Day 34 - Vernazza

Today we had these wild ideas of jumping on the trails and doing some hiking, after experiencing 30 degrees here, we both agreed it wouldn’t be fun and we would probably give ourselves heat stroke!

So we got up late, had our breakfast and climbed down our 64 stairs to get to some much needed coffee. I googled the best coffee in Vernazza, his pastries were said to be the best too so had to try one as well! The service was chaotic but the people watching was great! We will opt for elsewhere tomorrow due to the chaos of the small cafe though with our bags in tow.

We looked through some shops of the town and took it slow. After a while we decided lunch was soon to be on the cards, I wanted to treat ourselves to a view, so we climbed the stairs to the path that leads to Corniglia. There before the paid path starts, sits a restaurant called Ristorante La Torre, views of Vernazza looking North. Katie had pesto pasta and I had the Spaghetti Mari - shrimps, clams & mussels dancing to please you as the menu states it. It was amazing, so was the Rose wine we ordered!

After lunch we walked back into town slowly, we came back to the room to beat the heat. I googled things for the next legs of our trip and Katie had a much needed nap.

We had booked a sunset cruise to take us along and see all 5 Cinque Terre Villages from the sea. We embarked on our cruise with a couple from America, a trio from Copenhagen and another couple who we shared trip advice from the Sunshine Cost in Queensland.

Our Captain gave us a running commentary of the views, we saw a hole in the cliff edge, he pointed it out and as the trains between the village mostly run in tunnels, this is one of the escapes if needed…. All good until you see the jump you need to make into the Ocean.
The 5 Cinque Terre towns were created mainly as fishing villages, they have their unique colours so sailors could see it from a distance and get back to the right village quicker and using less man power. Each town is painted differently so they can see it from afar the difference to know which one you are heading for, the untrained person like you & me wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but apparently there are.
He also told us how Cinque Terre villages came to be, The village of San Bernardino above Vernazza was the first village here on the coast. The original people never came down to the ocean as they were scared of attacks from Pirates. When the French came with Napoleon, they decided that they would help protect the seas in area. The ports of Levanto & La Spezia were of interest to the French also, the original people of San Bernardino started to come down and fish, soon becoming sailors and then started to create the 5 villages as they are today. Today there is no full time fishermen in the villages and with train access, Cinque Terre relies on tourists now to come and see the area.

Once back in Vernazza we grabbed a small bite to eat and some Gelato, there is a concert on in the main Piazza so getting a table anywhere is impossible, thankfully we had some appetisers on the boat!

Today was a nice relaxing day ready for our travels Tomorrow!Read more