As the last tourists leave, looking a little bewildered at the empty street and concerned at the menacing clouds that can only mean more rain, Vernazza goes into hibernation.
It doesn’t mean there is no one about, just locals and the ordinary shops that the permanent residents rely on. The touristy boutiques, the gelaterias and the trendier bars are closed for the winter but with a Venetian difference this time. The newly replaced doors of each premise now have the special anti-flood rails which are so prominent in Venice, and each have their own style barrier – from simple wood, to local stone or the more sophisticated ‘acquastop’ aluminium barrier as a total sealer.
One of the boutiques readapted their temporary artistic door used immediately after the flood of 2011. The boutique is at the narrow bottle neck leading into the main square and cove, so thought wisely to leave it over a 1m 50cm high!
Some of the restaurants are closed, and all have taken in their outdoor seating and put away their rainbow umbrellas until next season. So it’s 
easy now to garage the local fishing boats in the square, their stripy covers creating some gaiety against the grey.
A lone dingy starts to fill with the debris tossed up by waves, as the sea cleans out the sand and gives back what some careless tourists and non may have thrown overboard, or the wind may have stolen from the rubbish bins.
The massive sea swells shifted the sand on the “New Beach” in Vernazza to
reveal underneath the town doctor’s missing Toyota! From Save Vernazza facebook Photo album “Mareggiata November 2013″
Not that surprising when you think 140 cars were washed out to sea during the flood!
But don’t worry we will clean it up before you get back! It’s just Nature’s way of giving us a hand and perhaps a reminder to look after her better.
A lone fisherman zips up his jacket against the icy wind, who knows what he has been fishing for. And just when I think there is no life, the bar door opens and a blast of warmth blankets me and the hubbub and chatter are a welcoming call to go in and have a drink with the locals.
