We left rainy Florence for the coast where we were greeted with nearly perfect weather for the late afternoon. We explored little Vernazza up and down and enjoyed the rocky beach. We caught a beautiful sunset from a cafe tucked into the cliffs just off the Cinque Terre Trail, high above the town.
The place was filled with tourists and it was very busy. We had to wait for the stairs to clear just to get down from the train station. A very large group of fifty-something hikers trekked through the tiny town square, all with hiking poles and backpacks. They had stickers identifying them as a group. I couldn’t imagine trying to hike these narrow trails with a group that big. The small town was packed, and it’s not even summer. What would Rick Steves think? And there he was. Rick Steves standing in front of me. He was alone, so I walked up to him to ask for a picture, and he said, “no, I’m working, if I stopped to talk with everyone, I wouldn’t get anything done.” Then he walked up to chat with a local man I’d seen on the other street. OK, well I took his picture anyway, but not with me in it!
Later that night, Taylor and I snuck out for a drink, leaving the kids up in the room playing on their iPods. We walked into the restaurant below our rooms and who was there inside? The same Rick Steves. I convinced Taylor to grab a table close to them so I could eavesdrop. There were only three tables occupied, so perhaps it was obvious that we were choosing a table for that reason, but I didn’t care. I was sure he wouldn’t recognize me as the stalker from before.
We had a nice time, and I admit, I dipped into Rick’s conversation from time to time, just to be nosy. Today, we headed out for a late breakfast and it started to rain. We ducked under a large awning for a bit and I looked out to see a man standing alone under an awning across the street. Yep-Rick. So at this point, we make eye contact and I wave. Oh no it’s the stalker, he thinks to himself no doubt. But then I yell over (just so he knows that yes, I am a stalker) “come over here— my kids want to meet you!” So he ran over to our awning and I told the kids that this was the man whose voice they heard on the audio tours of the Uffizi and the Accademia. They all chatted him up a bit, and I was relieved that Samuel didn’t tell Rick that he thought his Uffizi tour was boring, or try to school the celebrity on his art history facts or anything. Of course Rick Steves was totally undaunted by the rain. When Cooper told him he wanted to go to the beach, his reply was- “it’s a great day to go to the beach, it won’t be crowded.” Yeah- and it’s raining! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I don’t share all of his travel principles. I have my limits on how far I will go to avoid crowds or save money. But you gotta admire his enthusiasm. Anyway, we ended up having a nice chat, so maybe he won’t think I’m a crazy stalker after all. And he told me that he pulled his kids out of school every year in April to travel- so there!
The lodging available here in Vernazza is mostly in “rooms to rent;” they are tucked in here and there, on top of restaurants and in buildings with other apartments. It was difficult to find a place big enough for all of us, but I scored a double room. Of course I thought that we wouldn’t spend much time in there anyway, so what difference did it make how big or nice the room would be? Oh-no… here I am sitting in the room waiting out the weather. I feel very stuck. I a pretty sure Rick Steves would be out there finding something interesting to do. But the Shorts are inside their cramped room — boys are playing iPods (of course), Taylor is sleeping (natch, he’s very good at it), and I am blogging and trying to keep my Type A, plan-making, busy-body, control freak self from going insane. I did not come to Cinque Terre to sit in a hotel room, people! I did drag the family up to a castle outlook earlier today, but that was all they could take. The weather is supposed to clear in about an hour and we plan to take a train to Monterosso, instead of hiking today— Plan B— ENCORE!
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