Vernazza, Italy

Written Tuesday, October 7th 2009
In the morning we packed our bags and walked down to the ocean. I went for a swim while Mariella enjoyed a cappuccino. I purchased some swim goggles and was able to explore the underwater world where schools of beautiful fish were in abundance. Later, after some good conversation with Brett on the beach we said goodbye and Mariella and I started hiking down the coast. Next stop; a town called Vernazza, a two-hour walk to the south. We arrived to hundreds of the town people filling the piazza near the church. We noticed that there was an eerie silence in the piazza. In other towns we experience loud noise and commotion of town’s people and tourists. We noticed that all the shops and restaurants were closed and the church was also filled. It turns out that a memorial service was being held for one of the teens from Vernazza who died in a car accident. We had no place to stay so we decided to go swim in the harbor. Eventually the memorial service ended and we walked through the middle of town asking people if they had a room we could stay in. We eventually found a man who after bargaining about the price led us up four flights of stairs to the room facing the main street. Luckily, it is a slow time of year for tourism which gives us the ability to just show up to a town and bargain on the price. The Lord has been faithful in providing our daily bread and daily bed.