After we left Riomaggiore via ferry we stopped off in Vernazza. Vernazza dates back to 1028! Can you believe it! In the 1400’s they had major pirate raids, which decreased wine production. Damn pirates! According to Rick Steves, “Vernazza has the only natural harbor in the Cinque Terre. In the Middle Ages, there was no beach or square. The water went right up to the buildings, where boats would tie up, Venetian-style. Vernazza’s fishing fleet is down to just a couple of boats. Still, Vernazzans are more likely to own a boat than a car.” – Yup. There’s no room for cars in this town.
We hopped off the ferry and navigated our way through crowds of pushy, frantic and worried tour groups so we could see the town. It’s the same kinda deal as Riomaggiore. Super cute town with a really good vibe. Tons of shops and restaurants with amazing patios for eating and drinking.
We ate at a place called Blue Marlin and it was pretty good! We each had a pizza and ice cold white wine, but most importantly it’s a prime people watching spot. Prime. As soon as we sat down I got up to take a few pics, and when I came back my boyfriend tells me: “I just ordered for you ’cause he was here, and I’m hungry and I just had to decide” – GASP! It took almost every ounce of me to just breath and not run inside and check the menu to see if I wanted something else. Also, to not ask him what on earth he was thinking and if he even knows me at all after 3 years. When I think of a guy ordering for you I think it seems really nice and chivalrous. But when it actually happens it’s a totally different story. Anyways, I’m a work in progress. I’m really trying to chillout a bit. (I did see the menu after and he totally made the right choice).
After lunch we strolled around town. There are so many churches. Among apartments, camouflaged as apartments, in the middle of the streets and just in little alcoves are places of worship. It’s really beautiful.
The best thing to do when you’re in Vernazza (and all of Cinque Terre) is just walk up, down, around and get lost. You’ll never actually get lost because the towns are really small, but all the little side streets and alleys are worth seeing for sure.
After exploring every inch of town we sat down on the rocks outside the cute little bay of tiny boats and watched helicopters supply supplies (I guess that’s what it was?) to the gardens on the hill. We put our feet in the water for a while then hopped on the train to Corniglia… but we went the wrong way so actually went to Monterosso.
We were saving Monterosso for our last day so basically stayed at the train station. I stood in the only shade I could find, behind a pole, and then we went to Corniglia.
I feel bad saying that Corniglia was boring. But it was! The few ice cream shops and bars they had were mostly closed, except for one. Plus, there were 1,000,000 stairs to get there from the train station. I’m happy we went because if we didn’t it would’ve left me wondering if we missed something. Also because this guy inspired me BIG TIME…
This guy must’ve been at least 65. And here he is walking up an insane amount of stairs in a cast. He is the definition of Trooper. That alone was a good enough reason for me to climb those stairs up to Corniglia. Whoever he is, I hope he doesn’t mind that I took a photo of him. #creep
That’s it. Haha. I have nothing else to say about Corniglia except that a nice lady took a photo of us. She told us not to walk down the steps cause she just saw a snake. And she told her friend to move out of our photo twice… I guess she wasn’t listening…
Have any of you been to Corniglia? Am I missing something? Is there more there to this town or is it the more quaint out of the 5?
