Vernazza, Italy

The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia. “The Five Lands” comprises five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

We arrived in Milan and immediately picked up a car. We skipped the Duomo and drove straight to Vernazza. Well, I might have to rephrase. There was nothing straight about the trip to Vernazza. The Fiat’s steering wheel spun around more times than the Ferris wheel yesterday.

The drive was 3 hours. The autostrada took us the first two until we reached the Cinque Terre. From there things got a little more challenging. There are three types of roads on the map of Cinque Terre. The first is highways. That means the highway is about as wide the street in my neighborhood where I live. Also listed were roads, basically wide enough for one car and a few places expand so oncoming traffic can pass. Lastly, were paths. A path is a trail that you could ride a horse or drive a motorcycle. Anything larger than that just might not fit.

Unaware of this information, we planned the most direct route to Vernazza. Of course it was on the paths. I felt as comfortable as I was in Driver’s Ed. With steady rain coming down and drop offs with no rails. We were challenged to maintain our safety for the last 5 miles. We managed to do those 5 miles in 45 minutes and finally arrived in Vernazza.

I must say that it was worth it. Vernazza is a charming town and everything is built on the hillside. Our hotel was once a castle which had converted the rooms on top of the hills overlooking the Mediterranean. The views were amazing and we had a private patio that was spectacular looking over the Mediterranean forever! Unfortunately, that meant I had to carry luggage up around 100 twisted, curvy, handmade steps. The owners figured out a long time ago that it was better to leave that responsibility to the stupid tourists, rather than carry their 50 lb (per American Airlines) bags up this difficult terrain. There is probably a wonderful business opportunity for the person willing to do this. I am sorry I can’t be the one, but today my legs feel like hamburger meat. Pushing the accelerator required a high threshhold for pain. I suppose I am just not qualified at this point in my life.

After the baggage delivery we spent the day exploring Vernazza and riding the train to other villages in the Cinque Terre. As you can see from the photos this is a very special place. Our afternoon ended at the Blue Marlin with cocktails and new friends from Oregon. We had dinner at the Gianni Frazi restaurant. Melissa ordered fresh made pasta with fresh pesto sauce. Russell had fresh anchovies for an appetizer and Clams and Mussels with pasta and red sauce for a meal. All tasted incredible!

We slept with the windows open and woke up early to the sounds of the church bells ringing to drive to Civitavecchia to meet the ship. On the way out we had real Sicilian pastries at the Pirate Café. Exceptionally wonderful pasteries! We chatted a lot with the owner and as we were leaving asked him the fastest way to get to Rome. He responded in his thick Italian accent, and arms moving “You drive that way, when you see the Pope, you are there!” and then waved us goodbye with a smirk. The day was much clearer and we shot pictures on the way out of Cinque Terre.

Arriving in Civitavecchia, we dropped the car off and grabbed a cab. The rental car company was closed and we just dropped the car and put the keys in the after hours return slot. Upon reaching the cruise port, I realized I forgot my backpack in the backseat of the car. Camera, computer, phone, money, etc were not optional. I convinced our cab driver to take me back to the rental drop off while Melissa waited at the ship. We confirmed the car was locked and that there was a fully loaded backpack inside. Unable to find a better option, we threw a rock through the window of our car. The backpack was retreived and we got the heck out of there. I think the cab driver was scared of me because he refused to charge me for the additional ride.I thanked him, tipped him, and got out of the car like nothing exciting had happened. He drove away quickly and we got on the ship as fast as fast as we could.