Italy - Day 2

I slept well, despite the narrow, hard bed. Breakfast is up on the top floor of our hotel which is the sixth floor. There is a lovely selection of breads, cheese, cold cuts, fruit and yogurt - my kind of breakfast! And the view from there is also outstanding! 

At 9 AM we had an orientation talk followed by a walking tour of the town. We met the owner of the local tobacco shop where you can get cold drinks, train and bus tickets and phone cards.

 We also met the proprietor of the laundry, and then the pharmacy. We meandered over to the Castle of Lerici, this time a slower, gradual incline, not the stairs we walked part way up yesterday. The views are wonderful of course. 

But all along the way, are many interesting photographs - doorways, stone walls, stair cases, and flowers growing in expected and unexpected places. 

 At lunch time we walked over to the next village, San Terenzo. Because of the pace and lay of the land (beside the water) it was hard to say how far we walked but it grew hot and we were glad to finally reach our destination.

Lunch was many courses again - various appetizers, stuffed onions with small fresh anchovies, squid legs cooked in a sauce with green peas (not my favourite), then pasta with oysters and clams, followed by a nice fresh salad (the order in which the food was served seemed strange to us), and finally a most delicious lemon sorbet. It was easily a 2 hour affair and wine was included. I partook but won't be doing that again for lunch. It made me so very sleepy (like Cuba) and a nap was required to recoup.

After, I walked along with my friends but wanted to cool off in the water so we went our separate ways. The beaches, small though they were, were crowded with all sorts of people. Apparently there is a one day teachers' strike on today. They are striking for better wages as they have not seen a raise in 10 years. Most people wore swimsuits which were a bit on the skimpy side, regardless of their body size. T'is a healthy attitude indeed! 

The water was quite cool I thought and I was surprised to see so many people actually in the water. Yet on land, it amazes me to see so many wearing long pants and even jackets, some of which were leather. 

Upon returning to the hotel, I enjoyed a nap and slept hard. After a couple of hours, I got up and went in search of a diet Pepsi. The nearby tobacco shop was out so I continued further looking for the grocery store. They are small but well packed. The yogurt selection was extensive, and every kind of liquor was sold there too. 

On the way back to the hotel I thought I would do the "circle route" thinking I couldn't possible get lost if I just headed towards water. That turned out to be easier said than done. I kept going uphill and couldn't find any through-roads. Eventually I did make my way back to the hotel and enjoyed my Coke (no Pepsi).

It was soon supper time and we walked over to a pizzeria near our hotel on the water. We had various pizza types served to us by the slice - margarita, pesto (my fave), four cheese, and ham I think. 

At the hotel I was able to get online for a bit, then back to the veranda to type this as my roommate sleeps.

Italy - Day 1

It is 1:45 PM Mountain Standard Time as I write this, and I can hardly stay awake! Why you may ask? Well it's 9:45 PM - in Italy! I've been travelling for what seems like days without a lot of sleep. 

Saturday night was the drive from home to an airport hotel in Calgary. Sunday morning - a flight to Toronto, followed by an overnight flight to London Heathrow. I watched a good movie on the plane ('Wild') and tried to get some sleep with a bit of success. 

Heathrow's Terminal 5 was a very busy place on Monday morning and their security line-ups seemed long and inefficient (despite getting chosen to go through a shorter queue).  The gate number for the next flight wasn't available until 50 minutes before take off and I wondered how I was going to connect with my friends. From the second floor, I scanned dozens of rows of people and much to my surprise and delight, Sue and Amy were waving at me from below! 

The next leg of the journey was a 2 1/4 hour jaunt to Pisa, Italy. And finally, we boarded a bus for an hour long ride to Lerici to the north. The scenery was interesting and we saw many small farms, towns, greenhouses, and marble quarries. There are lovely mountains here which is where the marble quarries are.

Our hotel is perfectly located on the Gulf of Poets - a bay protected from the Atlantic Ocean by means of a narrow opening. There are quite possibly over a hundred small boats peacefully anchored in the water right in front of the hotel. And if that's not enough, a castle stands high on a hill a little ways off. 

They were ready to serve our lunch right away, so we checked in afterwards.  Our room isn't overly big but we have a balcony facing the bay! Oh my!! After a shower and a change of clothes into something more suitable for the hot weather, Amy and I headed off along the promenade, stopping every 60 seconds or so to shoot a picture. 

There were many locals out and about and lots of moms with their children. There is a park nearby where they play. The beach is very rocky but a few kids (and adults) were out of the giant rocks. Despite how tired we were, we kept on walking until we got to the base of the castle, leaving it to explore another day. The walk back to the hotel seemed to take much longer and I was completely exhausted when we returned to the hotel.

We had an hour long briefing in the lobby as well as appetizers and a wonderful local sparkling wine (tasted like a champagne to me). Then we walked to a local restaurant tucked away in a very ancient passage way. Supper was course after course of wonderful food. Just when you thought you were done, along came another dish. Dessert was a creamy delicious concoction made from Nutella and other good (bad) stuff.

I could hardly keep awake and was glad when we were done so I could get back to the hotel to write this.  I could describe so much more, but my bed is calling me!!