September 2, 2015
Our time in Florence ended and another adventure began! We were sad to leave the lovely Florence, a place that we all felt so connected to, but excited to travel to the gorgeous coastal area of Cinque Terre. CheyAnn visited Cinque Terre when she lived in Italy, and had told me about how incredible it is, so I was very excited to finally see it together. So that morning we said goodbye to the lovely Florence home exchange and packed up for a long drive to the coast.
Best home exchange setting ever!
Boston, feeling at home.
This was the view from the front yard of the Florence house!
Driving to Vernazza, in the Cinque Terre, honestly, was a freaking nightmare. Thanks again to Google Maps giving us the fastest, most direct route, but not necessarily the most driveable route, we ended up driving along rural forest dirt roads to get up and over the mountain. I had no clue if we were in the right spot or what, just that we continued to wind up and through the forests. Eventually though, we peaked at the top of the mountain range and looked down and:(!)
We found Vernazza! Gorgeous! We were just thrilled to come out of the trees at the top of the mountains and look down on this gleaming pearl on the ocean. So incredible. We couldn't wait to get down there!
Our trusty wagon, a diesel min-minivan. By American standards, of course, this is just a normal, larger sized car, but in Italy, it was a beast!
Little did I know that the worst driving was yet to come. This was one of the better parts of the road down to Vernazza - a long, one-car-wide, winding trail that snaked along the cliff sides into the town. It felt like all of the many, many turns were blind hair-pin turns, and after hearing other cars do it, I quickly started to honk as I approached. If two cars converged at the same time, one of the cars would have to reverse down the road to a spot that was wide enough for the other to pass, sometimes going backwards for 100+ yards back up the winding cliff road. It was really stressful and once we finally got the car parked, I was SO relieved!
Vernazza has a really lovely waterfront plaza, and we were so happy to ditch our hot city clothes and walk along the water.
As Solana and I were walking out on the jetty, we turned around and saw a huge wave come in and splash all of the people who were relaxing on the plaza, apparently too close to the water. It was hilarious!
The sea was so amazingly blue and inviting, but the water was pretty rough, so I resisted the temptation to jump in right then and there.
We had so much action to pack into less than 24 hours. Vernazza left such an impression on my mind that I still can't believe we were there for only such a short period of time. After cruising around the waterfront plaza, we found our way to the secret "New Beach". I think we read about it in a blurb in the Rick Steves book (thanks again Rick!). The New Beach was created by the devastating flooding that occurred here a few years ago and washed out some of the coast line. To access the New Beach, you have to enter this cave that is kind of hidden away behind some shops on the main walkway. I was trying to find this secret cave, so I asked one of the shop keepers, who told me that because the sea was so choppy that day, this secret New Beach was "Forbidden", which only made it that much more exciting. She gave me some vague Italian directions, and eventually we found our way through a maze of gates and trash cans and shops to the cave, and when we made our way through, it was awesome!
Mindful of the choppy seas and the "forbidden" status, we stayed clear of the waves and kept a watchful eye, but aside from that, we all had a great time playing in tide pools and collecting beautiful stones and sea glass and relaxing for hours!
That's the cave in the background - so cool!
Everyone loves the beach.
Outside the apartment we rented - are we in Italy, or some lush tropical destination?
Vernazza in the evening...
