Vernazza is considered by many to be the most picturesque of the Cinque Terrs villages.
For this reason, we decided to have lunch here. No surprise that hundreds and hundreds of other people had decided to do the same!
The homes and restaurants are literally built into the side of a very high and rocky hill. It looks spectacular as you get your first sight of it from the boat and it is only more breathtaking the closer you come to the town. There was only one problem. Since the views, once you climb up to the first level, are so lovely, everyone and their cousins had all decided to have lunch there and take in the great views. In the main square, we found a charming restaurant that shaded their tables with huge umbrellas and had a lovely view. I excused myself to wash up but when I returned to the table, Ed wasn't there. He quickly appeared and explained that the tables were reserved. Of course they were! There were so many tours on the boats and in the towns that it was impossible to sit on any of the terraces, no matter how high up one was willing to climb!!
As we tried to regroup, people who had just arrived by train, started pouring (literally) into the town. Could it hold so many people? Well, certainly the restaurants couldn't, they were all filled to capacity and we were just about at gridlock in the streets. And of course, now we were really hungry. Fortunately, just off the main street, we found a nice little "resto" with no prices posted. However, at this point we didn't care. Turned out, we had lucked out and the restaurant was good even if a little overwhelmed by the crowds. Had fun chatting with two Canadians who were exhausted from the trip, the heat, the crowds and 45.
Our server also pointed us to the best "gelateria" in town for dessert and we would agree!!!
Vernazza was partially destroyed in 2011, when it was hit by a powerful rainstorm, then mudslides, that caused massive damage - over 100 million euros worth! But since so many tourist dollars were involved, it behooved the powers that be, to rebuild relatively quickly. So, the town gets rebuilt but not the "free" trail which was closed by the rock-slide from the same storm.
The olive trees have also been replanted and the locals would have it that they produce the best olive oil in the world. However, we also heard the same thing about the Greek olive oil. as well as the "story" that Americans get the worst of their olive oil (from Greece and Italy) because they can't tell the difference.
It was time to return to the dock and wait for another boat to transport us to our next port of call. With all the people in the village, we left some extra time to make our way back. Good thing! These boats hold about 300 people and every seat was taken with varying degrees of slightly wilting tourists, including us.
p.s. We are sitting at a waterside cafe now BECAUSE internet is out at our home!
