Why Vernazza?

This is my last post on The Cinque Terre. I wanted to explain why we loved Vernazza. My brother Patrick gets the credit for us initially choosing Vernazza as a home base. He had been there years ago (also in the summer) on a cycling trip through Europe. He spoke of arriving into town during the 'Pirate Festival' (which we would later find out was the Saturday of our departure) and quickly finding there was 'No room in the inn'. They slept on the beach and then found accommodation the following day. The bottom line was, he loved it.

But why did we love it?

I think for a number of reasons. It was less touristy than some of the towns. We loved the beach, and needed the easy swimming access as it was VERY HOT. You could swim from giant flat rocks in the harbour, or you could walk through a tunnel in the rock to an actual beach with fantastic swimming (and mostly locals). I think we would have been miserable had we not been able to jump in the water at any given second.  If you are not travelling during the summer months, this may be less important to you. If swimming isn't a priority, Vernazza definitely has a rival in the village of Manarola (see the Manarola post here).

The second beach...

The tunnel access...

We loved the small bakeries, the man with EXCELLENT gelato in the harbour, the scenic cliffside restaurants, the seafood cone shop, and the foccaccia shops. I especially loved a little place near the top of the village called the Picnic Box. It was here that I would start every day with a fresh fruit smoothie, and a fruit salad with yogurt. It didn't hurt that they had free wifi, and I could eat my breakfast while sending some emails home.

Our daily diets...

As I mentioned above, the town's festival was just ramping up, in the hours prior to us heading for our train (bad timing!). Below is a photo of the village's children, listening eagerly to instructions before partaking in a sports day of sorts. The stories goes, that in the early days, the town was divided into two sides (rivals), the shady side of the village (literally) and the sunny side. Below you have the sunny side children in white, competing against the shady characters.

While it was hard to leave, and head back to our reality (dissertations and final exhibitions), the Cinque Terre was just one of the spots that I know I'll be back to. I just can't see myself not wanting to share this special part of the world with loved ones.

....but more importantly, that table on the cliff has my name on it.

 Have a great weekend! 

We have plans to hit up a cute little pub tonight, and then tomorrow I'm meeting up with another friend from Vancouver at St. Pancras for breakfast during his layover. Saturday afternoon I'm excited to explore Hoxton with my cousin Angela.

...and on Sunday, S and I are planning an adventure. TBD!

Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore

On our second to last day, we took a boat from the harbour in Vernazza to Riomaggiore. Once there, we did some swimming (though the entrance was a little taxing....far from graceful), and then explored the little village.

Heading to the beach.

You really had to hunt for the flattest rocks to place your towel on. Once in the water, although smooth, the rocks were slippery, which is why we had so much difficulty getting in and out.

Sitting close to the water's edge made life a little easier.

As the rocks were flat, stacking them was easy

...rock castles for dummies (I was all over it also).

I could REALLY get used to this life...

More seafood cones...

I'm sure you are sick of all of the Italy posts (though I will never be). 

I'll try to sum up Vernazza in the next few days, and then I'm finished. 

I promise.

...until I go back.

Cinque Terre: Manarola

Next to Vernazza, Manarola was our second favourite village in the Cinque Terre. We loved it, and only awarded it second place as it was lacking a great beach (which Vernazza had). There was swimming in the lagoons in the harbour, but these spaces were overlooked by tourists, and restaurants, and really didn't seem ideal for a lazy day by the water. They would however suffice for a quick cool off when need be.

Overlooking the swimming holes.

At one point, we looked up to see this...

Yup.

As we loved Manarola, we visited it a few times. When we were too hot, and too lazy to change into our swimsuits, we'd sit by the fishing boats, dangling our toes in the water, beer in hand.

Another favourite spot to sit and escape the crowds...

Below (though slightly out of sequence) are photos of our last supper in the Cinque Terre. S had found a review of Trattoria Dal Billy in the New York Times. Although the service was interesting (to say the least), the food and view was wonderful. It was a special spot to spend our last evening.

You should know that this was our third attempt at eating here. The first time it was closed that particular day, the second time was too early, and on our final attempt we were told seen as we didn't have a reservation we'd have to vacate by 9:30pm. Deal. 

The moral of the story is make a reservation. It is quite the climb to get up to this special spot (let alone three times), but at least you can say you've earned your dinner.

...and nobody complains when a meal finishes with all-you-can-drink Limoncello and a bottle of some other aperitif.

Views from our walk back down the hill...

Would you tend your tomatoes cliffside?

As the sun tucked behind the hill, we headed back to the train station, and back to Vernazza. I will do one more post (in the next few days) on the Cinque Terre with Riomaggiore and a closer look at our favourite little village.