On Tuesday, we decided to take it easy and be typical Cinque Terre tourists. We slept it, having cocooned ourselves in the apartment by closing all the windows and the shutters to keep out the train noise. It was a little warm, but a better night sleep. It some ways, it was also nice to have the privacy. The one thing about Europe is that the buildings are closer together, the windows are open more, and there is more sense of being in someone else's living room. I guess I am a Canadian girl at heart, used to my space, as I just can't get comfortable with having the bathroom patio doors wind open while I brush my teeth.
We finally got moving late morning and hopped the ferry to one of the other towns along the Cinque Terre, Manarola. The cooling breeze on the ferry was very much welcome, and thankfully no motion sickness. I sat in the front of the boat, my eyes of the rather magnificent shore line dotted with pink and ocher coloured small villages and strung with impossibly steep vineyards and lemon groves.
Arriving in Manarola around 12:30 may have been a wee bit of a mistake. The people getting off the ferry are shepherded into this narrow walkway between rock faces. You know the village is there somewhere, but you can't quite see it through the rocks and the heads. I'm sure the town in very quaint and charming when there aren't hundreds if not thousands of tourists streaming, meandering, standing, and generally occupying every available space. In the heat, it became a little overwhelming to negotiate the narrow, steep streets while dodging other tourists.
We grabbed takeout lunches and found a place above the harbour where we could watch tourists launch themselves off a 15 foot rock into the sea pool below, while other tourists cheered them on. Interestingly, the was no Italian spoken by the jumpers. All seemed to be English speaking, and young, keen to have an adventure. Rather than a beach, Manarolo has a swimming hole by the docks penned in by natural rock formations. Again, while it may seem like a fun little discovery, it seemed a little less welcoming with several dozen swimmers all about it and the diesel fumes from the ferries.
The sun having come out, I confess the heat got to me and after an hour all I wanted to do was cool down. So, we hoped a train back to Monterosso and headed for the beach. By that time, there were some intermittent clouds and it was actually rather pleasant sitting on the beach, with a slight breeze. We sat there until well after six, while the kids played in the water or on the beach.
Dinner on Tuesday night was in the old town of Monterosso. While we were staying on the beach side of town, the eastern side of the city is accessed via a tunnel and is more classic old world, with tightly packed little shop fronts topped with apartments amid narrow streets. We had dinner in a tourist bar with a patio overlooking the beach. The food was bad, but the ambience perfect as we got to watch the sun go down over the Mediterranean Sea. After dinner, we strolled old town for gelato and just to be a part of the evening crowd.
Wednesday, it was off to Tuscany. More precisely, we headed for Lucca, a walled town on the edge of Tuscany, not far from Pisa, Florence and Sienna. We backtracked along the winding road that had brought us into Cinque Terre noticing the many tiny pale pink and ocher villages that clung to hillsides in Laguria. I drove, so was ok, but poor Kiyomi bravely sat in the back and quietly endured the sloshing in her stomach from all the twists and turns in the road.
We stopped briefly in La Spezzia, a mostly industrial town, to find a bank machine and lunch. We wound up eating not very good pizza in the rain, which was rather amusing in a travel story sort of way. I confess at this point in the trip, I was beginning to think that my recently acquired love of Italian cooking was perhaps just dumb luck. Maybe when we were here last year, we just happend to luck into great food. So far, while the food hasn't been bad (until today's pizza), it hasn't made me want to lick my plate.
And then, Tuscany! We arrived in Lucca late afternoon. As unauthorized cars are not allowed within the old walls of the city, we parked just outside and grabbed a cab with all our bags. I have absolutely no idea what route the cab took to get us here - there were so many turns, narrow streets that seemed like walkways, and crowding over of pedestrians, I would have been at a total loss to even point to the direction of our car. But, here we were, luggage in tow, walking into this open courtyard with the number 9 painted on the front. The only problem when we got into the courtyard itself was that there were multiple number 9s and our contact wasn't picking up the phone.
So, we stood with our luggage, tried a few phone numbers and then finally, a woman came rolling up on a bike and introduced herself as Sonia. She led us up a flight of stairs, and into what I can only describe as a recently abandoned Tuscan villa. The "apartment" is surreal. The living room is ornate and filled with art work, large log beams on the ceiling, a silver liqueur set on the coffee table. The walls are coated in tapestries, one we were informed is 300 years old, and the non art covered walls are loaded with books, many about art. I don't know what the story is, but this is not your typical apartment rental. There is even an upper floor tv room with a massive tv, and more books. My guess, an art historian who is currently on sabbatical and has rented out his place in his absence.
After oogling the apartment for awhile and learning that the ac has just stopped working (gulp), we headed out for a little exploration. The streets here are cobbled and narrow, with shop faces mingled with apartments, small piazzas dominated by churches and a myriad of intersecting streets that form a maze within the massive stone walls. As this is a feast week (the 15th is a feast day), the town almost feels empty with the exception of us tourists.
At dinner, my faith in Italian cooking was restored. Perhaps it is Tuscan cooking that I have come to appreciate, but our first meal here, at a little trattoria around the corner, was the best meal I've had in Italy so far. Full of flavour, fresh, and just plain enjoyable food. And so, I say yet again, ah Tuscany!
The parting shot for tonight shows a first peek at Lucca. I've no doubt more pictures will be taken tomorrow. Good night from Lucca.
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