Oh Dear!

Oh dear what is this:

I discover the next morning that I have a nasty head cold.

Let's see, I have come all the way to Italy and I have my day pass (see previous post) for the hop on hop off train to the charming Cinque Terra Villages...Yep, I went anyway.

So, we started with the village that we had heard the most about,Vernassa.

Right away I knew that I was going to like this place when I spotted several charming houses.

 

Santa Margherita di Antiochia Church

 

It was a short walk, gently down hill to the beach. Notice the lack of people. We happened to go on a day that there were no large cruise ships in nearby ports. You can check the cruise

schedule for La Spezia for the whole year , if you want to plan your trip accordingly.

 I am sorry, but the lack of crowds made it even more enjoyable for us.

I think most of the people on the beach were locals.

From what I had read, you had to climb to the top of the village to find a restaurant with a water view, so finding this one on ground level was a nice surprise.

Next we back tracked on the train to Manarola which you reach through a tunnel after exiting the train.

Even in late September there were flowers blooming everywhere.

Here we didn't walk down to the water, but climbed up to get the view.

 By this time...I am feeling worse, so Tom rode back to the hotel with me and searched everywhere for some chicken soup...he by the way is a keeper.

I did a lot of research before going on this trip and it seems that if you want to do any of the hikes, you have to get a separate pass, well not so. That day pass we bought entitled us to hike the trails between the villages. Tom and Phil returned to Vernassa that afternoon and hiked from there to Monterosso, which was on both of their bucket lists. It is the most daunting of the trails, actually one of the toughest in Europe. I am very proud of these guys considering their ages.If you want to stroll along the coast on the easier paths do the southern most ones.

For those wanting to see the villages from the water, there is also a ferry that will carry you up and down the coast.

Time to get the car out of the parking garage, we are headed east across Italy...stay with me.