Lucca to Vernazza

Our final morning in Lucca, and we walked to the little cafe that I like for breakfast. Coffees and pastries, and fresh fruit juice for Phil. A quick look at Chiesa di San Michele...

  

...then  back to the hostel to catch the bus to the station. We had a half hour wait, then a 20 minute train trip to Viareggio (White Wagtail!!) Half an hour wait in Viareggio turned into a 40 minute wait, which was concerning as we had only 10 minutes to make our final connection if the trains were on time. We arrived in La Spezia at the departure time of our train to Vernazza, so it was a very quick scramble to: a) get us and our luggage off the train; b) discover which platform our next train was leaving from; and c) get us and our luggage to said platform and onto the train. We made it, but the train did leave a bit late. Some nice scenery out the window along the way.

We were met at the station in Vernazza and taken to the apartment (we worked out why very quickly – it’s a 3D maze here! There was no way you could follow directions!) I was expecting lots of stairs, but it’s completely different when you have to lug your case up and down them all (mostly up!) I didn’t count, but there were probably between 150 and 200 stairs – and we aren’t even at the top of town! The room is very basic, but it has a bathroom, a bar fridge and a cute little balcony from which we can see the tower and (if we stretch a bit) the sea. 

Into town for food. Caelli is very determined to eat regularly (Phil and I don’t mind so much). We found a place to eat, Phil had plain foccacia, Caelli grabbed some pizza and I had some fried onion rings and potato croquettes. Phil has decided that he doesn’t like Italian breads. The only Italian food he likes is gelato (and, yes – he does believe he can live on gelato alone). 

We walked down to the harbour and out onto the rocks. Vernazza is the fourth town in the Cinque Terre – Five Lands. The fifth – Monterosso – is visible from the harbour. 

It’s really pretty down there, with very green water and lots of fish visible near the surface. We watched the boat arrive from Monterosso, grabbed some gelato and then we headed back to the rooms to unpack a bit and do some washing. Phil went for a walk to the cemetery while I sorted washing.

  

We decided the weather had cleared enough for swimming, so we all swam in the Mediterranean Sea. It was very cold. Very cold.

  

Phil and Caelli centre front (well..their heads, at least).

Back for showers, then out again for food. We found a place with roast pork for Phil, but the only thing to go with it was fries (grilled vegetables were eggplant, capsicum and zucchini – none of which he eats). I had fish and Caelli had spaghetti with salad – limited options for vegetarians. Oh, well...

Gelato flavours: limone, tiramisu, amarena (cherry), nocciola (hazelnut), canella (cinnamon), mint, crème caramel, Kit Kat, frutti di bosco (forest fruits), ambrogio (cream with chocolate and nuts).