Italy Wedding 2021 – Vernazza & Monterosso al Mare Italy 8/28/21

La Spezia, Italy – The Poet Hotel 8/28/21

Today we got up late because of the British Navy guy we met and hung out with until very late. We were able to make our way to the train station and procure a ticket to Vernazza! We quickly found our way to the docks and beach where we planted ourselves at a fantastic cafe. Here is our view from our table.

Amazing view of the water, the castle and the beach!

This was a chicken tomato and buffalo cheese salad. Really simple yet perfect!

Nick asked for a local wine that was dry and they brought us this vino. It was spectacular!

We decided to take part in what the Italians call “passeggiata” (translation: lazy walk). There was a major flood that devastated this town back in October 2011. There was a dry summer and then in October a freak rainfall produced 22 inches of rain in 4 hours. This created problems with the under ground river that Vernazza keeps hidden. The rock and mud slides that came from the mountains created 10 to 13 foot mud that covered the entire town. If you look closely you can see some tell tale marks on the buildings.

Part of the re-directed under ground river.

An old fountain that used to be highly utilized for washing clothes.

This is the old entryway to the train station.

I like to photograph cool looking entryways.

Across from a small park there is a tile on the wall that memorializes the Vernazza’s soldiers of WWI and WWII. The names with “part” next to them were the communist all others fought against the communists. It is said that not a single family was spared during WWII.

We headed back to the beach. Mostly the locals stay away from the beach. It’s not a bear foot beach. There are many rocks and debris still remaining from the 2011 flood. Only a few months ago they found and dug up a Madonna statue that had been lost in flood.

This boat had a gangplank just a foot longer than the lines it used to tie off.

As we worked on getting some nice selfies on the breakwater we had some laughs at the tour boat! The captain was skillful in handling the wind and current. The two photos below are in the same spot on the breakwater.

Even though we fell in love with Vernazza we decided to take the train to Monterosso al Mare. Nick got the train tickets. And we hopped on the 4 minute train ride.

Once we arrived at Monterosso we quickly found a cafe to sip wine and view the Ligurian Sea.

Right along the boardwalk there was some great photo ops!

We did some walking and found some interesting architecture and some regular living among the local kids!

Next we sampled some of the local wine. Never a bad idea!!!

Walking back toward the train we stopped at the breakwater that divided two beach areas. If you look closely you can see all 5 (Cinque) lands (Terre) in these photos.