It was hard to say goodbye to our little apartment in Milan, but I think we got out of town just in time. Things were really starting to ramp up for Fashion week!
With what we now knew was an easy walk to the train station, we were not pressed for time. Check out was 10 a.m. and our train was scheduled for 12:10. When we got to the station we grabbed a coffee and sandwiches to take on the train for lunch. Track assignment isn’t posted until about 15 minutes before departure, so we found a seat and watched the colorful parade of people in this very busy transportion hub!
We found our car and assigned seats (although we were sitting one behind the other!) and settled in for the 3 plus hour train ride to Vernazza. The train departed promptly and we were soon out of the city limits and into the Milanese countryside. The landscape continued to change as we went on from farm land to hills and then finally the appearance of the coastline. It’s very reminiscent of going south on the 101 and passing through the Gaviota pass and then, voilà, there is the Pacific!
Somewhere along the line we were delayed (I think I was napping!) and by the time we arrived in Levanto we were more than thirty minutes behind schedule and had missed our connecting train to Vernazza. Tom was sitting next to a young woman who was able to pull up the train schedule and found there was another departure 20 minutes after our arrival. Since we were within a 90 minute window we didn’t need to buy another ticket ✅. We learned that these little regional trains are often behind, but luckily are scheduled frequently.
Arriving into Vernazza, the second of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre, was a little magical. From the train station, the one main pedestrian street (there are no cars allowed in the 5 Terre villages) leads gently down to the sea. Cafes, bars, focaccerias, pizzerias, gelaterias and green grocers abound, all alive with locals and foreigners alike. The mix of languages and laughter is intoxicating.
We checked into our hotel, Gianni Franzi, highly recommend by Ali and James who had stayed here in 2016. We followed the clerk to our room, “many stairs” she said and she wasn’t kidding!! Even though we had packed on the light side, the luggage felt extremely heavy by the time we arrived to our room (the last three flights of stairs were spiral staircases which made navigating with a bag a challenge). Thank goodness we will only make that trip once!
The hotel is utterly charming, stacked on a hillside like so many blocks, with terraces of varying sizes tucked here and there to take advantage of the sea views. Our room has a balcony facing the sea which adds to its charm.
A quick refresh and change of clothes and we headed out to explore and find a place to watch the sunset. As the day was drawing to a close, people were coming back to the harbor in their boats, out of the water from their swimming and just generally migrating to the sea to witness this daily ritual. There is something quite special about watching the sun quietly drop into the sea.
Heading back up the street we found a trattoria for a light supper. The area is known for its Genovese pesto which we ordered on Trofie pasta, also a specialty of the Liguria region. With an Insalata Mista and some local white wine we were happily initiated into the Vernazza cuisine!!
Satisfied in every way we fell happily into bed.
¡Ciao America! 