Into the Wild Spaces

Once we entered Cinque Terre proper, the turn-offs towards the little coastal towns were better suited for motorcycles than 4 wheeled vehicles, or even our little, rented VW Polo. Down and around hairpin curves, each of which threatened to rise up by its elbows and hurl us onto the rocks below, the little seaside ports always just around the next curve.

The road, the tunnel, the fact the train manages to connect these little outposts of medieval civilization, are all testament to Italian obstinacy, design prowess, and perspicacity. Vernazza is a little fishing village no different from El Tránsito, and yet this is a modern, gorgeous, developed village, and El Tránsito is a 3rd world of families who can't be bothered to repair the walls of their homes as they crumble. The Italians built for keeps, each generation building something well enough to last through the generations so their descendants could occupy themselves with something else.

I was reminded of this lovely trip when I read in the New York Times about the disaster Vernazza experienced in 2011: mudslides, torrential rains, collapsed sewer mains, and the town square buried under millions of cubic meters of mud. Vernazza has been devastated. More on the disaster here, and if you're interested in helping the villagers, visit savevernazza.com or vernazzafutura.blogspot.com.