Monday, May 16, 2011

Italian Road Trip: First Day in Vernazza


We woke up to the sound of church bells. It was gorgeous and sunny and a little bit cool. Our entire trip was like this - we seriously could not have hoped for better weather. It was perfect for eating outside, lounging on the beach with a bottle of Chianti, and even for a dip in the Mediterranean.


Little did we know that this street would become packed by 1 PM. Vernazza is definitely a tourist town, but early morning and post 5 or 6 PM it cleared out beautifully to become a sleepy little quiet beach town.


A pre-breakfast walk to the dock...


The water was so clear that while I was swimming I saw a number of fish swimming around me, even some flounder looking ones (but smaller than flounder, not sure what type they were). There were also sea urchins on the rocks...



[Breakfast Italian style...]




There is a huge design theme of stripes in design elements in Italy and I loved it!









The vineyards, and the city as a whole as a matter of fact, have been built into the cliffs...








[More vineyards.]








[View from my wine glass.]







Campari and orange, pesto pasta, and espresso.
Lots of espresso.
Chianti in the sand.
Splish splash.
Hop on the train to Pisa with anchovie and pesto foccacia.

3 comments:

  1. Gorgeous pics, Honey! I'll have to mark Vernazza on my list of "places to visit"!!

    There's a cathedral in Orvieto that is zebra-striped not only on the outside, but the inside, too! The different colored limestone was apparently a trend at that time.

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  2. What's more fun than a road trip?? An Italian road trip! Love all your colorful shots (and really love your straw hat)

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  3. Thanks for sharing your pictures and experience of your visit to Vernazza. They bring back great memories of our visit to the Cinque Terre two years ago. We went in early November so although beautiful the weather was not warm enough to put our toes into the sea.

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