Bellissima Italia Part 3/3 – Sitting Atop the Terrace!

With a nonstop trip like this you have to set aside some time to just relax. It’s fun to see as much as you can but when you are going full tilt it’s often difficult to really take in the character of a place and enjoy the small nuances and quirks of the culture. So, before we left we looked at a few locations and picked out a fun or somewhat different B&B that would add to the flair of the locale. The Cinque Terre seemed like the perfect place to stop and take just a bit more time to enjoy the view, sip some wine and watch the waves pass by.



Pisa
On our way to The Cinque Terre we made a quick stop off in Pisa. To be honest our main reason for visiting the city wasn’t for the food or the culture but to take one of those dorky touristy perspective pictures with The Leaning Tower. Here are our favorites!

 

Vernazza
The Cinque Terre or  "The Five Lands" are five small secluded towns off the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera. Connected only via trails, trains and boats, they are  inaccessible by car and therefore have an old world feel that has been untouched by modern day developments. Known for their local wine from the surrounding hillsides, fresh homemade pesto and spectacular seafood, it isn’t a challenge to find something tasty to eat. All five towns are connected via hiking trails which makes them popular destinations for active outdoorsy folks who would like to trek from one to the next. Matt and I had the best intention of doing some hiking while we were there but we both came down with a bad head cold so we decided it would be best just spend our time resting  in Vernazza – which in the end made for a quite relaxing and romantic weekend.

The view from our private terrace balcony

When we stepped out on our private balcony we were surrounded by the pastel painted terraced homes cut into the rugged shoreline sandwiched by the beautiful blue of the Ligurian Sea on one side and the almost vertical vineyards behind.

The city of Vernazza from the hiking trail

The tiny Vernazza train station

Left: Walking up the steep stone steps from downtown to our B&B

Right: A view of the Main Street through Vernazza

Word to the wise… if you plan on visiting Vernazza or any of the towns of the Cinque Terre pack light. We were warned that there were going to be stairs (it’s Europe of course there are stairs) but we didn’t really plan for  all the stairs we encountered. If we would have had anything bigger than our two carry-on size bags we would have had to leave our luggage at the bottom of the two tiny spiral staircases it took to get to our room. I saw people getting off the train with multiple giant bags. Hopefully they had rooms down on the street level because there would be no way they would be able to get them up to where we stayed. Although bags with wheels have their advantages in some places backpacks are definitely best here!





You could walk down through town and sit in the harbor all day listening to the calls of the sea birds along with the melodies of the church bells while smelling the salty sea air mixed with the tasty aroma of fresh out-of-the-oven olive foccacia.  Even though we didn’t end up doing much but eating and resting it was definitely time well spent!

Some pizza crust fish decorating the outside of one of the local pizzerias

Had some more gelato… this one was a special Vernazza berry flavor. Mmmmm… my favorite so far!

One of the best lunch items in town was a little Focacceria that made fresh hot focaccia pizza with local pesto and mozzarella. It was best eaten down on the waterfront while watching the local fishing boats.

A cave that went under the spit from town to the small rocky beach on the other side. There was a big sign that said you weren’t supposed to go there but we watched a whole bunch of locals do it so we decided it couldn’t be that bad. Our fallback plan If someone asked was always, “Mi dispiace, ma non parlo Italiano.”

The view from the rocky beach. It was just covered in beautiful beach glass

Feeling the Italian sand between our toes!

Left: The first course of pesto pasta

Right: The view from our table

Throughout the trip we tried to be thrifty when it came to meals but sometimes it’s required to spurge. This was defiantly one of those times. When we arrived, we scouted out all the restaurants, their views and their menus and picked the one that looked the best for our full scale Italian feast. We settled on the Restorante Belforte and made reservations for their best terrace table. Although pricey it was worth every penny!

The main course… Vernazza Seafood Stew. Neither 

Matt nor I are big fans of all the crazy seafood that is so popular there but we didn’t want to leave without trying it. This dish converted us both! Absolutely mouthwatering!

I would recommend this town to anyone visiting Italy… one of my favorite places by far!
Now off to live the life of the rich and famous… watch out Monte Carlo here come the Habjans!