Vernazza

We arrived in beautiful Vernazza after a split second decision to get off at our stop, even thouh we were late and figured we would miss our train. We didn't but had to trust the train number.

We arrived in Vernazza and set out to find a phone as our hostDaria was going to meet us. We travelled from 1 end of town to the other as the first phone we tried was broken. A man came to meet us and bring us to our room. Up and up and up we travelled. 71 steps up with our packs on, it was a lot of work, b ut it was worth it. What a beautiful room. Vernazza Rooms, the hotel we stayed in, was incredibly beautiful. The shower was outside on the balcony, it was enclosed but very fun. The balcony was beautiful and the view was incredible.

We showered and went out to explore the town. We loved it immediately and easily found the beach and rocks for sunbathing. We took off our flip flops and waded in the water and dug our feet in the sand and then wandered down the beach, and selected a bit rock to lounge on which we did for quite a while. I played on the algae, and loved the way it felt on my feet. It was hot and beautiful.

There were a couple of restaurants one which hung onto the edge of the rock wall. We climbed many stairs to find out it didn't open until 7:30pm. We made reservations, and left to do some more exploring!

We returned at 7:30pm and were seated on the outdoor patio overlooking the Mediterranean sea. We got to watch the sunset over the Mediterranean while we ate.

We started with a meat/vege tray and 1/2 litre of local wine. Our first course was an amazing Prawn pasta. Both of us absolutely loved it. For a man, I got a fried fish tray - there were all kinds of fishes, anchovies(which I tried) and bigger fish with their heads chopped off, but their tails intact. Troy's food was a Prawn platter - but the Prawns there were more like crabs...the were enormous, and had eyes! WEIRD!

Monday we wondered up town and came across an amazing cafe with wonderful pastry, taste latte's and blood orange juice freshly squeezed. It was totally awesome, so we decided to make dinner reservations.

Now in Cinque (5) terra (Towns) there are 5 towns (Who would have thunk it). We had decided not to hike between the towns, but to spend the day resting and relaxing, but we did decide to walk up to the top of the town so we could check out Vernazza Castle up, up and up we went. The views got better and better. At every short rest stop we figured we'd go a little further. The hike was a brutal one for most of it, but the views were rewarding, as was the cafe at the highest point where we got some water and pie. The hike was very enjoyable.

At Corniglia after our 3 hour hike, we had some lunch and the most disgusting experience of my life.

We decided to hike to the next town, and that hike was much easier. We really enjoyed the hike. We got Gelato in Magnolia and took a boat ride back to Vernazza as it began to rain.

In Vernazza we stopped and bought a few souvenirs before heading for a siesta.

We had hot showers and headed off to probably the best meal we'd found yet, at the Pirate Place again.

We also made friends with an older couple of ladies and a mid aged couple while we ate. The food was fabulous we had some bruchetta, salads and Troy had Tortellini and I had Cannelloni. Mmmmm It was a perfect day.

The following day we woke up and again had breakfast at the Pirate place and it was so yummy! Now we're off to Innsbruck.