Genoa to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre

We woke early and got a cab to take us to the Statione Principe (Our #7 bus experience had made it clear that with big, heavy suitcases we never would have make it that way) At the station we confirmed ticket and fibaized second ticket on a local train: We would shoot right through our destination station of the verynice express, get off in La Spezia and wait for an hour to go back twenty minutes to Vernazza. We also confirmed that one should try and use the WC somewhere other than train stations or public places. You must pay about .30-.50 Euro to enter and receive a tiny piece of very rough paper. Not always the cleanest of places either!

Vernazza is a charming seaside city on a cliff. Guess what, the rest of the world has also figured out its charm and decided to join us here for this second week in September. We dragged our suitcases down the main and only street to our hotel. After checking in, we heaved them up about 97 steps to our room. The hotel is comprised of 7 houses, many of which are attached to each other. The village sits between the sea and some very steep hills

After dropping off our stuff, we set off to discover the town and get our bearings for the next few days. We had noticed as we came in along the main street that there were numerous boats resting along the road. As we went back, we could see some of the boats being moved down to the small harbor. These boats were on small carts to make movement easier. The harbor is a small one with a massive breakwater to protect the boats. There were people swimming along the small beach and doing laps on the far side. Huge cliffs line half the harbor and looking up we could see people starting off on the hike to Manarosso. Some men in tiny bathing suits were moving more boats so that they could take a set of water polo nets out into the harbor for a very competitive game.

The back side of our hotel is a huge cliff that drops into the sea. The view is stunning and if we were many years younger, would want to jump from there into the water which is a beautiful deep blue. I'm pretty sure it would not be allowed, not safe, but still fun to think about considering such a feat. There is a small sitting area with a not so strong rail which is a very popular place to sit and drink wine in the evenings. Tomorrow we will do our first hike and see how far we get.