We woke up on Sunday morning to grey, occasional drizzles and the feeling of being engulfed by clouds. Courmayeur was in for a very wet day. In fact, it turns out that our hotel was supposed to have had other guests, but they all cancelled because the weather has been unseasonably cold. We actually found that we had really lucked out with the weather, only experiencing the one storm and never while we were hiking. I guess coming from Canada, we have different ideas about what constitutes cold, especially in the mountains. Really, the fact that it didn't snow on us was a bonus.
As we drove out of the Aosta Valley, the skies cleared and the temperature climbed. By the time we hit Genoa, it was a cool 31 degrees in the shade. We decided to stop for lunch at Christopher Columbus' birth place. Getting into the old town was a bit of an adventure as it isn't exactly the most straight forward of cities, and that is even before you get to the old town. We finally parked near the water and headed up into the old town.
Genoa can only be described as a warren. The old town in particular is squeezed between the Mediterranean Sea and the hills that pen the city in. The narrow streets barely let in the sky, giving me the feeling of descending into caves even though we were climbing up the hillside on which the city is built.
The first piazza we happened upon, while definitely allowing us to see the sky, was not the typical grandiose square to which we have become accustomed. There was an elaborate church as a focal point of course, but the square was smaller and the surrounding buildings had more of a feeling of function.
The old town, and much of the city, is also plagued with graffiti. Almost every available space is spray painted which is a strange contrast to the historic buildings. The graffiti was likely more evident given that all the shops were shuttered for either Sunday or August holidays.
The temperature climbed while we lunched on the local speciality of focaccia in the piazza, so we were almost relieved to get into an air conditioned car and join the throngs of Italians heading to the sea for holidays. Our destination, Cinque Terre on the Mediterranean Sea. Cinque Terre literally means "5 lands" and is effectively 5 towns that string along the coast. There is a walking path, train and ferry that connect the towns, though traditionally the walking path would have been a trade route from town to town. After the interstate, you take a rather circuitous highway down to the coast and in what has become the standard for Italian roads as far as I can tell you see very little until you actually reach your destination.
Arriving in the western most of the 5 towns, Monterosso, we found ourselves in the Italian version of a Gidget movie.
Beach town, with a European twist. After locating our apartment, and meeting Frederico, a local who has a lemon and olive farm on the hill which we can see from the window, we wandered the beach strip, noting which of the beaches are "free" and which ones require an entrance fee, but provide the benefit of umbrellas and chairs. Even in the late afternoon, things were still busy. While the temps are hot during the day, the evenings cool down beautifully and already in the late afternoon, we could feel the cooling breezes through the big windows. We also had the chance to see a spectacular moon rise, thought unfortunately, the picture doesn't really do it justice.
As I'd been suffering with a wee bit of a cold the last couple days, the family acquiesced to dinner in our apartment. It was then that Ren in particular noticed that we could see the trains very cleary from our window. Not only could you see them, but you could hear them approaching and when they passed it sounds like they are right outside the window. It was loads of fun watching Ren tear to the window every time he heard an approaching train. Of course, it was much less fun when we realized the windows needed to be open to keep the place cool, and that the trains run all night! The kids were woken up several times by the wooshing sound and padded into our bed, which wasn't that much of a problem since we had been woken as well.
Monday morning, we groggily got moving early in the hopes of being able to walk the trail from Monterosso to the next town, Vernazza before the heat really set in. Leaving the apartment at 8:45, we could already tell it was warm, on the way to being hot.
The trail was only 4 kms, but there were a lot of stairs leading along the coastal ridge. It is an interesting trail which seems to be stolen out of the bush, even more so where the trail is only one body width and crowded on either side by vegetation. There are also small gardens clinging to the hill side, mostly lemons and grapes. Sporadically along the trail, there are small paths that intersect obviously linked to one of the lemon or grape groves.
While the trail itself also clings to the hillside along the water, the vegetation is high enough that there are actually very few views of the water itself.
I am really starting to think that Italians don't like looking around while they travel, but rather prefer to focus on the destination. After a couple hours of walking, and a little impatience from us overheating parents, we made it to just above Vernazza and were much relieved to find a rocky beach with a fresh water stream leading into the sea.
While there is a rocky beach apparently as the result of a flood and the resulting debris, the town itself is less beach focused than Monterosso. The kids spent a happy hour though building a damn on the stream. We ate our now standard lunch of focaccia and meat on the beach with our feet cooling in the stream.
The return trip to Monterossa was aboard one of the loved/hated trains - a 2 hour walk and a 5 minute ride back - where we cooled off a little in the apartment before hitting the beach. We decided on the paid beach as the idea of an umbrella and deck chair was fairly appealing, at least to me. Of course, the term beach here is really more of a descriptor than an accurate title. Bodies lined up (or chairs) with inches between and only the first line of bodies having a clear view of the water, as the rest see the back of deck chairs. However, the kids played in the water, I read my book and watched the ladies in front of me use oil and spritz water to get further bronzed (didn't know anyone did that anymore) and Kohji took pictures of massive boulders of Italian granite being used as a break water.
Owing to the on-going cold, we had dinner in for a second night after hitting the local supermarket - a 14 x 14 foot room where you decide on what you're having by what they actually have. Makes it simple anyway.
Two things I've noticed in Italy, especially now that we are in warmer climes- Italians don't like or expect particularly cold drinks or bright lights. I wonder if it's connected to electricity conservation, but every place we've stayed in has had fairly dim lighting and when you order a drink in a restaurant whether it be pop, water or wine, it is never particularly cold. At this point in the trip, I will confess to craving an ice cold drink of any kind!
The parting shot for tonight show Ren's expression when he learns that the train is actually late. Good night from Monterosso al Mare.
1 comment:
Oh Ren! I hope the train didn't make you wait too long! Safe travels!!
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