Italy Part 2: Vernazza

On Monday we hopped the train and went to Vernazza, the next town over. I think the train ride was all of 3 minutes. :)

Waiting for the train...

Vernazza town square, with my back to the sea

Another view of the town square, with the harbor (and Gus!) in the foreground


Enjoying the view

The waters were turbulent!


And this guy was kayaking!

We walked up the trail next to the town for this view.
See the castle at the top?

Vernazza's castle

Gus found a friend! I know it looks like he's pulling the castle cat's tail,
but he was just petting him and the cat decided to hop down!

The view of the square and harbor from the top of the castle

The view to the east

And to the west
(that's Monterosso in the middle of the picture)

:)

Italy Part 1: Monterosso al Mare

We went to Italy May 13 - 27, and here - finally - are some pictures of our trip!

We flew from Dallas to Paris to Rome, arriving in Rome around 3pm on May 14th. Then we hopped on the train from Fiumicino airport, through Rome and Pisa to La Spezia, and then changing to the regional train to go the last few miles to Monterosso.

Monterosso is one of the villages of Cinque Terre, an area of five small fishing villages along the northwestern coast of Italy. We arrived around 9pm on Saturday, and while we could hear the sea, we couldn't see it because it was dark. :)

Sunday was overcast and a little rainy, but in the afternoon it cleared up. We spent the day wandering around the town, admiring the sea, and eating great food.

(As always, you can click on a picture to make it bigger.)

There weren't many tourists at the beach on Sunday.

This is a view of Monterosso from the hills at the edge of town.


On our way up the trail, we encountered a cemetery:

Each of the cubby holes in those walls is a tomb.

And each tomb has the name of the occupant.
Many of them also had a photo or engraving of the deceased (as can be seen in the upper-left).
It was kind of creepy!

Monterosso has two sections: the older east side (where we stayed)
and the newer west side, where the train station and more modern housing are.
This is the west side, taken from the breakwater.

Another view of the west side, taken from the trail that connects the two.

Standing at the far west side, looking back to the east.
The old part of town is hidden by the rocks.


On the left side of the photo (and in the center of the previous photo)
you can see the old (16th century) fort.

Just below it, on the rocks, there is a round cement WWII bunker.


Here's Gus checking it out! We went inside, and then sat on top of it for a while.

Moonrise

Sunset

And my favorite photo:

Night time in Cinque Terre. If you look closely, you can see the four other villages.
From left: Vernazza, Corniglia (up on the hill), Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

Next up, Vernazza!