I’m thankful to be alive..and the Cinque Terre

Our Sunday morning started bright and early to begin our drive to the Cinque Terre. A one hour boat ride back to the Venice Airport, and a boring one at that

to pick up our 2 door Renault, and we were off. Actually, we were off after Ted tried starting the car without pushing in the clutch. Oops. Take two…success. Next up, navigating our way out of the parking lot. Semi-success. The GPS finally caught up to Ted’s mistakes :) and we began our 240 mile journey. Shortly into the trek, Britt felt the need to mimic Ted and could be found dreaming away.

By the time we located our B&B, we were ready for a nap. Unfortunately, we were rejected at the door, as the host was no where to be found. Collectively, we decided to drive to a restaurant in Vernazza, one of the 5 Cinque Terre cities, and eat lunch. This turned out to be no ordinary drive. Only a few short miles in, we were happy as can be.

It wasn’t until mile 7 or 8, did we realize this was turning into an off road journey, and a scary one at that. Ted wanted me to capture the “awesomeness” of the switchbacks and I agreed. As I am doing so, the roads are getting narrower, and narrower, and narrower. Washed out roads which then turned into only a one lane road with cars coming at each other wasn’t what I had dreamed of for this vacation. At one point, I found my life flash before me (OMG! Britt is such a WUSS! Yeah we got a little close and our right side wheels may have been very close to going off the edge, but come out where is the sense of adventure!). An oncoming car and with no where to go, Ted decides to inch over to the cliff. Yes, at this section, there was no guardrail. My two tires were NOT touching pavement. Let me repeat, WERE NOT TOUCHING PAVEMENT (only maybe some very loose gravel), as Ted tapped mirrors with the oncoming driver (reminisce Dublin, Ireland and Ted taking out a parked car’s mirror). Rewinding the tape recorder, Britt can be heard saying “DUCK, DUCK, DUCK, DUCK, DUCK” or a similar word that rhymes with duck, all while transferring her body weight to move our center of gravity. Thankfully, we survived. It could have looked much worse. Just like this vehicle we found when we parked in Vernazza.

Entering Vernazza we stopped at the first restaurant in town, which just happened to be highly recommended on Trip Advisor, and rightfully so. The food was excellent, and we even shared travel stories with a fellow couple who provided sound advice on their travels since they had arrived in Italy.

Post lunch, we walked down a bit further for this view:

Interestingly enough, Vernazza experienced a massive flood (search google for Vernazza flood and there are some amazing video and pictures of the event. It is amazing how good of shape the city is in) in October 2011 which practically destroyed the entire town. I am guessing along with it, many of the washed out roads we passed along the way as well.

Luckily the drive back was not nearly as eventful. We stopped in Monterosso, another city which experienced the same tragic flood in 2011. They have come a long way in only one year!

We watched the sunset and strolled the streets, and even managed a few scoops of gelato. By far, the best gelato we have had thus far!

In conclusion, we will stay clear of the washed out roads. Tomorrow we plan to hike a portion of the Cinque Terre. Hopefully we have more beautiful photos to share tomorrow, and not nearly as eventful stories!