VERNAZZA, ITALY (Cinque Terre)

Of all the villages in Cinque Terre, I think Vernazza was my favorite to photograph.  It has colorful, antique homes that cling to steep cliffs and a lovely small harbor that shelters under the shadows of an ancient castle and a beautiful seaside church. 

 Vernazza had massive flooding and mudslides that left the town buried in over 13 feet of mud and debris in 2011.  Fortunately,  the town has recovered and most of the shops and restaurants are back in business.

Vernazza’s medieval castle, Belforte, towers above the harbor and was built in the mid-1500’s, primarily to protect the village from pirates.  The Village is surrounded by very steeply-terraced Olive groves which are said to produce some of the finest Olive oil in the country.

You will notice in all of my Cinque Terre photos that the color of the sky and sea changed depending on the angle/direction I took the shot from and it changed as we traveled  village to village.

My beautiful daughter.

My daughter tried to catch this pigeon, of course it always stayed a few steps in front of her.

My daughter is standing guard outside of these restrooms.  They look pretty normal on the outside but take a look below of what it looks like inside.

Yep, you ummmm....squat and do your business and I can't even begin to describe the smell.  One of my favoirte things about returning to the states was have a toilet seat.  I really missed my toilet seat while in Italy.

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