Tabitha and I are sunning ourselves on some rocks at the pretty little town of Vernazza in Cinque Terra. It has definitely lived up to it’s advance billing. The sights, atmosphere, food and hikes have been the best in Italy. This has been my favorite place so far. If you come to Italy you have to spend 2 days in Vernazza.

Yesterday we took a scenic hike on the coastline. All 5 towns are connected by a scenic and litter free hike. The hike between Vernazza and Monterosso is the hardest but by far the most beautiful. Between the rocky ocean views and the lush mountainside you will fall in love with the area.

The food is great too. Our favorite has been at the Pirata. Luca and Maximo, the owners are histerically funny and have unbelievable food. Their deserts and breakfasts are the best we have had here. If you want to find them go away from town behind the train station. They are on the right after the bank. I am posting a picture below They also have rooms to rent for pretty reasonable rates. If interested Email them at ilpiratarooms@libero.it

Also if you want a room closer in town you can get a private room with a bathroom like we did through a local resident. This was pretty cheap too. We paid 60 e a night. The room was simple but clean and comfortable. The lady who set it up was the very nice Monica Lecari. She speaks English so she connects people with local rooms We stayed at her sister’s Carmella’s room. Monica also owns and runs the Castello restaurant which has stunning views. Monica’s info is alcastellovernazza@yahoo.it

We have had so much fun here. I went cliff diving into the ocean yesterday near the castle. That was fun but I got scraped up trying to climb the rock by barnacles. It was so worth it.

The people are so nice here. It is sad that there are no evangelical Bible teaching churches here. I have some ideas about how to help here that are percolating in my brain. I will share them in the next post.

We are sad we are leaving Vernazza but we are excited to head down to Positano on the Almafi coast. We are taking an overnight train to Naples and then taking a boat to Positano. We have a sleeper car so we are going to get a great nights sleep while we travel. The only downer is it leaves at 1:30 AM.

Here are some pics of Vernazza. I can post some better ones from our camera when we get to a real computer. These are just from my iPhone. Thanks for commenting on how good they look Heather! We miss you Green Hills Church and our family and friends. Thanks for praying for us!