Sept. 14; To Vernazza, Italy
Today our train trip took us out of France, through Monaco- Monte Carlo (didn’t see anything but the train station) and into Italy along the Mediterranean coast. We did see lots of huge yachts out in the water though. Our destination is Vernazza, the 2nd town of the Cinque Terre, translated as ‘five lands’, referring to the 5 villages along an 18 km stretch of the rugged Mediterranean coast in northern Italy.
Waiting for the next train, what station are we in now?
The 2nd set of stairs to our room, but there are stairs everywhere, the town is built into a cliffside! Our room is the veranda above the shutters.
Our room!
The doors to the veranda.
Our cute but tiny veranda, a great spot to relax in the evening and have a continental breakfast in the morning!
We unpacked then went out to explore the surroundings.
The colorful main square fronting the small bay and beach.
The tiny port of Vernazza.
Fishing boats in the bay.
Starting up the hill on the path southward. Our room is somewhere in the maze below!
Farther up you can see the curved breakwater forming the bay.
We decided to see how far we could walk this evening towards the 3rd town of Corniglia.
Looking south, the path is somewhere among the steep terraces.
Looking back north you can make out the path we just came up on.
Our destination - Corniglia (pronounced Corneeleeah).
The sun was setting as we entered the village.
After almost 2 hours of walking we made it to Corniglia! This village is perched high on the cliffs while the train station serving it is down near the water. We were able to catch the last commuter bus to avoid the long walk down, and were lucky to immediately catch the train back to Vernazza. In 5 minutes we were back in Vernazza and looking for a pizza dinner!