Hello,
We have been so busy, I haven’t been blogging. Please forgive me, and I will try to get you up to date on our travels.
We went from Orvieto to Vernazza, by train last Thursday. That was a new experience for some. Although it seemed like it took forever, in fact, the trip was only about 6 hours. However, we started our day by leaving Orvieto by funicular to get down to the train station. Susan helped everyone get on the little car with their luggage, then the doors closed and Susan was left behind. We got to the train station, and when the next funicular arrived, thankfully Susan was on that one. But she was not a happy person.
Once we got on the train, we travelled to Florence, changed trains, on to Pisa, changed trains, on to La Spezia, changed trains again and on to Vernazza. By then, it was 2:30 in the afternoon and we were all hot, hungry and tired. We checked into our rooms at Martina Callo’s hotel, which involved walking up 70+ stairs, but worth the climb for our view of the piazza and the harbor. We finally had lunch about 3:30 p.m. After that, everyone took little walks, or naps, and pretty much called it a day.
The following day, Susan went on a hike early in the morning, 2 of the others chose to hike later in the day, and the three of us who were left took a delightful boat trip to Portovenere, which is another beautiful coastal village, closer to La Spezia. I enjoyed the trip, as we could see the villages of Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore for the boat, getting a better perspective of how the buildings of these villages are stuck into the mountainsides.
About an hour after we had started our trip, we pulled into the harbor at Portovenere. What a lovely town. We walked along the harbor, then up the stairs toward the fortress and the church. We just happened upon the beginning of a wedding.
The bride had arrived at the bottom of this staircase in an old Fiat 500, one of my favorite Italian cars. She walked about halfway up the stairs, the. Her father came down to meet her. They then walked up together, past the line of men dressed in their naval finery (white uniforms and hats, blue sashes across their chest), and into the church. It was hard to get a good picture for all the other tourists wanting to get a good picture. We didn’t get to crash the wedding. Later, we saw the bride and groom leaving Portovenere in the little Fiat. It was cute…they drove down the harbor street, dragging tin cans behind the car.
We returned to Venazza in late afternoon, and had time for a rest and relaxation. Later that evening we had dinner right across the piazza from our hotel, at Gambero Rosso, my favorite restaurant for delicious seafood and pastas. We were able to sit outdoors and enjoy the balmy evening.
Saturday morning we went up the hill to Il Pirata for breakfast. The two guys that own the restaurant, Massimo and Luca, make the most delicious Sicilian pastries, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Some of us indulged ourselves with 2 pastries and 2 cappuchini.
After a day of walking, sightseeing, we returned to Il Pirata that evening for dinner. Again, another wonderful meal, under the stars, another beautiful evening. But, as we started down the hill toward our hotel, the air became muggier, and there were some flashes of lightning. After we got to our rooms, Susan and I sat on our terrace and watched the lightning show for awhile. Eventually it stopped, no rain fell, and life continued as before.
The next morning we left by train for Florence, where we are now. We loved Vernazza, as we always do, but we are happy to be in Florence again, too. I never get tired of any of these places we have visited.
But my blog post about Florence will have to wait. We need to get moving. We are going to the Accademia Galleria this morning to see David, then explore the Mercato Centrale, and who knows what else.
So I will say, Ciao for now, and tell you more later.
Dolly
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