First days in Italy: sleep, eat, drink, hike

Because internet is very spotty, I've written and lost this blog entry twice already. The title above basically sums it up, and the pictures below further tell the story. I was also thinking of naming this entry, ' there is no Internet and there are no clocks in Vernazza.'










My travel buddy Jenn and I arrived in Vernazza, one of five villages that make up Le Cinque Terre along the NW coast of Italy, after traveling for 24 hours straight by planes, trains, and toes.














As breathtaking as it is quaint, Vernazza is a village along the beach filled with skinny alleyways and buildings draped with color as vibrant as the clothes lines that string them together.








Upon our arrival, we followed an old Italian grandma up millions of tiny stairs to our adorable double bed room, where we nosedived into bed and slept an ungodly number of hours.






After we finally emerged from our room the next day, we had dinner along the water. Featured is an octopus salad and basil tomato mozzarella salad. We ordered the lemon soaked anchovies - a specialty in Vernazza - along with seafood risotto, ravioli in a creamy basil walnut sauce, and more fried seafood. We topped it off with lots of white wine, fresh bread and olive oil.







View of Vernazza's pretty castle from the harbor







One of many Aspen lookalikes prancing the village streets.






The hip Bar Blue Marlin, one of the many hot spots featured in Rick Steves Italy book (aka our bible)







Bartender of the young hip Bar Blue Marlin. One of the only men to move to Vernazza for a woman - usually it's the other way around. Geoff from South San Jose (Morgan Hill!)








A couple wisconsans we bonded with over cocktails and blaring country western music playing at the bar. Surprisingly, there were a high concentration of wisconsins in Le Cinque Terre.








Riomaggiore, another village of Le Cinque Terre we explored.







The graffiti'd tunnel of Via Dell Amore, the famous lovers hike that connects villages Riomaggiore and Manaralo.















David and Ellen documented themselves, as owls, all over the tunnel.








Manaralo and it's boat lined alleys.







View of manaralo from the top of our self-guided hike. We found several wineries along the steep hillsides and a beautiful cemetery.






we spent three quick days in Le cinque Terre before moving on to Florence, where we are staying now. We have a wedding to attend in just an hour so I must go, but hope to post again soon when we head to Tuscany!

Location:le Cinque Terre