First day in Vernazza on the Cinque Terre

Levanto to Vernazza

Left the Garden Hotel in Levanto mid morning to drive the short distance to Vernazza, one of the towns on the Cinque Terre. The road here was very narrow, mostly single lane, and twisty with hairpin turns, steep cliffs and breathtaking views of tiny villages and the ocean below. As the Cinque Terre is a national park, it is off limits to cars. We parked in the lot above Vernazza and were shuttled down by bus to the village. Here we easily followed our email directions to ask for Guiliano in the first enoteca (wine bar) on the left. He happened to be right outside on the street and took us up to our camere, our room for the next three nights.

He has built four rooms on the side of the mountain. It is hard to describe. Three are joined and share patio areas, in and amongst his gardens. We have access to a shared kitchen where we have our own shelf in the frig, coffee and tea, dishes, and beach towels. We are above the town and have a view of the town and the harbour.
The town clock chimes every half hour and the train whizzes through every 20 minutes or so.

We strolled through the town, which is really just one street and then chose a restaurant for lunch on the main square, for the first time without looking at the menu before sitting down. Big mistake. We ended up paying 45 euros for a caprese salad, some cheese croquettes, a small seafood salad, one beer, and water. We were charged 6 euros for the basket of bread that was plopped down on our table with the beverages--we have never been charged for bread before in either Italy or France. Feeling ripped off was not a good way to start our visit here. We spent the afternoon on the breakwater in the sunshine, swimming in the deep water to cool off. We found a grocery store, bought supplies for breakfast, ordered a pizza and had dinner on our patio. Much cheaper.

The Cinque Terre was one of our destinations that we were most excited about. I felt really fortunate to have been able to reserve this spot--the #1 rated accommodation on tripadvisor in the "jewel" of these five towns, according to Rick Steves. The town is a photographer's dream. The buildings are all soft colours, mostly peach or yellow with green shutters and they tumble down the cliff toward the sea. Laundry hangs from windows. The hills around the town are terraced for small gardens and tiny vineyards. The town clock dominates the scene but there is evidence of ancient stone remains all over. However, it is absolutely crawling with tourists. The streets are jam-packed and the prices are high. We had expected a quiet little out-of-the-way spot where we could relax, hike, swim, and enjoy the small villages. Not so. We are feeling quite disappointed. Perhaps it is just the heat that is getting to us. We have been in this heat wave since arriving in Europe. A cool rainy day would be a nice change right now!

We have planned our itinerary for tomorrow. I have a massage appointment early in the morning after which we are going to see all five villages by either boat, trail, or train.