Day 1 in Vernazza – Candice takes over blogging (5/15/2007)

With no reservation, we are seated at a table 10 feet away from the good seats which require reservations. The “good seats” are along the edge of the restaurant overlooking the cliffs. Our table is nearby. We are actually seated at a table adjoined to another couple’s.

To begin our meal we order a local white wine and acciughe al limone (anchovies with lemon), which are Cinque Terre specialties. For primi piatti, we split spaghetti al scoglio (spaghetti with mussels, clams, and shrimp). For secondi, I had a local dish called Tegame de Vernazza, a baked dish of small fish served over potatoes, covered in slices tomatoes. Delicious! Reed had a plate of fried calamari and shrimp cooked perfectly. Dessert was a rich slice of chocolate cake, which we split. The food was terrific!

We also met some very nice people in Vernazza. At the adjoining table was a nice couple from Utah, celebrating their 25th anniversary. Unfortunately, they had had their credit cards and camera stolen in Venice on the Rialto Bridge. They wished us well and were gone before our secondi arrived.

The adjoining table was quickly occupied by an older Italian gentleman whom all the staff seemed to know. He was immediately brought wine and several small plates of seafood. We made no conversation. While waiting for il conto (the check), Reed and I toasted with our water as all the wine was depleted. The Italian man next to us offered us a pour of his wine. He asked if we spoke Italian, and I indicated “very little”. He replied that he spoke no English. We struck up a conversation, once again using my broken Italian. He told us his name was Achille, at least that’s what everyone calls him. After seeing Reed take a photo of our empty wine bottle, he told us he makes wine and only spends three days a week in Vernazza. Once he realized Reed and I were newlyweds, Achille called over the waiter and told him so he could congratulate us as well. Right before Reed and I left, I thought Achille bid us goodnight. I was wrong. He was waiting for us at the front of the restaurant, telling us to follow him around the corner. So we did.



He led us to a stone wall with two grey doors with padlocks on them. In Italian he told me would we drink a “digestivo”, after-dinner drink. Reed and I glanced unknowingly at one another, but followed him into the shed-like room. On work tables and shelves were hundreds of bottles of multi-colored homemade liqueurs. He opened one that looked like it had chili peppers in the bottom, and poured a very small amount into three small plastic cups. We toasted and drank. It was delicious, like warm cloves or something. Achille was so pleased with our response, he poured another from another bottle. We drank again. He searched his highest shelf and pulled down a bottle filled with a thick-looking yellow liquid. In a swirly script, it read “Paradiso in Bocca,” which is Italian for “Paradise in the Mouth.” He poured us each a small shot, and we drank. It was delicious and sweet, with a seemingly familiar taste…maybe licorice, or some other candy. Lastly, he reached for a fourth bottle. He handed it to me and indicated it was a gift for Reed and me. It was labeled 98 Rose Vernazza Achille. We tried to decline, but Achille would not hear of it. On our way out of the gray-doored shop, we finally found out why everyone calls him Achille. The inside of the door was covered in medals and awards from marathons he had run.



He led us to the second gray door and opened it. Arranged much like the first, its shelves were lined with wine. He handed us a bottle and insisted we take it as well as a gift. Reed and I wished him “buona notte” and were on our way back to our room. We laughed about how we would NEVER be so trusting in America, but that somehow it seemed normal in Vernazza.



Back at the room on our stunning terrace, Reed and I had one last drink of the Achille 1998 Rose Vernazza. While we were drinking on the terrace, one of Vernazza’s many cats jumped into our room and made herself at home in the bidet. We didn’t chase her out immediately, as we needed a photo…and were missing our own cats quite a bit. Once we saw our visitor out, we turned in for the night.



All the drinking the night before was rewarded with bizarre dreams for both and a headache for Reed. It was definitely worth it, as we will have this great Vernazza adventure to remember forever. Thanks, Achille!