Peace at the End of the World

My skin smells of sea salt. It is a smell I have deeply missed, and something I have taken for granted for most of my life. Being landlocked for four months (the only time in my life I have not lived near the Pacific), tears started welling up in my eyes when I saw my first glimpse of the Ligurian Sea. The ocean is one of those things that promptly puts you in your place, and one of the few things I feel myself almost cosmically drawn to.

We are currently in Vernazza, one of the small towns that makes up the Cinque Terre, the semi- off the beaten path area of the Italian Riviera. It's a no shirt, no shoes, no problem kind of town where neighbors inexplicably burst into song with the Judy Garland songbook, and multiple generations of families, strangers and locals, all come together to relax. It is also the first time in recent years that I have developed a true, legitimate tan. In short, it is paradise.

Following our Tuscan adventure, I wasn't sure that our Italian experience could get much better, but Vernazza and the Cinque Terre have proven to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Each day we walk up the 112 steps to our room and look out over the sea on our terrace and truly experience the good life. People here are relaxed, friendly, and I find a sort of peace here that you only rarely experience.

On our first day, Todd and I went to the small, pebbly Vernazza beach/harbor, and both of us couldn't begin to express our happiness at seeing the ocean. Todd immediately ran into the water, demonstrating a near state of euphoria, and through all of this completely forgot that our room key was in the pocket of our boardshorts. Whoops. Needless to say, our room key is probably half-way to France by now, but when we called the woman from whom we are renting a room, she was so relaxed about it it was almost disturbing. We asked if we could go to a locksmith to replace the key, and she seemed surprised that we would even think to replace it. She says, 'But you have to go to Monterosso to do that.' For those of you not familiar with the Cinque Terre, Monterosso is about a five minute train ride (literally) from Vernazza. Not a problem, and all in the relaxed frame of mind we have here.

We sadly leave Vernazza tomorrow, but we travel to Venice, our last stop in our travel adventures. I am excited, but also looking forward to wearing clean clothes and being back with all of you. I hope to post again, but if not, I will do another post from Vienna before we fly home. Lots of love to you all!