Saturday, May 25th
Met "Tours by Locals" guide, Antonella, to show us the remaining Cinque Terre villages. She easily guided us through the train boarding process and unloaded us at Vernazza, "the best village". Vernazza was, if possible, more spectacular and beautiful than Riomaggiore. Antonella took a sharp right turn up a narrow alley and we were in a wonderland of ancient houses and shops. Looking up, the colorful upper stories almost blocked out the sky. We came out high above the town center, tiny beach and harbor on a walkway festooned with "lovers' locks" and giving us a view of the vineyards clinging to the hills above the town and the placid waters of the Ligurian Sea, where the cafes got their wonderful seafood. We came down a different path, visited a beautiful old church, had coffee and pastry and, of course bought t-shirts and other souvenirs.
Joe
