22 May

We stopped at the local market on the way to the station to re-stock our fruit supply, and then rode from Ventimiglia to Genoa, where we changed trains for Vernazza. Unlike Spain, Italian trains have no numbers or destination cities placarded on them. We got on the wrong train, headed the wrong direction. But we figured it out by the first stop and caught the next train back to Genoa – we had eleven minutes to get there and find the correct train. As we rode along, it occurred to us that this train seemed to be going in the direction we wanted, so when it stopped in Genoa, Joe asked the conductor what train number it was. It turned out to be the one we wanted all along, we just got on a little early by riding out to meet it. Had we missed it, we would have been able to explore Genoa for about four hours. Maybe next time.

Vernazza is one of five small villages called the Cinque Terre, which is in a National Park along the western coast of northern Italy. The idea is to stay in a town, then take the train to one end of the many trails and hike back through the other little, unspoiled towns. Well, apparently this is the worst kept secret in Europe. We arrived in mid-afternoon and found the streets teeming with tourists. One could barely walk through the streets, even though no cars are allowed. Also, there were literally no rooms to be had anywhere. No hotels, no B&B's, nothing. We asked around and most people said it's pretty much like that all the time if the weather isn't rotten. We did find some interesting people to talk to who gave us leads on other places to go. We've now decided to go to Croatia, which wasn't on our list. But that will be a later story.

We decided to go anywhere that wasn't Vernazza, so caught the next train south. We got off in La Spezia, but not impressed, so we sort of randomly picked Carrara as our next destination. It was just four or five stops down the line toward Pisa. We checked into our fanciest hotel to date and went out exploring. Carrara is a really nice mid-sized city. It turns out to be a big marble producing center, which is why the name slightly rang a bell with us, we guess. We walked down around the port, past miles of marble processing and shipping yards with giant blocks and slabs sitting around everywhere. We thought about staying here another night because we liked the town and you can actually walk without tripping over hordes of people, but we'll likely go on tomorrow, since our plan now is to hit the high spots of Italy and try Croatia.

Vernazza crowds
Carrara marble	Joe by marble slab	blocks of marble

marble quarries

fancy hotel room

fancy hotel bath