The Beautiful Vernazza Before the Floods
In May of this year I had the fortunate opportunity to visit Cinque Terre in the Liguria region of the Italian Riviera coast. Known as “The Five Lands” it’s comprised of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The villages and coastline, as well as, the hillsides surrounding them are part of the Cinque Terre National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I saw a photograph of one of the villages hanging in my cousin’s house (Ciao Donna) and I instantly knew that I had to visit this place. Each village has it’s own unique charm, the entire visit was truly a wonderful experience, and the area holds a special place in my heart. That’s why seeing the devastation to the region during the floods and mudslides of October 25th, 2011 is so upsetting. You can read more about the Cinque Terre floods here.
Some shocking video during the floods:
The Ligurians are said to be strong and resilient, and they are making progress with the clean up effort. But homes, businesses, loved ones and livelihoods have been lost. They’re struggling to overcome this tragedy and rebuild their towns and lives. They have received tremendous support from fellow Italians, from far to the North and South, but there is still much to do to restore this unique and beautiful part of Italy.
The clean up process begins:
I’m reaching out to you to help restore this magnificent area, please donate to the Italian Red Cross, Croce Rossa Italiana. It takes just a moment and can be done online. Use the dropdown menu to choose “Emergency Tuscany and Liguria.” With the cold weather of the winter months coming upon them, they are urgently trying to finalize repairs.
The funds raised will go to restore the beloved towns of Vernazza (see vernazza before and after) and Monterosso al Mare in Cinque Terre and also to support other towns in the area that sustained tremendous damage.
Here are some of my favorites from Cinque Terre, click the image to see them in the Cinque Terre gallery.
