediately captivated. It seemed to perfectly scenic and quaint that it was as though Disney had engineered it, but then you observed the local church festival going on and were reminded that it was a real town.

There is a small harbor and cliffs all around. Kids, teenagers and families were swimming in various places, seemingly based on degree of difficulty (height from the water). We started at a place we could wade in and then quickly moved over to a place that had a big drop and you could only get back to land by timing the waves. A little bit off and you'd get cut up quite a bit by barnacles and mussels. That was a lot of fun, but we moved to a different spot with a ladder before any one was injured. Nora cut her foot open bigtime when she swam too close to the rocks and she had to put her foot out to avoid getting slammed into them. Other than that, the kids had a great time swimming there (me too).

We ate dinner at a pizza joint on the water, still taking it all in. Then walked the town a few times from end to end -- it only takes 10 min for a lap -- while eating gelato.