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Vernazza, Italy

We managed a tight but good connection for our French train trip to the Italian border station – Ventimiglia. It was a bit cloudy today so the lovely sea sights were not as spectacular as they may have been if the sun was out. As the train made its way along the coast it was still very pretty overall, especially with a bit of imagination applied:-) We had a quick pass through Monaco where we saw lots of very expensive boats. There were also lovely boats in the various ports of Italian towns along the way.

As soon as we crossed into Italy the scenery changed from semi expensive to slightly shabby houses. More apartment style, but unlike Spain these are painted in pastel colours the same as in France. The Italian ticket information person was very warm and helpful and we got an immediate transfer for the next part of our journey which was 5.5 hours total time and included two changes and wait time at those stations. Our leg from France was 40 minutes. The whole trip was not a very far distance, but lots of stops due to it being a regional line.

Our first Italian station change was at Genoa which was 3 hrs. down the line. The trip passed very quickly like a film strip passing through lots of black tunnels interspersed with the Ligurian sea on one side and on the other side little towns set in valleys with big bridges behind them for a road pass. Behind the valleys are very tall hills and in some cases snowy Mountains behind that.

We had just under an hour for our connection in Genoa and we needed to get some cash which was across the road via a big intersection. The weather had packed up a bit so we had to negotiate wheeling our bags under one single umbrella! Whilst we were heading across the road to the hotel with an ATM in the lobby we saw groups of young men with flags meeting with others and then singing. Oh we thought – a sports game? When we got to the hotel we were told that they did not have an ATM but there was a bank next door. OK, out we went and the group of men who we thought were sports fans were there with red flares lit on ground, other smoking flare things clouding the air and lots of singing and yelling. Then “BIG BUDDA BOOM” (5th Element) an almighty bang-bang something went off. Right, these are not sports people, they are not happy, they have explosives and they are blocking the ATM we want access to.

Time was starting to run out before our next connection and we needed the money for our accommodation. So we skirted the building to see if there was another ATM – no, but thankfully by the time we got around they had been moved off and security unlocked the building for us to enter as the police sirens were whistling and coming closer. Nice.

Made it back to the train with 5 mins to spare, then arrived one change later to the Cinque Terre – or Italian Riviera’s town of Vernazza. It was spitting a bit and crowded with a few tour lots and their umbrellas but still very quaint and pretty just like the pictures we have seen. We settled in ok with a pleasant but English limited landlord and went out to check the territory.

Despite the clouds the water here is so clear and colourful. The view from our window is perfect and we are literally a stones throw from the water. It feels relaxed and slower paced here and I think we will enjoy it very much.

As evening came the tour groups vacated and we researched where to have dinner. Pesto sauce came from here, so that was a must and also they catch Anchovies in the bay – as some of you know thats one of my favourite foods. We finally settled on a place and had a lovely meal of shared fresh mozzarella and tomato salad starter with bread, followed by mixed fried local fishies (octopus, calamari, prawn, and anchovy) for me. It was very light and delicious and Vern had hand made pasta with fresh pesto. They serve pesto watered down a bit with the pasta cooking liquid and its very light – not oily. We had to try dessert which was also house made – a chocolate fondant pudding with anglaise and an almond and apple cake with amoretti and cream. NOM NOM NOM.

We don’t have internet here, so am doing this off line and hopefully will get an opportunity to do upload regular updates for you.

Just a quick mention on our transportation and doing it ourselves as it was an aspect of the holiday I probably was most anxious about. There was not a lot I could book before hand and we wondered about a rail pass but found that it did not cover everything and at over $2,000 each we did not think it worthwhile. Even if you have a ‘pass’ you still have to work out where, when, what and how the same as what we are, so the only benefit in pre booking may or may not be price.

So, firstly I think we are going to save HEAPS this way – am keeping a spreadsheet to see. Secondly if you do your research before hand to see if the trip between point ‘a’ and ‘b’ is doable, thats a big help – like trip advisor, fodors etc. Double check timetables on line, note these can change easily but its a good check and measure. Next physically go to the station before you need to in order to check timetables etc or if you not able to, give loads of time – I would say an hour before you think you need to travel, also you will work out how long and how much it will cost you to get to the train or bus station from where you are staying. And finally don’t rush or put yourself in a situation where you are rushing and you will avoid or minimise errors. A good translation book is helpful and we are really getting good use out of the google maps and its GPS to get us places by foot – its marvellous. Just download the map when you are online and it will position you off line and whala away you go!

The other part of getting local like we are (verses say tours all the time) is that you get to experience things a lot closer to the culture . You get amongst the old and young and everything in-between going about their business verses being only amongst other tourists all day long. Yes, its more stressful and more time consuming but its loads of fun and we are experiencing so much more this way. I hope that this will continue!

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