Versatile Blogger Award!

 
I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by Sam at TwoBlackDoggies. Thank you so much for the compliment, I really appreciate it. I have learned a great deal about the power of the internet in this last month. Not only its power of communication to spread news and information on an almost instant basis, but also the power to bring people together, no matter how far apart. It has been truly spectacular to see the outpour of ‘virtual’ love sent to Vernazza and all the victims of the October floods. It has been so heartwarming to read hundreds of messages, comments and emails; chat forums and Facebook groups all lending words of support and solidarity. People sharing their stories of their trip to the Cinque Terre or their special experience in Vernazza and wanting to help in whatever way they could. Donating money, sending relief packages and promising a return trip to the “Pearl of the 5 Terre”. 

There is now some news coverage available, but during the immediate aftermath of this tragic event, I quickly learned about the power of blogs. For several weeks it was only a handful of blogs spreading information on the disaster—news that wasn’t available from the media. And working together, linking to each other, we created a network that drew people from the tip of Australia to Singapore; from India to Tunisia; from South Africa to Finland! Never in my life did I think I would be part of a blogging group that would become the source of news for the entire planet. It has been truly amazing. So thank you to everyone that has been a part of this, has linked to our blogs or helped to spread the news about the help that is needed here in Liguria. 

Vernazza: One Month Later

   
Today marks one month since the flood that devastated the Cinque Terre. In just 31 days, progress has been amazing. People still describe walking through town as walking through a war zone, but as I have described previously, the spirit and heart of the people has persevered above all else. That has made the difference between Vernazza being a destroyed tourist destination or a thriving community that will quickly rebuild.
   
Here is a lovely video put together by an American filmaker in Germany. He has been back and forth to the 5 Terre for three years filming a documentary on the Cinque Terre's cultural history and unsure future of their Sciacchetrà wine. While recently in Vernazza, he took some footage the clean-up in process.
  

Vernazza: Surf's Up!

On November 17, Levanto (near Monterosso) hosted the ASP WLT Bear Pro International Longboard Surfing Tour. Thanks to a "Lay Day" where there were no waves, some of the contestants got together to visit Vernazza and see firsthand what was really going on. Bear Pro has put together a beautiful video documenting what they saw. It gives some great views of the work in action. Take a look!

Bear Pro 2011

Links:

For the original story of what happened, see: Disaster Strikes Vernazza

For information on how to donate, see: Donations to Save Vernazza
If you have travel plans to the 5 Terre, see: Notice to 5 Terre Travelers 
For all related stories, see label: Vernazza Updates

Brava Vernazza, I'm Impressed!

I am happy to report that a week of mostly dry weather has afforded much progress in Vernazza! Last week, a schedule was set forth to clear via Roma (the main street) from the piazza to the train bridge by Saturday, and they have accomplished it as planned! Also, many homes have been reconnected to running water and workers plan to have the sewers fully functioning by Monday

Many businesses have been excavated from the debris in an impressive earth moving achievement. Look, you can see the road! But how did they do it?

Vernazza: A Sigh of Relief

 

The sun came out from behind the rain clouds today, giving many a big sigh of relief. It has been a nerve-wracking weekend in the 5 Terre, as it has been surrounded by unbelievable torrential rains causing flash floods in several surrounding cities. Miraculously, the massive storms seemed to curve around the 5 Terre, sparing Monterosso and Vernazza from heavy downpour. Such great news! There was one or two days of steady rain, but nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that caused further damage. Whew! I know a lot of people have been breathing sighs of relief--I certainly have.

Vernazza has been nearly empty due to a precautionary evacuation. There was concern about the canal still being blocked with debris and the rest of the "live" landslides slipping further down the hill. Only a few dozen people remained to keep watch, including emergency workers like fire fighters, forestry specialists and police; about 40 volunteers and the mayor.

Giving Thanks

This weekend, in Vernazza, has been a quiet one...in fact, it may be the quietest weekend in the last several hundred years. Friday afternoon, the town was evacuated as a precaution ahead of terrible storms headed their way. Tensions have been high with the weather reports of torrential rains for the next three days straight and the news of the horrible flooding in Genova.

According to Vernazza's mayor, the only ones remaining in the village during the evacuation period are a handful of police, a small group of Forestry service, 3 carabinieri, 7 mariners and about 40 registered volunteers. He said the night passed with very little rain, but Saturday brought constant rain for most of the day. So far, everything is holding and looking okay. 

Emergency in Genova!

The latest update on the terrible storm hitting the coast of Liguria again is shocking. The amount of rain dumping down on Genova is drawing comments from locals that they have never seen rain like this before and many are asking: "What have done to deserve this?"

To ad insult to injury, some of the people left without homes or evacuated from last weeks storm are staying in Genova! Poverini!

Again, I am not in Italy right now, so I am GLUED to the BBC in the hopes of seeing some news reports on what is happening in Italy and THERE HAS STILL BEEN ZERO COVERAGE! In fact, I just saw a quick weather report discussing the "heavy storms hitting southern France causing a risk of flooding and POSSIBLY threatening some flooding in northern Italy." POSSIBLY? Here is a video just uploaded to YouTube after HOURS of rainfall caused destructive flooding in the city:

Vernazza: Pics of Progress!

  

 This afternoon, the remaining 150 inhabitants of Vernazza were calmly evacuated as a precautionary measure in the face of more bad weather for the weekend. An awful storm has been on course to hit the 5 Terre tonight and unleash 3 days of heavy rain and rough seas.
Everyone visualize or pray for clear blue skies over Liguria--it couldn't hurt!
These are some of the many sandbags put in place to protect the work that has been done. 

  

I also wanted to provide some of the amazing photos coming out of Vernazza after today's cleaning efforts. There was a lot to do...

Vernazza: Good News and Bad News

  

The clean-up effort is progressing at an amazing speed!

The tireless work of the people can be seen with a clean piazza that is now acting as a command center and food service area.

Il Ristorante Gambero Rosso

 

Many businesses are now accessible, like this one, where my husband worked for years and my father-in-law helped remodel. More good news today was the joyful recovery of a beloved dog, still alive after being trapped for a week. 

 

Notice to 5 Terre Travelers

As you may know, the 5 Terre was hit with a devasting storm last week that completely destroyed Vernazza and badly damaged Monterosso (For the story, see: Disaster Strikes Vernazza; for new updated information, see: Vernazza: Good News and Bad News or click the label "Vernazza Updates" for all related stories). I have received many questions from travelers planning to visit in the coming weeks. They have asked if they are still able to stay in the other towns that were not damaged and if they can still hike the trails. 

Please understand that the entire area is in crisis mode at the moment. Many of the roads are washed out and the rail lines are on limited service only for residents and emergency workers. The only hiking trail open at the moment is the Via dell'Amore in Riomaggiore, but all the other trails are closed from damage. As far as rooms and hotels go, even though the other towns are not as damaged, they are providing room and board for the people of Vernazza and Monterosso that have lost their homes or been evacuated. 

Donations to Save Vernazza

For an updated information, click "Home" or the label "Vernazza Updates" for all related stories.   

   
There has been an overwhelming amount of requests to donate funds specifically for Vernazza, as a way to give back to the warm people who have touched our hearts.

 ***UPDATE***

"Save Vernazza" is an Italian non-profit which was started by an American expat group in Vernazza for donating directly to Vernazza. Their website, entirely in English, accepts payments by credit card and Paypal. They will certainly do a great job of allocating funds with less bureaucratic backup than the Italians! They also keep their site updated with pictures and news coming from the workers. To donate to their fund, click here.

Disaster Strikes Vernazza

*For updated information, click the label "Vernazza Updates".  

It has been almost a week since the mountain above Vernazza came crashing down upon this picturesque village. Tuesday, October 25, started as most mornings do, with errands and preparation for the lunch hour. The first of the rainy season’s storms was pouring down rain as usual for a late October day. The town’s people were about their business, going to the bank at the top of the hill, having caffé at the Blue Marlin Bar and my father-in-law was setting up for a long day of work remodeling a building on the mountain side. Everything seemed normal, but the rain was coming down so hard, the street had turned into a rushing stream. My father-in-law and the other workers had problems operating their equipment in such heavy rain, so they wisely decided to call it a day and head home.
    

      
The rain kept pouring down until the village became a rushing river. The cars in the parking lot above town began to get swept up by the water. The strong current carried cars and trucks down into town like they were nothing but toys. Some locals looked on from their balconies with disbelief as their cars rushed by below them.
  

Swiss Getaway

My parents had some business at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and I jumped at the chance to meet up with them for the weekend. It also worked quite well that I had an interview in Paris two days before (Paris? Mais Oui!), so I was able to get a cheap flight to Paris and take the train straight to Lausanne (there are no flights from here to Geneva). 

  

Meeting them at the large train station was surprisingly easy, as they were right outside the door with a fellow Swiss colleague of my step-father's that I hadn’t seen since I was thirteen years old! That was a great surprise and he escorted me up the steep (incredibly steep) hill to our hotel to drop off my bag and then he took us on a mini-tour of Lausanne.

Paris? Mais Oui!

A recent job interview brought me to Paris for a couple days.
  

Ah...Paris, the most beautiful city in the world. It is referred to as the 'City of Lights', but it is so much more than that. Beauty seeps out of every corner, hidden below trees...

Panging for Panang

 

Summer in Italy is rarely spent indoors. Sunny days are spent at the beach and the warm nights are spent out with friends. But unless you live in Rome or Milan, eating out is limited to Italian food. You may not believe this, but one can get really tired of eating Italian food. It’s not that Italian food isn’t enjoyable, but after several weeks of pizza, pasta and insalata mista, a palate change is severely needed. Thankfully, the little Asian market that I depend on was finally reopened after their month-long vacation. Stocked with ginger, coconut milk, limes and even cilantro (the first time I have ever seen cilantro in Italy), I headed home to make some panang!

Strawberry Liqueur

I love fruit. I love liqueurs. I love the two of them together! Italian summers bring some of the sweetest, most delicate strawberries I have ever tasted. I have recently done a series of vodka infusion experiments, including the successful pear vodka I previously posted about, and the not-so-successful melon (which I did not post about). But with these delicious strawberries, I think it would be pretty hard to mess up.

Here is how to make your own Strawberry Liqueur

Pear Elderberry Cocktail

Summer in Italy brings with it amazingly delicious fruit. I, of course, always want to find ways of preserving these scrumptious flavors to savor for the rest of the year. As you may have read in earlier posts, I have made jelly out of several fruits, including fig, mulberry, pomegranate and watermelon. But another way to capture the flavor of fruit is to infuse vodka with it. 

Ligurian Picnic

My husband is not a picnic guy--it's not that he doesn't like picnics, it's just that he never thinks it's a good idea. But the other day, he came into the kitchen and suggested we go into the hills for a picnic to watch the sunset. Wow! I was not about to pass that up! Luckily, I had already made some roasted eggplant hummus and roasted vegetable tabbouleh for dinner, which was all easily portable food. So I packed everything up into containers, grabbed some blankets, a bottle of wine and we were off!

We drove a bit to find the right spot, sometimes driving in circles on the little narrow road to the Cinque Terre. But after much deliberation, we found the perfect spot with smooth concrete walls to sit on, use as a table and drink in some stunning views of the Mediterranean sea and the mountains around Riomaggiore. It was down a private road for residents only, but we figured that was to keep the tourists out. We were a little worried that someone might have a problem with us setting up our picnic on their 'private' wall, and the residents that passed us did have something to say--"che bell'idea, buona cena!" which means, "what a good idea, have a good dinner!"
I love the Italians.

Insalata di Sgombro

The other night I threw together a quick salad on an experimental whim. I started with the idea of cooking sliced red onion in salt. Left for twenty minutes in salt, onions sweat out their water, turn translucent and get very sweet. I decided to use the salt and capers from my homemade salted capers and it infused the mixture with an amazing caper aroma! 

Sewing 101: Il Lavoro

It is amazing how quickly a skilled seamstress can put together a bag! Continuing from where I left off in "Sewing 101: L'Inizio", the first step of my beach bag started with my mother-in-law pining a reinforcing material to the back of my fabric.