This past Sunday, after having breakfast at our hotel in Riomaggiore, we headed to the opposite end of the Cinque Terre to say hello to the town of Monterosso...
...we didn't really know what to expect after the flash floods that devastated Monterosso and Vernazza this past October...
...there was a good amount of debris on the beach, from driftwood, tile pieces that had broken off building structures, rocks, and even a tea towel with a map of Tuscany on it that had seen better days but had found its way back from sea...
...one area of the beach was being worked on with some equipment, and another area, formerly I think a parking lot (?) as it was on the far edge of the town (about where the border for being able to drive cars and not being able to drive cars is), appeared to be the area where large and non-natural (ie non driftwood, rocks, tile, etc.), such as furniture, refrigerators, soda vending machines, sinks, other restaurant equipment, and cars that had been damaged during the floods were being kept. It was all contained within a chain link fence, which was nice because the beaches were for the most part accessible (aside from the one beach being worked on, which was also enclosed).
There were also some signs of what the floods left behind off of the beach, as there were areas with orange fences where the cement was gone, showing open pipes displayed below, and another area where the trash cans and the ground beneath them had been raised to a height of over 6 feet tall. Overall the recovery efforts seem to be very organized, but still have a ways to go...
That being said, the town is open and accepting tourists with open arms. We had a great little lunch at Bar Gio right on the beach, and we were not the only ones there...
...and after lunch, we took a nice walk on the beach before hopping back on the train to see Vernazza...
Despite all its been through in the last few months, Monterosso is still a beautiful and happy place, just with a few bumps and bruises to heal. If you want to help heal Monterosso go visit, and if you can't go visit, here's a site you can donate to if you're into that sort of thing. And again, if you feel like helping Vernazza too, here's the link to donate to Vernazza. I'll post my pictures from Vernazza very soon...
A la prochaine friends...
Honey
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