Vernazza, Italia (Italy)

Wow, I woke up this morning with no particular plans and nothing to do.  That’s great in one sense I suppose, but I’m worried that if I stay here much longer, I may never leave.  This place is so seductive.

I went downstairs to my favorite little pizzeria this morning to upload the last couple of days of posts and I remembered there’s a massage therapist in town, so I looked her up and made an appointment for 5:00.  There, now I have something planned today.

I figured I’m on a roll, so I hopped the train to Manarola, there’s an artist there that had a gallery and I’d like to have a print of the area, which is rare for me, and I really hate shopping.  Oh my gosh, I’m going shopping.  There were a few prints that I liked and they ship home, but they’re also on the web, so I don’t have to make my decision right now.  There’s another artist in Vernazza and I really like her prints as well, so I’ll wait till I get home and then order something.

Just before getting on the train though, I heard an announcement that there will be a train in transit soon.  I’m picking up more and more Italian, mostly by association.  I had heard that announcement before followed by a train that comes through the station and doesn’t stop.  If you’re not expecting it, it’s pretty scary; it’s loud, it pushes a lot of air and everything shakes.  I saw a lady standing in the office doorway and I got the impression she either didn’t hear the announcement or didn’t understand it.  So, I got my camera ready and when I could just hear the train approaching I snapped a shot and then about two seconds later I snapped another as the train came through.  The exposure was a 250th of a second and the train was still blurry as it went by.  The lady fell back into the station office and after the train had gone by in about three seconds flat, she was still screaming.

By the time I finished all that, it was time for my afternoon nap.  Well you know, when in Rome… Dang, I wish I had used that line when I was actually in Rome.  Se la vie.  Dang it… To bad I’m not going to Greece, cause… you know…

I woke up with enough time to wash some clothes and hang them on the clothesline outside my window and add to the town decor before heading off for my massage appointment, which was awesome.  I then went back to the room and changed and found a spot for dinner, the Trattoria Gianni Franzi under the big colorful umbrellas.  The waiters there were kind of surly and I probably would have gotten up and left if it wasn’t the best food I’ve had yet.  A seafood salad started it with mostly bits of seafood in a light oil, oh man that was good.  Then the best spaghetti I’ve had yet followed by stuffed mussels.  I don’t know how they do that, but it was so wonderful.  And I don’t feel stuffed, no pun intended.

I hung out at the harbor for a couple of hours enjoying the breeze and watching people then I went to a late organ recital at the church.  Kind of an odd thing I thought for a Friday night but I enjoyed it.

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