We Arrive in Vernazza

6/22/2010 Tuesday
My laptop tells me it’s 5 am Tuesday, but other than that, I wouldn’t know. My body woke me up about 4 am today (which is much better than it has been – I think yesterday I woke 1:30 am in Pisa, and didn’t sleep again – I took another great walk in the night on the streets along the river, this time with camera and monopod as my defensive weapon, which I didn’t need, and I watched the sun rise and got some great shots).
We arrived in Vernazza, in the Cinque Terra, Italy late yesterday afternoon by train after a very difficult journey. Check out time was 11 am yesterday at the Hotel Bologna, and as Josh and I hadn’t gotten a chance to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, all four of us hired the hotel shuttle driver to take us over to the Leaning Tower for a quick eyes-on and photo shoot (that is NOT the way you're supposed to do it - so American!). Because of the time crunch, we had the driver wait about 10 minutes for us and then went back to the hotel to get our bags. Mary was feeling very ill, and then Josh started getting sick. Time was very pressing now, as we had to catch our train, which was about a 15 minute walk away with our bags. At the last minute, we hired the hotel shuttle again instead of walking as Mary and Josh were taking turns running to the bathroom. The train station was a little easier to negotiate for Josh and I since we were here the day before when we went to Florence, but it was all new to Mary and Nathan. Josh and Mary were still both sick and had to stay close to the bathrooms (we were expecting the train to NOT have a “WC” (or water closet), so it was NOT fun).
We did make the train on time, cramming into a small elevator and going underground to another train platform. This one took us from Pisa to LaSpezia, Italy to buy tickets and catch the next train to the Cinque Terra. We found a McDonalds (arrrrggg!) to get some drink and food. I got train tickets for the next ride, and hurriedly got to the next train out of LaSpezia.
The train enters the Cinque Terra through tunnels in the mountain rock (at sea level!), and comes out into the light only at the five towns to beautiful views of the Italian Rivera (the Mediterranean Sea). Ours is the fourth of five villages - Vernazza.
To quote Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door, “The Cinque Terra (CHINK-weh TAY-reh), a remote chunk of the Italian Riviera (on the Mediterranean Sea) … not a museum in sight … God’s great gift to tourism … for a home base choose among five (cinque) villages, each of which fills a ravine with a lazy hive of human activity … the chunk of coast was first described in medieval times … this land was watched over by castles . Tiny communities grew in their protective shadows, ready to run at the first hint of a Turkish Saracen pirate raid. Marauding pirates from North Africa were a problem until about 1400 …”. (Well, enough homework for the moment … I’m on vacation …).
Arriving in Vernazza, communication with the Italians for us was difficult. With a printed copy of our Itinerary, we were somewhat able to communicate with the train clerk behind the counter, and he called the manager of our apartment, Francesca, who spoke very little English. We pulled out our index cards of English-Italian translations (that Lorissa Lotten had prepared for us – Thanks, Lorissa!) and we made attempts to flip through them to communicate the length of our stay, at the same time while negotiating stairs, crowded walk ways, and lugging our bags.
Our apartment is incredible. Certainly not fancy, but adequate in space with a small room for the boys with 2 beds, and a room for Mary and I, with windows that open up to the town square of a very colorful village and the bay.
After settling a little, looking out over the community center at a very old church, Nathan wanted to explore and go visit the church, so he and I left while Mary and Josh rested from being sick.
I did some catching up on writing while here, but as the Internet is not accessible in our room, and we have to pay for it in the village, I’m going to stop writing for awhile …
Ciao!
Todd