Vernazza, Italy (September 16th, 2009)
Wednesday turned out to be a rainy day. As we were getting ready to explore the town Giuliano, Michele & Sophia came up for a visit and to get one of the rooms ready for a new guest. Sophia got a new makeup kit & happily showed us her cosmetology skills.
Giuliano & Sophia.
Considering the day turned out to be so rainy I thought I would share a Giuliano story since I was only able to get a few more pictures of the town before I had to tuck my camera away to keep it from getting wet.
The day before, Giuliano was telling us how much work and love he had put into building the place. His wife had showed him how to read online reviews & it upset him to read a few of the negative ones. In Giuliano's words (and me trying to write with his Italian accent), "Somea people makea the poo poo. Somea people keepa the poo poo in the heada." We got to see that first hand later in the evening, which I will go into detail at the end of this post.
After another fun visit we took off to eat lunch and to hike the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia. We found a great restaurant tucked away down one of the side alleys and I had an amazing pesto dish with spinach ravioli. Vernazza is known for their pesto.
These were the last two shots that I was able to get before it started to rain. This is a view from the East side of town on the hiking trail to Corniglia.
On the trail we ran into one of the guests that was staying next to us. We had a great hike to Corniglia & then took the train to Manarola. It pretty much rained all afternoon on us.
Seeing that it was our last night there we wanted to eat at the restaurant that Giuliano worked at. We had another perfect meal and near the end we got to experience the "poo poo in the heada" tourist. A few tables over there was a group from South America (thankfully they didn't give North America a bad name even though many Americans have in the past). One of the ladies with the group asked for a to-go box. Giuliano explained that they don't have to-go boxes & don't even do that for the locals. She got irate and asked for a complaint form. He asked her what she wanted to complain about. Besides the lack of to-go boxes she wasn't happy about how the woman at the bar didn't say anything to her when she walked in. Giuliano explained to her that she didn't speak any English so that's why she didn't talk to her. She told Giuliano that she needed to learn English. He reminded her that she was in Italy & that she needed to learn Italian. The lady then went on to tell Giuliano that he was tired and grumpy. Giuliano responded by telling her "you have had too mucha to drinka. You come backa tomorrow & you will be mucha nicer." The funny thing is they were closed the next day. I couldn't help but to think about that happening in the U.S. & how the waiter would kiss the customer's butt even if they did have "poo poo in the heada." It was nice to see Giuliano not putting up with it.
As Giuliano said the previous day. "People thinka too mucha. You sleepa, you worka, you eata, you makea the sexa." How can anyone argue with that logic?
Giuliano & Sophia.
Considering the day turned out to be so rainy I thought I would share a Giuliano story since I was only able to get a few more pictures of the town before I had to tuck my camera away to keep it from getting wet.
The day before, Giuliano was telling us how much work and love he had put into building the place. His wife had showed him how to read online reviews & it upset him to read a few of the negative ones. In Giuliano's words (and me trying to write with his Italian accent), "Somea people makea the poo poo. Somea people keepa the poo poo in the heada." We got to see that first hand later in the evening, which I will go into detail at the end of this post.
After another fun visit we took off to eat lunch and to hike the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia. We found a great restaurant tucked away down one of the side alleys and I had an amazing pesto dish with spinach ravioli. Vernazza is known for their pesto.
These were the last two shots that I was able to get before it started to rain. This is a view from the East side of town on the hiking trail to Corniglia.
On the trail we ran into one of the guests that was staying next to us. We had a great hike to Corniglia & then took the train to Manarola. It pretty much rained all afternoon on us.
Seeing that it was our last night there we wanted to eat at the restaurant that Giuliano worked at. We had another perfect meal and near the end we got to experience the "poo poo in the heada" tourist. A few tables over there was a group from South America (thankfully they didn't give North America a bad name even though many Americans have in the past). One of the ladies with the group asked for a to-go box. Giuliano explained that they don't have to-go boxes & don't even do that for the locals. She got irate and asked for a complaint form. He asked her what she wanted to complain about. Besides the lack of to-go boxes she wasn't happy about how the woman at the bar didn't say anything to her when she walked in. Giuliano explained to her that she didn't speak any English so that's why she didn't talk to her. She told Giuliano that she needed to learn English. He reminded her that she was in Italy & that she needed to learn Italian. The lady then went on to tell Giuliano that he was tired and grumpy. Giuliano responded by telling her "you have had too mucha to drinka. You come backa tomorrow & you will be mucha nicer." The funny thing is they were closed the next day. I couldn't help but to think about that happening in the U.S. & how the waiter would kiss the customer's butt even if they did have "poo poo in the heada." It was nice to see Giuliano not putting up with it.
As Giuliano said the previous day. "People thinka too mucha. You sleepa, you worka, you eata, you makea the sexa." How can anyone argue with that logic?
1 comments:
I am longing to go back. Every day, my heart is pulled and sings Vernazza. I think of Guiliano, and Michele and Sofia, and the warmth of their hospitality, like they had all the time in the world to give to us - even their sofa. Of our friend Bao - finding us on the trail, getting stuck in the train station in the rain, walking through Rio Maggiore in a downpour, of the trail we hiked wet and muggy and slippery - sometimes on the edge, closed because of the dangerousness when we reached the end, of the trails that we didn't hike, the food we didn't eat, the people we have yet to meet. I think of the gelato and the pasta (by the way, it was a ravioli, not a dumpling, and it was one of the best taste memories of our trip) and the wine, and the cheese, and the people and the boats and the art, and the view, and the colors, and the steps, and the spirit of the place. All of it, combined in two glorious days. The best part of my Italy. It went too fast.
Post a Comment