Vernazza, Italy (September 15th, 2009)

On Tuesday we packed up our things and jumped on the train for the five minute ride to Vernazza. At the train station we met the owners of our hotel, Giuliano & Michele. Gulliano was born in Vernazza. He met Michelle, who was from San Francisco, as she was backpacking through Italy around four years ago. They married and have a beautiful daughter, Sophia. We knew instantly when we met them we were going to have an amazing time there. They took us up too many flights of stairs to count to our bungalow on the north side of the city. It was a stunning place that was nestled up on the hill surrounded by private gardens. It also had a perfect view of the city. Giuliano did all of the renovation and stone work himself. He mentioned that he had back problems and after hauling my suitcase up to the room I could see why. I can't imagine how many loads of rock he had to carry up there. His hard work paid off because the place was perfect & we enjoyed it immensely.

This is the easy part of the trail up to our room.



Our room for the next two nights.



The view of Vernazza from our room.



After a fun conversation with Giuliano we took off to explore the city. We headed to the main street that runs through town & immediately started to explore the carugi (alleys). Vernazza is on a much steeper incline than Monterosso which made for some fun places to wander through.





I love the laundry hanging up all around town.



After exploring some of the alleys we decided we would hike up a trail on the western side of town. This is a view up towards the cemetery.



The gates at the front of the cemetery.



The view of Vernazza from the cemetery.



We decided to head back to town to look for a place to eat lunch. The trail runs along the remains of an old fortification wall with a tower that dates back to the Middle Ages.



The alleys were amazing.



The locals enjoyed watching the tourists from their windows. This guy was great. He motioned for me to take his picture.







We saw colorful umbrellas down one of the dark alleys & that's where we stopped to have lunch.



After lunch we decided to visit the Church of Santa Margherita D'Antiochia. It was built in 1318 by the Maestri Antelami over a pre-existing 11th century building & was widened in the 16th & 17th century. According to tradition, the church was built because a wooden box with the bones of Saint Margaret was found on the beach. The residents decided to build the church in the Isolotto quarter and a strong sea storm destroyed it causing the relic to wash away. After time, it appeared again in the original location so the residents rebuilt the church there, where it stands today.





Unfortunately the church had a service so we weren't able to go inside. This is a shot of a mozaic sun in the courtyard of the church.



We went back down to the harbor and spent the afternoon enjoying vita pigra di Vernazza (the lazy life of Vernazza).



Then we set off to explore more of the city.















We bought a cooked chicken, pecorino and a bottle of wine and had a nice dinner on our terrace. The evening view was the perfect end to the day.