Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre has to be one of my favourite places on earth. It is hard to describe it…you have to experience it! Hopefully, you will take my word for it and visit someday!
Vernazza
On our last two trips to visit the Cinque Terre we stayed in Sestri Levante which is a 30 minutes by train from it. We commuted every day by the train. This trip we decide to stay in Vernazza.
Two days after we left this area last year there was a terrible flood. Vernazza and Monteross0 al Mare were hit very hard by this flood. http://savevernazza.com/
We felt we wanted to support the villages in their recovery by staying in one of them. Vernazza was already our favourite village so we chose it. And we glad we did!
ACCOMMODATIONS IN VERNAZZA
We stayed in the La Marina Rooms. Our room was the double seaview room. It is a very basic but clean room. We chose it for location and location we got! There are two large windows that overlook the sea and village. As well, we were allotted a private space on the terrace overlooking the sea. We watched several gorgeous sunsets from the terrace! It was nice to have the crashing of the waves put us to sleep each night.
Our friends stayed in the seaside apartment and loved it as well. There are not quite as many steps to this apartment. However, there were at least 80 steps.
SNAP EASY TIP: The climb to the room we were in was quite steep, especially the higher you climbed. We counted 102 steps. If you are not in shape or have mobility problems you definitely should find something else. If you can do the stairs it is worth the climb! Glad we had light backpacks!
Christian, our host, recounted some of his experience during the flood. It was a very emotional and touching conversation. He was instrumental, along with others, for saving many lives. He lost one of his best friends. Everytime he hears the rain he relives the nightmare again.
My heart goes out and my hat goes off to the citizens of Vernazza who with so much courage and tenacity are still rebuilding their tiny village. Such spirits and determination!
EATING IN VERNAZZA
Christian recommended a couple of places to eat. We tried both and were very happy with the choices.
Trattoria da Sandro – our favourite of the two – on Via Roma – very close to train station
Sorry for the crazy alignment of these pictures. I have tried to fix and have not been able to figure out why they are not coming out as they look on the editing page.