Vernazza: A welcome site after a long hard hike from Monterosso in the Cinque Terre, Italy.
Alone now in the B&B in Lucca after a wild wonderful Italy Retreat for Women with 10 amazing women from around the country. First time we did not have someone from another country. I love the gathering of women who don’t all know each other, who laugh together and learn from one another. Always a chance to embrace possibilities.
We learned about gratitude and breaking free from beliefs that jam boulders in our lives. We focused on our ‘wants’. There’s something so powerful in the simplicity of learning to choose life and make the most of it. The willingness to make mistakes while finding our way, to fall down and bruise ourselves (some of us literally did), and then to laugh or cry some and get up and do it again. (In Italy, maybe eating a few gelati and pizzas in between the trying.) To be more of who we are, having intentions but not being attached to their outcome.
Each day a step to living outside our comfort zone, then a swim in the Mediterranean or a climb through the vineyards on the Cinque Terre trails. We can always grab inspiration from the Townspeople of Vernazza and Monterosso who have worked so very hard in their recovery.
The Vernazza Trails are open in the Cinque Terre except for the trail between Corniglia and Manarola. In the four years I have been there, it has not been open. Word is that it will not be fixed, and it is not from the October 2011 mudslide, but from old damage that cannot be repaired on the side of the mountain. There is, however, an upper trail that although more challenging, will connect Corniglia and Manarola, so that you can hike to all five of the Cinque Terre villages.
I am practicing managing my frustration at not being able to upload more of my photos on this post. It’s just not happening right now. But stay tuned!
Learn more about traveling to Italy on Lenora’s Italy Retreats For Women
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