Update from Piedmont Italy

July 2 – Saturday – We are up early due to a 9 am check-out time.  We are quite adept at packing and departing as we have been doing this basically on a weekly basis.  Having the Eagle Creek packing cubes allows us to not have to unpack, so getting ready for departure is a breeze.  We left the apartment and headed down to Chiavari for a morning cap as we had not had one yet today and to show M the Cathedral.  We parked at the usual lot where parking is free and it is near the Lido beach club as well as access to downtown.  As we get closer to the centre of town we notice that there are a few kiosks set up where traffic can normally travel.  As we enter the street we are surprised to see yet another street market – only today it is bigger than yesterday.  There are numerous merchants who have the Tuscana porketta speciality which appears to be a roasted pig which they are slicing up to sell by the kg as well as make paninis to sell for a morning snack or lunch. 

One vendor even had the roasted pig head on display – we figure someone would likely buy this before the morning was out.  We look around us with amazement and amusement.  The gazebo-covered tables went on and on, branching off in different directions depending on the configuration of the next street or piazza.  Today was a bit more upscale than yesterday with more things for M and J to browse at.

  Vendors ranged for deli vans, linens, kitchen gadgetry (similar to Tupperware/Rubbermaid), pet vendor complete with fish, birds, turtles, rabbits, frogs, lizards and snakes, men, kid, ladies attire and shoes and a host of other things and the place was swamped with locals tearing through the display bins.  Boy it must take some of these guys quite a while to pack up at the end of the morning!  These vendors must go from town to town conducting their business, an actual travelling department store – interesting way to make a living. 

We meandered our way through the crowds and vendors, purchasing a couple of things and then finally came upon the piazza with the Cathedral.  When we enter, mass is underway as this weekend is the Chiavari patron saint celebration.  We sit in the back and absorb the beauty.  M states, that indeed this area must have had some money centuries ago when this ornate church was built (and we have noticed many very large houses/palaces on BIG lots in the downtown area of this beautiful city) – more so than most this church shows the labour of love that true artisans provided to make such beautiful art to glorify the Lord - a feast for the eyes!  As we make our way back to the car, we stop at one of the deli trucks and purchase some porketta to have in a sandwich later on. 

Before heading out of this area, we decide to go to the large supermarket to get some groceries for the first couple of days as we don’t know what kind of facilities are in this next region.  We are heading north of here to a town called Terzo in the Piedmonte region of Italy.  The journey will take us about an hour and a half, through Genoa, and then northwest for a bit to arrive at a farmhouse we have rented for the week.  This region is near the Barolo area, known for its fabulous red wine and near a spa town called Acqui Terme – so we are looking forward to seeing what the next week brings. 

The drive is uneventful and easy in terms of dealing with traffic.  Once we leave Genoa and begin to head northwest, the landscape changes with hills and mountains covered with trees.  After we left the Autostrata, which leads up north to Milan and onward to other countries, the landscape changes again to rolling hills covered with trees and many more vineyards come into view.  It is beautiful and we do not come across big cities. 

We found our accommodation with little difficulty 

and unloaded the groceries.  The cleaning lady arrived and informed us that we weren’t supposed to be there until 5 PM.  So, we told her daughter (who spoke some English that we would leave and come back).  We drove back into Acqui Terme for a bite to eat and perhaps get some info on the area.  We found the place to go taste wine, found the local golf course, which we may try this week as well enjoyed watching the comings and goings on the main street, and of course a gelato. 

Once we arrive back at the farmhouse, we get dinner started, and admire the view of the valley below.  

We think we’re going to like it here.   The only drawback as in the last place we were at, there are some mosquitoes!  They really seem to have taken a shine to J.   

July 3, Sunday – We enjoyed a leisure morning enjoying the serenity of the countryside where we are staying.    Today is the day to go and walk around Acqui Terme and check out some of the sites.  It is here where there are thermal baths.  Within the main town site there is large marble structure in the Piazza della Bollente (boiling water) with a natural hot spring at a temperature of 75 C gushes out in the heart of the town.   

We all had a feel and agreed, just sticking the finger tip in was the wise choice.  We enjoyed walking around the centro with numerous narrow cobblestoned pedestrian-only roadways.  We have really come to appreciate this aspect in almost every town we have been in during our stay in Italy – it really adds to the atmosphere of the place.  The buildings are again ornate, may have to do with the thermal spas in the area, date back hundreds of years.  Maybe the rich came here for their summer getaways from the city.  The surrounding area certainly is beautiful.  There are many marble and bronze statues honoring past forefathers and important citizens, and beautiful marble fountains to admire amongst the flowers. 

and check out another wonderful church

Acqui Terme is in the midst of wine country.  As we travelled here on Saturday we admired the vineyards gracing the hillsides as we neared the town.  We went into the local enoteca (where you can taste local wines and local products are sold) and sampled three local wines.  It was a delightful wine cellar with several rooms showcasing wines from the region. After comparing the 3 grapes, we decided on the one liked best.  We priced it out, perhaps we’ll send some home.  We purchased a local white to bring home to try tonight.  We will come back on Tuesday with our decision if we want to ship some home.  It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

July 4 - Monday – It’s golfing day today.  While we drove back to our place yesterday, we came across a local golf course.  We had been talking about trying to find a place to golf and this place even has rental clubs – we confirmed when we had stopped in and asked yesterday. 

The course is 9 holes and not very busy.  We arrived at 10 only to find the pro shop/office closed.  When T asked if it was open today – the waitress at the “clubhouse” had no idea where the person who opens up.  A gentleman who obviously has a membership here, got on his cell and phoned “Giorgio” to see if we could play on the course  - “yes we could, and when you’re done you can pay for the round”… T chuckled to herself at this response.  T explained that we couldn’t play as we had to rent clubs, at this he replied, you can use mine to warm up if you want while you are waiting for the person to come.  T graciously declined, but thanked him anyways.  Don’t know too many guys who would do that. 

 M had forgotten his sneakers back at the house so he had gone back after realizing once we reached the course he had forgotten.  J’s response under his breath to T was “Now he remembers…..”  It’s so unlike him as when we golf at home – he has everything packed the night before in prep for the early morning tee times we usually have.  T and J both had a chuckle at M’s expense….

As promised, within 10 minutes of the Giorgio call, the manager’s daughter arrives and opens up.  She has to phone to find out where the rentals are.  Our guess, rentals aren’t requested here too often.  Anyways, once finally outfitted, we were off to play 9 holes.  The course isn’t in the shape we are used to, but hey, there are fairways, and we get to play!  Some good shots and a few not so good, but it was good to hit that little white ball again.

After the humid round of golf, we were ready for some refreshments back at the house.  On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up fixins for a like home meal of hamburgers and fries.  No bacon to be had – so we look for some prosciutto, a fine substitute, no cheddar, so we choose swiss, although J has some of his treasured Velvetta.  We are making our own burgers tonight as a previous occasion we bought some butcher made burgers that had some kind of cheese altering the taste – not to our preference.

We decided to go for a drive to explore some of the countryside around Terzo and Acqui Terme.  We head up the hill from the farmhouse to a small village, Montebone, surrounded by vineyards along the hillsides.  

Many of the plots are steep and we wonder how they are planted. 

We also see some fields planted with corn and grain, perhaps rice, but 90 % are grapes.  We take some narrow roads leading us past individual farms and onto some secondary roads leading us through small towns.  We even pass fields growing only sunflowers, neither M/T had seen so many sunflowers in one place – we’re talking acres of the things all facing the sun – a pretty sight.

 Dinner later that evening was delicious and all enjoyed the giant burgers that M had made – too big for J and T to finish.  There are some classic movie DVD’s here so we’ve chosen to watch a movie – a John Wayne classic – in black and white no less.  It was great to see James Stewart, Lee Marvin and John Wayne as young men – all three of us enjoyed it. M did not even realize who Lee Marvin was until after the movie was over, as M mentioned he had never seen Lee Marvin when he was that young.

July 5 - Tuesday – We are headed back to Acqui Terme this morning to pick up a few things as well as stop in at the enoteca.  Beside wine, the Piemonte region is known for porcini mushrooms.  Near here, in the Asti area, where Asti Spumante wines are made, truffles are also found.  We look forward to perhaps coming across some of these delicacies in a local shop.  We have been directed to seek out the shop Oliveri, the best place to buy porcini mushrooms. 

It’s market day in town, so parking spots are at a premium.  After we locate a spot, we are off to seek out Oliveri located along one of the pedestrian only streets.  We recalled from Sunday’s exploration where it was.  J seeks out the toy store he had seen to add yet another airplane to his collection.  He finds one to his liking and buys it.  Next stop, Oliveri, we step through the door and see with astonishment a bin filled with porcini mushrooms.  

Thousands of dollars worth if we were to have seen this at home! T buys a couple of bags of porcini as they will keep for a year and we really enjoy them.  We also pick up a small jar of truffle crema with a plan to use in a dish or two.  The cost of truffle products is expensive, but not nearly as much as at home.

There are many sales on here – so T finds a new bathing suit at M’s suggestion, and M finds a new one as well. In one of the piazzas, we come across the food vendors.  It is here we buy from the pesceria, fresh salmon steaks and from the macelleria, chicken breast and fresh eggs.  While T was talking to the woman at the macelleria, she was offered to try a roasted chicken leg – fabulous tasting and J certainly enjoyed finishing it off.  It is such fun to stop at these vendors and try conversing with them.  They do appreciate the business. We will surely miss this experience when we return back home.  We stop again at the enoteca and decide just to buy some wine for here, if we ship some home it may be from Barolo tomorrow.

It is yet another beautiful day here and we plan to take J to the local swimming pool, according to brochures, one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in Europe.  We navigate the roadways and locate a parking spot fairly close to the pool area and search for the entrance.  Upon entering J is ecstatic at the sight before him.  Two huge pools surrounded by lounge chairs, umbrellas, diving boards of various heights, mushrooms spouting watersprays, with plenty of room for all who were there to enjoy the place.  It was quite the set up.  We stayed several hours, J spent the majority of time going off the diving boards and practicing his diving techniques from poolside.  M and T were amazed at his desire to go off the 3 m board and 5 m platform (something M is quite sure he has never done).  T did go off the 3 m board but refused the platform, M had no desire to go off of either.  Our boy seems to have no fear of heights - oh the courage of the young.  

We enjoy another dinner at the house, and then watch another classic movie, about the cold war. The film was “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” with Richard Burton, also in black and white.

 July 6 – Wednesday – We are off to the Barolo today, about 70 km from where we are staying. Barolo is one of the two top red wines of Italy.  Of course we have had a few bottles since being here and hope to taste some others and perhaps send some home.   We need to head toward Asti and then slightly southwest.  The drive is very enjoyable and as we near Asti/Alba area we pretty much see endless fields of grapes.  

We thought there were a lot of grapes in Sicily- that was nothing compared to the endless fields here interspersed with the largest homes we have seen in Italy (other than the Chiavari palaces). We figure that likely a number of these places housed families and their workers and may still when harvest time approaches. We have noticed many more single-family dwellings than anywhere else we have been in Italy so far. In southeast Italy, Puglia we saw thousands of olive trees, well here it’s the vineyards.

            Arriving into the village of Barolo, perched atop a hill in the Asti region, brings us into another quaint village with cobbled roads and beautiful old buildings.  We are headed to the Castello di Barolo, with an enoteca, where we will be able to sample some Barolo wines and hopefully purchase some to have sent home.  

We were able to sample three Barolo wines from the three different types of soils they have in this region - sandy, clay and a combination of the two.  We learned about this wine region from one of the employees who explained the ins and outs of the cooperatives, how the soil renders the difference in the wines and which years were the best vintages [although he says that the vintners are never satisfied and always have something to complain about and try to outdo the next year]. While tasting M noticed that we should have a cellar like this at home - 'negotiations' with T are underway.  

We found that we couldn't buy wine to send home at this venue nor could he recommend a winery as his job is to represent the whole region.  He did give us a map and drew the soil boundaries of the area - this helped us to locate wineries we preferred the clay and clay/sand combination wines.  While we were trying to select a couple of bottles to buy to enjoy while in the area, M began to talk to three people, one of which owns a B&B in the area.  M asked him if he knew where we could find a winery that would ship internationally.  Luck would have it that this gentleman [who is actually a US citizen] does ship wine internationally and can get wines which M wants.  Mission accomplished!  With business card in hand, we left this beautiful old wine cellar with a couple of bottles to enjoy and a contact to send wine home for us.  We stopped in a little restaurant for lunch and then went on our merry way to continue exploring more of the area.

             We continued further up the valley to see another town 

and catch an even more spectacular view of vineyards as far as the eye could see in every direction.  

We decided to venture south and then east to head back to Terzo where our place is.  It wasn't long until the landscape changed and the crops changed as well.  There are so many little settlements and towns along the way - it was an enjoyable afternoon.    In this area we've enjoyed the openness of the land, all the towns have at least one church with a bell tower.  Many of these churches date back hundreds of years.  There are also many castles and towers still standing, some publicly owned and some still within the family for several hundred years - pretty cool.  The history/age of the buildings is quite astounding as compared to anything at home. 

July 7 – Thursday - We found a field where we can play some baseball today - actually its a farmer's field across the road from where we are staying and its just been been cut and baled.  We decide to use one of the round bales for a backstop. The bale worked wonderfully as a backstop for M to aim his pitches and keep the ball from rolling away.  J managed to hit a few homers and we all enjoyed the exercise - good thing there was a breeze! M and J are reading “The Hobbit” together, so they spent some time reading it while sitting in the shade on the covered terrace.  We head for the swimming pool again today.  J has decided to practice his diving skills to see if he can dive off the low diving board.  He told M and T that he decided he had to have 15 good dives off the small board before he tried to dive off the 3 m board.   Proud as punch and with the quality of his dives much improved, he climbed the ladder of the 3 m and dove off.  

M and T were really impressed with his determination and success. 

We decided to go out for dinner tonight to for dinner to the restaurant La Sosta in the town Montebone, 6 km up hill from Terzo (T had read about this recommendation by the owner of our accommodation).  We arrived at this little hilltop village and parked on the road leading to the entrance of the arched portico. We arrived at 7:30, and easily found the restaurant.  After asking a young girl what time the restaurant opened, not until 8, we wandered around.

It was a pretty little village with cobbled streets and old stone buildings beautifully kept. 

The gardens were ablaze with flowers and being a village surrounding vineyards, there are small wine barrel flowerpots.  There were statutes illustrating the history of the area. As well we had a wonderful view of the valleys below.

It was not hard to pass the half hour we needed to wait to enter the restaurant.  This restaurant was surprising big for such a small village, but as the night went on, we understood.  This was a family run place with the husband being the host and his wife was the chef.  They had a couple of other ladies who helped serve.  The menu stated for 30 Euro ($42 Can) we had 4 different appetizer dishes, a pasta dish, a meat dish and dessert, our host even included some wine.  This was without question the BEST meal we have had dining out so far in Italy!  It was a wonderful experience of the typical Italian set menu evening, and we highly recommend this restaurant to anyone that gets a chance to go there.

While dining there we asked the owner why there were so many big homes in this area versus other parts of Italy.  He explained that the area has always been somewhat affluent.  As well, this area was a strategic position for protecting the sovereigns in Turin area, so some aristocrats were set in the area to help protect the landholdings. 

July 8 – Friday – Our last day in Terzo and we want to check out a few things.  First, it’s market day in the piazzas and we want to go back and buy some stuffed chicken thighs for tonight’s dinner.  We picked up a couple more bags of porcini mushrooms and found a pasta shop selling freshly made pasta – we bought spinach and ricotta ravioli.  T decided to check out a shoe store and picked up a couple of pairs of Italian made sandals to send back home. 

We went in search of bike rental shops, however, being Italy, and after 12:30 it was siesta time! Not to reopen until 3:30 – so we dropped that idea.  Our next stop was to the thermal pools at hotel Regina.  This was the only place where kids under 15 are allowed.  Unfortunately we find once we have arrived that the swimming pool is closed due to renovations.  We went across the road to another spa, only to find that children under 15 were not allowed due to the temperature of their thermal pools could interfere in growth.  So, we have struck out again.  Oh well, we’ll go back later to the swimming pool which we had already been to this week and enjoy the sunshine and water.  M decided that he is going to go with J off of the diving boards.  Conquering his fear of heights, he jumps off the 3m board a couple of times to prepare.  Next it is onto the 5m board.  J tells his dad that it’s all clear to go and M with eyes straight ahead jumps.  M says it’s a good thing J looked down, because if he had, he would never have jumped.  This was the first time ever that M had jumped from either height! 

After another wonderful dinner with the fresh pasta with fresh pesto and the chicken from the market, over a fine bottle of Barbera, we watch another old movie although this one was in color.  A WW2 movie with Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, Michael Caine, and Larry Hagman – again all young compared to what they look like now.

Update from Lavagna - Liguria, Italy

Sunday June 26 – Day 2 in Lavagna – which for those of you phonetically inclined – rhymes with lasagna. It was a lazy day today – AMT and S got some extra sleep to counter jet lag, we sketched out what we wanted to do for the week and just enjoyed the surroundings.  It was another hot day around 30 with clear blue sky.  AMT and T went for a walk to explore the neighborhood. Along the way AMT pointed out all the flowers and shrubs that she has at her place in Phoenix.  There are some wonderful views of the valley below us. 

In the afternoon we decide to check out the beach area of Chiavari, the town right next to us.  With the rental of this apartment, we have access to one of those private beach clubs we’ve talked about, complete with umbrella and chairs to lounge in.  This beach club was quite the set up.  Once we found it (because there are 4 side by side), we checked into reception.  Here we were led to our reserved umbrella.  It had “sidewalks” set out so that you didn’t have to walk on the hot sand, water misters and places to wash off the sand and salt after being in the water, change cabanas and a refreshment area.  Also, it had a pool with waterslides and lifeguards at both sea and pool, playground stuff, and beach volleyball court. 

We spent a few hours there, J had a great time as usual.

Once we returned to the apartment, dinner was made and we enjoyed the evening breeze on the deck under a gazebo.  The sunset was beautiful 

and later we were even treated to a fireworks display as it was the close of the feast of St. John the Baptist.  Later, T, J and M watched Castaway – until past midnight.  J was pretty tired but stuck it out and finished the movie.  T and M had forgotten how long this movie was!

Monday, June 27 – We decided that we should head to Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower.   It took about 1.5 hours to get there – we find a parking spot close to its location and onward we go.  We enter the wall-enclosed village via the arched portico, walk about 50 feet, turned the corner and there it was in all its glory.  M was leading our group, rounded the corner and called out ”found it!” 

 It is another hot, beautiful clear blue-sky day.  What a beautiful sight – the white marble monuments surrounded by expanses of green– majestic.  The tower, built in 1173, is actually the bell tower belonging to the cathedral. 

The religious monuments are located on the Piazza dei Miracoli (Miracle Square).  The place is extremely busy with tourists just like us.  It is quite an expansive area making it seem not quite as crowded.  We needed to buy tickets to enter any of the monuments.  We didn’t go up the tower as the available time slot to go up was 5 hours away and we weren’t waiting around for that. 

The Cathedral and Baptistery were beautifully adorned and a treat to walk through.  The intricate work of the marble made us wonder – how much time it took to carve just a pillar or arch, let alone the entire facades.  The workmanship is breathtaking. 

While in one of the museums we were able to see a visual presentation of the restoration of the tower.  The film said the tower suffered from a “mysterious disease” which plagued the tower for about 800 years until the late 1990’s when it was finally adequately strengthened to prevent the collapse of this famous landmark.  The tower was apparently built upon marine sedimentary soil.  It was very informative and had us check out some of the things that they added to strengthen the tower.

Everyone enjoyed seeing the site that held more than just the tower. One of the buildings in the cathedral square of Pisa was an enclosed cemetery that has many late academia including the mathematician Fibonacci. It was a great road trip and we checked off another place off of our “gotta see while we are in Italy” list.

            June 28, Tuesday- It’s train trip day for the girls to Florence, a 2.5-hour train journey from Chiavari, the town next to Lavagna.  The boys are staying behind for a boy’s day (knowing that we will be going to Florence again when we are in Tuscany in September) while the girls go explore.  AMT and S would like to go to the see the main museum in Florence, which houses collections of masterpieces from artists long ago.  We arrive in Florence and find our way out of the station to across the street where there is an information centre.  We get ourselves a map armed with some useful information and we’re off to explore Florence by foot.   The first street taken led us past one of Florence’s “Rodeo Drive Streets”,  where on either side of the street designer stores occupy the street level of former day piazzas (big palacial homes).  We did stop and gaze into a few shoe stores – even taking a picture of gold sequined shoes at a cool 3300 Euro (approx 5000 Can.) can’t get our heads around spending that amount for a pair of shoes.  The streets are fairly narrow, parking is at a premium and certain parts of the old city are off limits to cars.  The buildings are quite ornate, but quite monochromatic, mostly along the brown tones.  Pastels are not evident down in this area.  

We decided to venture to the furthest place we wanted to visit first and then make our way back toward the station.

First stop, the Forte Belvedere overlooking the city.  We had to huff it quite a ways up hill to reach this venue.  We arrived at the top and encountered an American tourist who directed them to the entrance.  When they arrived at the entrance, we found that the place was closed to the public and wouldn’t be open til fall.  The girls were not impressed that the tourist didn’t tell us – they grumbled a bit, “why didn’t he tell us….” and decided that they didn’t want to pay any money to walk around gardens.  So, we turned about and headed for their next target – the Uffizi Gallery – that is reported to have incredible works of art from the masters.  We retraced their steps and crossed the river and found their destination. 

As we rounded the corner, we were aghast at the number of people who were standing in line awaiting entrance… oh this wasn’t looking good, 0 for 2 so far…. After contemplation and consultation, we decided to see if tickets could be purchased for Thursday, as AMT and S were willing to return to Florence another day if everything could not been seen in the one day.  After checking with a couple of places/people, they found that indeed the girls could get tickets for Thursday. With Thursday tickets in hand to enter between 11 and 11:15, we were off to explore one of “the sights to see in Florence”.   We thought about going into the main cathedral, but again, the line up to get inside was very long, so we opted for the Basilica di Santa Croce.  The church is very ornate and filled with memorials and tombs of some famous Italians such as Dante, Michaelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo Galilei (we didn’t know he went by two names) as well as a bunch of other wealthy Florentines were buried – it would seem that it was the church to be have your remains placed. 

Although, according to the audioguide, Michaelangelo had a desire to be buried in Rome, but others chose to ignore his request.  In this church as with others we have come across, there are tombstones within the floor, according to the info provided, the Franciscans felt that this was appropriate as we are returned to earth and so it was fine that the markers would be walked upon.  All three of us enjoyed touring the beautiful church with its works by artists such as Donatello and Boticelli.  Not only is it a house of worship, but it’s a collection of some incredible art.  The girls wandered around through the street markets and tried to find some bits of shade to cool us from the “stinking hot” sun (as AMT put it).   The day was enjoyable, but we had had it by 4:30 and headed back to the train station.  So we boarded our train early which in hind sight was a good thing as nearing to departure time, the train filled to standing room only – we were pleased to have comfy seats with some air conditioning. 

            As for the boys, M and J start the day with a super breakfast, sausage and eggs for M and sausage and grilled cheese for J. Then it’s off to do our errands. We are on a quest to see if we can find a Macbook Air, so we can send our old Macbook home and drop about 5 lbs of weight. We are successful right away, and find a few other items we need to boot. Then we are off to the grocery store to buy our dinner for tonight, as J says it will be fun to cook together. Again we are successful, finding filets of orata (a local white fish we have both had in restaurants), some cheese filled ravioli, and a fresh buffalo mozzarella. Back at the apartment we decide to watch Forest Gump, a movie where J noticed that Forest seemed to do a lot of things in his life: like become a football hero, a war hero, shake hands with two presidents, go to China to represent the US, become rich with his shrimp boat company, run across the US 4 times non-stop, etc (J wondered out-loud if all that was true)? Next we grab a small lunch and then head to the beach for a couple of hours of playing in the waves. We jointly make a super dinner, and get cleaned up in time to pick up the girls at the train station. Once back at the apartment, we are share about our day on the patio, while the adults savor a nice French Bordeaux.

            June 29 – Wednesday  While T was working on the blog, M comments on how the weather is going to cool-off next week – going from 31 down to 28 …  we all had a chuckle at that comment as our friends in Calgary have been suffering from a real lousy spring and are hoping for this kind of weather for more than a 3 day stint. 

M, T, and AMT decided to walk down to Chiavari, larger and across the river from Lavagna.  The 45 minute walk took us down the windy hill, along the tree-lined riverside walk seeing loads of fish (no idea what kind or whether people can fish here) and into town.  There are about 28000 people who live in this seaside town with numerous beautiful buildings, fashioned after Genovese palaces of early years.  They are about 4-5 stories high, with ornate wrought-iron balconies and and beautiful facades.  We are pleased with the layout and variety of places to see and locate a place to have a cappuccino and chat.  We locate a kitchen shop in which we each purchase glass lemon squeezers (AMT expounded on its numerous attributes so T thought she should buy one too as the glass ones are not available at home).  With fresh bread in hand, we head back to the apartment.  By the time we arrive home, we are all overheated and ready for a beer!

It’s another hot day with plenty of humidity. AMT, T and S decide to walk back down to the town in search of new sandals for Sydney.  M has agreed to pick them up by the train station at 6, so the girls are on a mission with a deadline.  No shortage of shoe stores in this town – it leaves no doubt in T’s mind that there is a love for shoes and handbags by the Italian woman!  Can’t blame them, there are some beautiful choices here.  The girls found a pair at the last store they looked in and had 15 minutes to spare – its time to get to the train station.  Meanwhile M and J enjoyed watching the first Fantastic Four movie, and just hang out. After another meal enjoyed on the patio, AMT and S prepared for their trip back to Florence and the others just kicked back.

June 30 – Thursday  While AMT and S went back to Florence to go to the Uffizi Gallery, M, T, and J kicked back and enjoyed a leisure morning around the apartment.  Our landlord here has lent us a printer plus we have Internet access, so we use these fully and get printouts for all the places we have booked from now through then end of September, these will be very helpful. Again it’s another hot day, so we went down to the Lido beach club in the afternoon.  T went off in search of a hair salon, while the boys went to play in the waves.  The waves are very big today; there are even some surfers out – which surprised us.  The beach had lifeguards who were on high alert due to the wave action.  It wasn’t breezy at the beach, but the water relayed a different story.  M found that after about 30 min. he had had enough of getting pounded, even though J had taken the time to explain various techniques for dealing with the different types of waves.  Once T returned with a thinner and shorter hairdo, she took over keeping an eye on J as he played in the waves. 

            A great couple of hours at the beach, we returned home for dinner and then pick up the girls from the train station.  They had a good time in Florence, told us all about the museum, but were tired from their outing, so they packed up for their flight to London tomorrow and called it a night. We enjoyed the patio again before heading off to bed.

July 1 – Friday Happy Canada Day everyone!  We are up early and preparing for departure.  AMT and S are leaving today – we will be taking them to the airport in Genoa for their London departure.  Piercarlo who owns this place told us on Wednesday that there is a big market in town today, so we are going to go have a look before we take the girls to the airport.  Everyone does some cleaning up and then we pack the girls stuff into the car and we head downtown. 

We wander through some of the streets in search of something to eat for J and S.  Once this is accomplished, it’s market time.  T sees a narrow roadway with some tables set up.  This leads to other roadways which branch off form the first one found into several series of tables filled with AMT’s quote “Italy’s version of a dollar/cheap clothing store”.  J was not impressed “it’s 96% ladies and the other is for men and kids!”  M says “get used to it, that’s the way it is”.  J is still not impressed. There must have easily been over 70 tables, and we were sure we did not see the whole market.  We wanted to check out the Cathedral in the town, a few blocks from where we are.  We had stopped in the other day and AMT and T wanted to have a closer look.  With proper attire, we enter the church and gaze around in amazement.  This is the most ornate church we have seen! 

The incredible intricate marble statutes, pillars and altars is astounding.  The ceilings are gorgeous.  T and J say, we have to bring back dad (who had left us to retrieve the vehicle) to see this place, he’ll really appreciate it.

We left Chiavari with plenty of time and an easy drive to Genoa.  We say our goodbyes to the girls and thank them for coming to visit, we head back to find a place in Chiavari for lunch. Next we get ready for the beach and head to the Lido club. M decides he will just enjoy the shade under the umbrella and have a nap, so J and T head to the water and T even decides to go in and play in the waves today. As usual J can outlast either of his parents and stays in the water for his typical 2 hours (and that is as usual ended when his parents remind him its time to come in).  We get back to the apartment and T makes one of the meals we have really come to enjoy, pancetta cream sauce pasta – yummy! We get on Skype and call Calgary to talk with Sue, Julliette, and Mathieu (who will be joining us in 2 weeks), and then call Granma. It’s a great way to end the day.

Update from Cinque Terre Italy

June 18, Saturday- Au revoir French Riviera et Ciao Italia!  But before we depart M wants to go to a grocery store to pick up some nice French wines…  how unlike him!!!  This was an adventure unto itself as Navi seemed a little confused, but we finally do manage to find the right streets to get to where he wants to go.

We thought about the last few days in Monaco and Nice – nice to do a quick visit to and see the beautiful architecture – T really loved looking at all the wonderfully ornate buildings with their wrought iron balconies.  J is too young to really appreciate it, later he likely will.  We enjoyed the sunshine and atmosphere, although we were disappointed with the food in Nice, we think it’s because we stayed in Old Nice, which seems over-run with tourists, so we only found restaurants that seemed were more concerned with feeding as many people as possible rather than quality.  Like most places, you often have to avoid the tourist district to really enjoy quality food.  Oh well, it was a cool stop and now we’re going back to Italy!

We are on route to the area of Cinque Terre on the coast south of Genoa (Genova on the maps).  We still wonder why somewhere along the line - the English names were changed for cities and countries - from their actual name.  The Italian names are so much more romantic!  Firenze, Roma, Milano, Napoli etc…  Our drive to Cinque Terre takes us along the coast of Italy past the Italian Riviera towns where cruise ships stop – San Remo, Savona, and Genoa.  Once past Genoa, we travel inland until our exit to take us past the coast town of La Spezia – a naval base town, the big centre before entering the Cinque Terre National Park.  We marveled at the number of tunnels we drove through during only a 4 hour trip – more than 100 tunnels, many more than 1 km long. Riomaggiore is the southern most town of the 5 villages that make up the Cinque Terre national park that is also a UNESCO site.   It has been designated a national park because of the landscape and terracing that occurred long ago which the local men and women toiled to claim for growing food (similar to the Amalfi Coast only steeper).

We arrive in Riomaggiore to find that there are basically only a few streets.  The main street down into the center of town is narrow and steep.  Apartment buildings and shops are built side by side, most often connected and stacked behind each other as they clamber up the hillsides. There is the occasional steep narrow staircase to lead up to the next level.   

T’s first impression was – how cool is this – this is somewhere totally different than anywhere else we have been.  Our apartment is situated in the town site.  Our Iphone is out of power (forgot to charge it as we hadn’t been using it out of Italy), so we can’t phone the lady who has the key to the place.  We luckily come across a parking spot along the road down into the village and M and J venture out to find the apartment while T stays behind in the vehicle charging up the phone. 

With the help of a few kind Italian ladies, M is able to get a hold of the woman who owns the apartment and her friend comes down to meet us.  He returns to get the car and we only have 20 minutes to unload the vehicle within the town, as the street is narrow and not designed for much traffic.  Maurizio takes T up to the apartment which is up two flights of steep, narrow marble stairs, through an opening in a concrete wall and then up a couple of more flights to our apartment.  We are pleased to see that it has air conditioning, a large bedroom, bath, and kitchen with 2 burners (no oven) and decent sized living room with a sofa bed for J.  The haul of the luggage up the narrow steps was workout enough for T for the day!  All 3 of us are pleased with the location.  We are in going to be right within this small little town – should be cool.  M and Maurizio go to find a parking spot up on a road higher above the town. 

We walk down into the village about 150 feet and find a small grocery store where we pick up groceries to make dinner.  We are really looking forward to cooking our own meals for the next while.  There is a small butcher shop here as well, where we go to purchase chicken breasts, which on our request the butcher trimmed the breasts, sliced and pounded into scallopine.  We have come to enjoy shopping in the towns we stay in and experience that small business atmosphere and great service.  J has also gotten into enjoying the trips to the supermarcatos. 

After dinner, T decided to visit the local laundromat. After filling the machine, she went outside to sit on the concrete bench provided for locals/tourists to enjoy and people watch.   It was lots of fun just watching all the people wonder by, hearing a group of Italian ladies sitting on a doorstep gossiping, the men were not in sight.  It’s Saturday night and the place is hopping.  The entire main street within the village is one consecutive hill down to the water edge.  The train station and ferry wharf is located at the bottom of the hill which is how most people arrive to this village.  There were numerous people who struggled up the street toting their luggage looking for their room. They were likely thinking “when will this hill ever end?” - the answer - not until you are at the end of the village.  It’s an awesome way to soak up the village atmosphere.

June 19, Sunday – Today we are going to explore the village.  It is sunny by the water, but the mountainside behind the village is catching clouds. 

We go for a walk to locate the car – it is through narrow staircases, pedestrian only alleyways, past a 13^th century castle offering us a great view of the water as well as town.    We enjoyed looking at the pastel buildings and marvel at beautiful flowers and terraced gardens.  We located the car – M looked at it and realized he left the windows wide open overnight.  Fortunately, for us, nothing was missing!  It was parked in an out of the way place with little traffic.  We walk down into the village, check out the train station, get a map of the national park. The wind is up today, so the waves are crashing against the breakwater and creating some spectacular splashes which we enjoy and photograph. 

We find a couple of other little grocery shops where we pick up a few other things we want for dinner.  We come across fresh Genovese pesto, one of the specialties of this Ligurian region, which we are very pleased to see and J is really happy as he loves to have this on his pasta.  We remind him that he can’t have this everyday otherwise he’ll tire of it and won’t want it anymore – and we can’t have that!

             Later in the afternoon, T goes for a walk to explore the roadways while M and J hang out for a while at the apartment.  We meet up at the local Bar Centrale, the stop to enjoy a gelato, cappuccino, cocktail or food.  We get engaged in conversation with a woman and her two grown daughters who are here from Southern California and enjoy our chat immensely.  It is nice to chat with others!  We end the day with another greta home cooked meal and then watch sports on English language TV.

            June 20, Monday – It’s getting caught up on the internet day today - M spends time getting the blog ready as well as getting together files which have our travel info for the next couple of months.  We do not always have internet service which tends to be a drag at times.  Sometimes the thought of “what did people do before the internet?” enters my mind, says T.  Again we walk around the village and decide to go into La Spezia to find a WIND store as we can’t get the Iphone to hook up to the net.  Also, we need to fuel up the vehicle as we will be going into Genoa later this week and there are no fuel stations here.  After 40 minutes in the store, we think the problem is solved, if not, we will be tack tomorrow.  Gelato is in order for J as he has been very patient.  We come across a big supermarket where go in for a gelato treat and find some groceries for the rest of the week.  Here the selection is much greater and the prices lower. 

            With errands accomplished – M learned how to deal with self-serve gas stations which are different here than in N.A. as some take cash not credit cards – we are happy.  It’s back to Riomaggiorre , a 10 km drive toward the Cinque Terre coastline.  After dinner, we head down to the water via a new way which takes us through the only flat playing surface we have come across here.  It is lined with little bikes with training wheels and there is a sign stating no soccer playing.  This gets us wondering where do older children play around here?  It is very different than what we are used to in N.A.    Off of this play area, M and T followed J down a narrow stairway coming out at the harbor right next to a table at one of the local restaurants.  We had no idea it came out here – it was a cool walkway though.  M thought he should apologize to the couple sitting at the table dining.  J wanted to go down and sit on the rocks, which we did and enjoyed watching the sunset with many other people doing the same. 

           

June 21, Tuesday – We enjoy a late breakfast after J’s sleep in and a workout.  We are going to the next town of Cinque Terre, Manarola. 

The village is reached by foot, along the walkway Via Dell’Amore, which is perched on the mountainside; it is just under 1 km.  To help offset the environmental footprint of tourists, park passes are offered at an affordable price to get people around the park without people travelling by car (hiking and train).  There are numerous paths offering hikers variety.  The length of the park is 9 km from the Monterosso at the north to Riomaggiore.   We purchase a two-day park pass, which allows us to ride the train between the 5 towns as well as walk on the mountainside - hugging pathways offering beautiful vistas on the gorgeous seascape – the Mediterranean.  

Via Dell’Amore is famed as a lover’s stroll.  As we walk along we see all kinds of locks – which couples left attached to fencing to signify their commitment to one another.  

J thought we should get a lock too – M said that’s what our wedding rings were for…  The walk along the path is hot  (about 33 C today) yet we do enjoy the beautiful views.  The walkway is fairly busy.  Apparently the weekends on the paths are busy – we can believe this because our village is certainly quieter than on Sat. and Sun. 

            As we arrive in Manarola we come across an art gallery where we find a pastel picture which all three of really like and reminds us of the village we are staying in.  We decide to buy it and arrange to have it shipped back to Calgary.  Now we are going to explore this fishing village.  Manarola is once again, like Riomaggiore, perched in between the confluence of two hillsides.  However, this village is built on one side of the narrow valley while the other hill is terraced.  

Again the buildings are pastel colored and are apartment buildings perched upon the hillside again appearing stacked.  We do enjoy walking through a couple of narrow shaded walkways.  This village goes higher up the hillside away from the harbor. We walk down the main street to the harbor, passing a number of tourist shops and restaurants.  We arrive at the water, a different harbor setup than our village.  There is no beach, only some flat rocks which people are lying on and using to jump into the water. 

There is a portion of the water quite protected behind numerous rocks keeping out the waves – here we see a number of children playing in the water.  J looks at the water longingly.  We decide that we would head back to our village as there is a typical rock-beach (where there is no sand just many stones), but it’s shallow enough that he could walk in from the shore. 

            Once back at the village, we walk along the pathway to the rock beach. The beach is very busy and lots of people lounge on towels even though it’s a rocked beach.  We had packed our bathing suits, so like many others, we change behind a towel and head for the water.  Now, walking across a rock beach bare foot is a challenge and something none of us enjoy.  It must be quite amusing to the beach lounger watching three soft-footed Canucks hobble over the rocks!  We finally get to the water and feel relief to be in the refreshing water.  M chuckles as he comes across a rock in the water where he can sit about chest deep, battle the waves, and enjoy the sea.  J has a pair of goggles and uses to dive looking for fish and trying to catch one.  He saw about 10 different kinds of fish in wonderful colors but he lamented that they were just too quick for him!  What a way to spend the rest of the afternoon!  Another great meal cooked with local foods here in our apartment.  Tonight we decide to just hang in the apartment and M reads Jonathon Livingstone Seagull to J – a great tale!

June 22, Wednesday – We have our typical morning – wake, dress head down to Bar Centrale for a couple of wonderful cappuccinos and say hello to the local owners and enjoy the village happenings, work out, have breakfast and then get ready to go out for the day.  We are taking the train to the last town of Cinque Terre , Monterosso as it has the largest beach in the national park and J wants an actual beach day. 

            We head to the train station which overlooks the water and board the train that is heading in the direction we want to go in.  It speeds past a couple of the villages within the park and T and J wonder “did we get on the wrong train?”  M tells them to relax, if it doesn’t we’ll just catch a train heading back.  But alas, it does indeed stop at our desired destination – so we have no worries.

            We head straight for the beach and try to locate a piece of beach not occupied by a body, yet that is not in a part of the beach where you have to pay to have a spot.  We do indeed find an area, drop our stuff and J + T head for the water.  This beach is not sand, but tiny pebbles, so both wear sandals when they enter the water – wonderful and refreshing.  It is in the mid 30’s today with no breeze, M is bathed in sweat as he awaits his turn for the water, he is looking after our stuff.  M enjoyed his turn immensely while T baked on the shore.  Finally they switched and to M’s amazement T actually got her hair wet.  This is a rare occurrence…  Finally with bodies thoroughly roasted and toasted, we head off to a restaurant to lunch with a view of the beach, and enjoy the slight breeze.

            While at the little terrace restaurant, M had a great chat with some Jewish people who had brought their own smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and bread to sit at this restaurant table.  M was scouring the menu for smoked salmon and he became perplexed when he couldn’t find it ….  The lady leaned over and whispered “we brought our own”  “We’ll share some with you but you’ll have to join the Jews”.   He hesitated on this and her reply was “Oh, he’s thinking about it…”  They all laughed and then one of the ladies prepared a slice of bead with on the fixin’s .  He thoroughly enjoyed and then proceeded to have a conversation on travelling to Israel, which we want to do later on.  We walked around this village a bit, which is the largest of the 5 villages, much more developed and the busiest.  Once we see all the people, we are so glad we are not staying here. 

June 23, Thursday – J wants to go kayaking with M today.  T wants to check out Venazza, which is the town next to Monterosso.  So, they decide to have lunch near the harbor of our town today and then split up.  Lunch was about trying the local cuisine, which differs from other parts of Italy.  While we were waiting for a table, a woman who was sitting by herself at a table for 4, invited us to join her.  She is Irish, and was in Cinque Terre with some friends and comes every year, so she knew the restaurant was good. We had a great lunch and a delightful hour of conversation her.

The boys rented a kayak and T went off on her own via train to Vernazza.  Both enjoyed their time.  M and J spent time at the beach after kayaking and T walked around the village to check the place out.  There was an area where people could swim using a beach entrance.  As with the other villages, there were all kinds of pastel colored apartment buildings lined along the main road of the village, heading down to the water.  It was the second largest of the villages.

Having talked to some ladies who were well versed in “Rick Steeves Cinque Terre recommendations” Bar Centrale is THE place to go for mojitos.  So after dinner, M and T decide to find out for themselves if indeed this was true and after tasting them – we whole-heartedly approved, and J had a gelato.  M enjoyed his mojito so quickly and so much, that he had a second!  We definitely have to take AMT here tomorrow night.

June 24, Friday – We are up early today – 7am – which is the earliest T has gotten up since, she can’t even remember. Today we are driving to Genoa (Genova) to pick up Anne Marie and Sydney Toutant, from Calgary who are here to visit for 6 days.  The trip to Genoa takes under 2 hours.  We decide to go early so we can check out the Genoa Aquarium.  All three of us enjoyed the morning looking at the displays and colorful marine life. It was a great way to spend a few hours and learn a few things along the way.

After a quick lunch we were on our way to the airport.  The flight was early.  M quickly scrambled to write on a napkin, TOUTANT, so he could be like one of the limo/tour guides waiting to pick up customers – that was good for a chuckle. 

            Bags loaded in the station wagon, we were set for the drive back to Riomaggiore.  J had been so excited “to have someone else to have a conversation with other than my parents”.  We chatted along the way exchanging stories – the girls weren’t too jet lagged, which was great.  Once back in Rio, we weren’t allowed to bring the car down into the village due it being a holiday (and perhaps a language barrier difference between M and the traffic cop…) so T hopped out with Anne Marie and Sydney and led them to the apartment while M and J went to the other part of town our parking spot (that we got as part of the apartment). Anne Marie and Sydney had a good laugh when they saw the 3 flights of stairs complete with 3 90-degree turns and through a little doorway to find the apartment – truly typical small seaside village Italy. 

Once inside – AMT unpacked the two things we requested to be brought over from Canada – 1 roll of Duct Tape and a package of Velveeta Cheese slices for J.  Oh happy day!

            We had planned to take the ferry from Riomaggoire to Monterosso with them so they could get a look at the Cinque Terre area (and we could see it from the sea which gives a different perspective than from the walkway).  Sydney, who wanted to catch some rays, as the weather in Calgary has been terrible this spring, and J headed to the beach for a couple of hours. 

M, T and AMT walked slowly through the village, checking out a couple of shops, and then arranging for ferry and return train tickets.  As ferry departure time approached, we headed to the beach to collect Sydney and J.  The wind was up some, so, the water was a bit choppy.  It made for boarding the boat, somewhat tricky.  Everyone enjoyed the view and all survived the waves.  

Once we reached Monterosso, and gelato in hand, we headed to the train station to catch the next train back. We had to wait a while for it to arrive. 

            We had a reservation for dinner at the little place near the harbor where we had lunch yesterday.  We were late for the reservation by 15 min. but our table was still held, and we were seated at the table closest to the water.  A celebratory clinking of glasses and a good meal was a good way to welcome our friends.  After dinner, we took AMT and S up the staircase and walkway which J had led us on the other night to give them a flavour of the village.  As were we, our guests were amazed at the narrowness, and closeness of the buildings “this is cool” was said a few times.

            We had to make one more stop – Bar Centrale for mojitos, and of course a gelato for J.  We were not disappointed in our cocktails and enjoyed the busy atmosphere tonight as it was the patron saint feast day today and the narrow village road was lined on either side with flower petals – we knew something was going to be happening.  Sure enough, just after we returned to the apartment we heard singing and music. .  AMT, M and T scurried out of the apartment to see what was up.   There was a large procession with banners, crucifix, picture of Our Lady, priest, and many people carrying candles and a band.  With the amount of people in the procession, it seemed that most of the townfolk must have been taking part.

June 25, Saturday – Today we need to checkout by 10.  Everyone was ready to leave on time.  M and AMT went to get the car located across the village – that way she could go for a walk along some of the walkways to get a view of the village and sea – she enjoyed that.  Everyone lugged their bags down the numerous flights of steps and stacked them and awaited the arrival of our chariot.    This morning was a busy time on the street with all the delivery trucks and various tourists, having no idea the road is a dead end.  M wisely decides to wait up the hill about 100 ft so the four of us scurry up the hill lugging bags behind us to get the car out of the busy spot.  Even though M carefully planned the packing process, not all bags fit into the back.  The three in the back had to have a couple of bags on their lap – they were ok with this. 

Check-in to our next place isn’t until 3:30 so we decided to go check out Porto Venere, a coastal village south of Riomaggiore.  The drive took us about 30 minutes inland to La Spezia and then along the coastal road to Porto Venere.  When we purchased our pastel the other day, the woman in the gallery had said to check it out as it was much quainter and much less resort-like than Portofino “you’ll love it”.  All of us were very pleased with this beautiful coastal town.  We knew that parking would be at a premium, so we took one of the first we could find. This left us with about a 10 minute walk to the centre of the little town.  It was already very warm out but we all enjoyed the feel of the breeze as we walked along the road above the harbor.  As we near the centre of the town, we noticed a castle overlooking the harbor. 

We were all into checking the place out, so we walked over toward an arched portico.  To our surprise it lead into a narrow alleyway between pastel apartment buildings. There were a number of shops along the way we checked out.  We bought a few things and enjoyed exploring the place.  We decided to check out a couple of staircases eventually leading us to the entrance of the castle. J decided against checking out the castle so he sat in the shade with the purchases of the day admiring the view of the busy harbor.  The rest of us went up to explore the upper castle.  This castle was dated back to at least the early 1200’s.   Perched on the top of the hill, we got breathtaking views of the sea & lower castle/church out on the point on one side and the very busy harbor in the opposite direction.  

By mid-afternoon, the harbor was speckled with sailboats of various sizes, a few “smaller” (by Monaco standards anyways) yachts, and even a Disney cruise ship.

After a quick bite to eat at a local restaurant and of course our essential gelato, we head back for the car.  Four of us decided to walk along the waterfront while M decided to go “the tried and true way” and we agreed to meet at the car.  When we finally met up at the car, M had the car repacked so at least one of the bags which had been riding on the laps was now in the back.

We arrived in Lavagna and met up with Piercarlo who owns the apartment we will be staying for the week.  We arrive at a three story salmon-colored villa over looking Lavagna with a Mediterranean seascape, including Portofino Prominary.  We are pleased with the accommodation, as it is spacious with numerous balconies and a lovely dining al fresco area.  We are up in the hills and the foliage is wonderful.  Once settled, we head out to the local grocery store and everyone has input into what goes in the cart.  Once stocked, we off to go home for a nice dinner, some good white wine, and just chatting on the deck as the sun goes down.

 AMT sums up her assessment of our Italian lifestyle as we sit around the table with “Man all this family does is goes in search of the next gelato shop.  We’ve been here for 2 days and we’ve had 4 gelato stops already. “