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Italy 2012


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Monday June 25, 2012
Venice to Vernazza, lunch in Pisa

Tuesday June 26, 2012
Vernazza

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Wednesday June 27, 2012
Vernazza

Tuesday I woke up relatively early to take pictures of Vernazza.  CJ decided to hike with me.  We saw amazing damage caused by the flood of 2011






CJ taking iPhone pictures of the ruined house in Vernazza



Another ruined house on the other side of the gully

a few other gulleys were riped wide open, homes torn wide open on either side with rooms left hanging in midair over a streambed. 
stunning devestation.


2012-06-26 08:23

Trenino, the wine train!

CJ turned back here.





this is the famous view of vernazza, also was the cover of Rick's Italy book for several years.

Annamarie's apartment is just below and to the right of the tower on the left hand side of the picture.  It is rock colored and the terrace is also rock colored, one of her rooms is pastel colored and directly below the apartment.  The apartment is very small, and has a spiral staircases downstairs to the very small bedroom and very small bathroom.  The downstairs is a swamp - the dehumidifier ran non-stop and needed emptying constantly. 

Annamarie's room is the highest structure in this picture, directly below the top of the picture.  You can barely see it since it is in the shadows.

Annamarie's restaurant is directly in back and to the left of the top of the tower.  We never ate there.

Annamarie's son's bar is under the two white triagle shaped tarps toward the top of the trail, just short of the room.

2012-06-26 09:16

An alleyway along the train track in Vernazza



Looking down the street away from the train station. 
Everyone is rebuilding from the flood.
'Downtown' was in pretty good shape, still plenty of construction going on, but most businesses were open.


2012-06-26 09:18

Looking up the street to the train station.

I got back to the apartment shortly after 9.  Kathy and the kids had gone up to Annamarie's son's bar and brought a wide variety of incredible pastries back to the apartment for breakfast (which was included with the apartment and room), but there was almost nothing left for me. I went up to the bar and retrieved another trayful of amazing pastries. 


Karin's pic


Karin's pic


Karin's pic

Eventually I made a trip up the canyon to see more of Vernazza, while everyone else headed down to the harbor so the kids could swim.



The Swiss are helping Vernazza re-engineer their flood control

'downtown' was in pretty good shape, still plenty of construction going on, but most businesses were open.
further uphill/upstream everything was still a mess, basically everything uphill from the train station wasn't open. 
the flash flood annahilated every single biulding, or at least the 1st floor to the point where full reconstruction was necessary. 



This trail is actually the easiest way up to the apartment.  Head uphill a few hundred feet from the train station, then double back on the trail marked Corniglia.  This trail meets the main trail shortly above the apartment.



This canal / road continues through the mountain and ends up on a beach directly below Annamarie's apartment though a tunnel under the rocks. We watched dumptrucks drop loads of debris on the beach, and it took me a while to determine where they were coming from.





Here's the guy loading the trucks with debris.





I then headed downhill and found the kids swimming in the harbor


2012-06-26 12:20


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2012-06-26 12:33




Karin's pic


Kathy's pic

The kids swam back to the other side, then we had lunch at Ristorante Belforte



Karin's picture of lunch at Ristorante Belforte


Kathy's pic


Kathy's pic


After lunch everyone took a siesta to escape the heat.  Late in the afternoon I took the train over to Manorola and Riomaggiore to take pictures. 


2012-06-26 18:49

This poster was at the train station.
Annamarie's apartment is in the center of the left panel.



I made a panorama of this picture after my 2005 trip, and was determined to take a better shot this time.   I hiked from Manorola to Riomaggiore, then met the rest of the family for dinner at Trattoria Gianni down near the beach.

Previous
Monday June 25, 2012
Venice to Vernazza, lunch in Pisa

Tuesday June 26, 2012
Vernazza

Next
Wednesday June 27, 2012
Vernazza