Our 26 hour trip from Pisa to Victoria went off pretty smoothly, with one tiny "hitch". Our flight from Rome to Toronto was delayed for over an hour, and when we boarded the plane we found it was because they had been trying to fix the entertainment system. Well guess what they failed! So, we had a 10 hour flight with no movies! Fortunately I had picked up a book in Rome (The Godfather, ~600 pages) which lasted me the flight.
So back in Canada!
We had to ask for information at the Toronto airport, and I said "I'll look after this, I'm fluent in the local dialect!" After 5 months travelling in China, Italy and Spain it felt pretty good :-)
Sunday 25 August 2013
Last few days in Italy, summer is drawing to a close :-(
We've spent the last few days visiting some of the smaller towns around Calci, visiting a few local wineries and "olive-oil-aries", and spending one last day at the beach:
The weather at night is becoming a bit more chilly, and one night we even had a quite violent thunder storm! We had strong winds, rain, and a spectacular lightning show. Of course all this happened at about 3AM ...
Our last day was spent mostly cleaning and packing,but of course we made time for a final cappuccino and gellatto at our favourite Calci cafe and gellatto bar:
One final farewell shoot of the Calci valley:
Arivaderci Calci (sniff) ... it's been a great summer.
The weather at night is becoming a bit more chilly, and one night we even had a quite violent thunder storm! We had strong winds, rain, and a spectacular lightning show. Of course all this happened at about 3AM ...
Our last day was spent mostly cleaning and packing,but of course we made time for a final cappuccino and gellatto at our favourite Calci cafe and gellatto bar:
One final farewell shoot of the Calci valley:
Arivaderci Calci (sniff) ... it's been a great summer.
Monday 19 August 2013
European eggs vs North American eggs
On our first trip to the supermarket over here we had trouble finding the eggs. Eventually we found them on an unrefridgerated shelf, in the baking section. (Of course we immediately took them home and put the in the 'fridge.)
But why are eggs not required to be refrigerated here in Italy vs back home in Canada? A mystery! But apparently one that has a very interesting explanation:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2012/10/25/why-american-eggs-would-be-illegal-in-a-british-supermarket-and-vice-versa/
And now we all know :-)
But why are eggs not required to be refrigerated here in Italy vs back home in Canada? A mystery! But apparently one that has a very interesting explanation:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2012/10/25/why-american-eggs-would-be-illegal-in-a-british-supermarket-and-vice-versa/
And now we all know :-)
Sunday 18 August 2013
A Visit to Volterra in 1398
Today we went to a medieval festival in Volterra, a hill town about an-hour-and-a-bit drive in the direction of San Gimignano and Siena. Volterra boasts the oldest city hall in Europe (~700 AD), and in fact it was the city hall upon which the one in Florence was modeled. The fair was quite spectacular and the whole town was dressed up. (I think if you rent a place in Volterra this is one of the clauses in your lease.) The fair was held in the town's main piazza and also a large field, which apparently was the site where the town's main square used to be until the Medici attacked the town and burned it to the ground.
Here are some pics from the fair.
There were archery demonstrations and contests (spoiler - this girl didn't win).
Mock torture and executions. (As soon as they had you in the pillory they pulled out this branch and started to tickle you.)
Roving medieval bands. (They would pull tourists out of the audience to embarrass, so we watched from the safety of the town's tower.)
"The flag guys." They would kick the flags around with their feet and toss them in the air.
A falconry demonstration. Very informative (if you happened to speak Italian).
Dead pig sandwiches, yum!
More archery.
The drummers would lead the performers from one place to the next. We just fell in line and followed.
The band of "the flag guys". They played these coronets with one valve, pretty cool (if you're a band geek).
We had to exchange our Euro's for the 1398 currency, which is called "Big". One "Big" equals one Euro. There were one and five "Big" coins. It was kind of fun jingling a pocket full of medieval change for the day :-)
Here are some pics from the fair.
There were archery demonstrations and contests (spoiler - this girl didn't win).
Mock torture and executions. (As soon as they had you in the pillory they pulled out this branch and started to tickle you.)
Roving medieval bands. (They would pull tourists out of the audience to embarrass, so we watched from the safety of the town's tower.)
"The flag guys." They would kick the flags around with their feet and toss them in the air.
A falconry demonstration. Very informative (if you happened to speak Italian).
Dead pig sandwiches, yum!
More archery.
The drummers would lead the performers from one place to the next. We just fell in line and followed.
The band of "the flag guys". They played these coronets with one valve, pretty cool (if you're a band geek).
We had to exchange our Euro's for the 1398 currency, which is called "Big". One "Big" equals one Euro. There were one and five "Big" coins. It was kind of fun jingling a pocket full of medieval change for the day :-)
Saturday 17 August 2013
A souvenir from Venice
Here is some pasta I picked up in Venice.
This can be filed under the category: "When you see it ..."
This can be filed under the category: "When you see it ..."
Fun times in Venice
We spent 3 nights in Venice, in (as I mentioned in another post) "full tourist mode".
It didn't start out well though. We had booked a cab to take us to the train station on Wednesday morning, but at exactly 6 minutes past the time we had booked the cab (have I mentioned that all Italian cabs run exactly 6 minutes behind schedule?) we got a call from our cabbie saying she way waiting outside our house.
I looked out the window. "No you're not."
"Yes I am, number 5 Via San Donato."
Well eventually we figured she was at some similarly-named street, and not San Donato at all. We tried giving her directions but eventually she just asked one of the locals and then followed a little motor scooter that happened to be going in our direction. Then, on the way to the train station, she spent most of the time on her cell phone complaining to all of her friends (in Italian) about her lousy morning. Hey, we don't speak Italian, but we're pretty sure you're speaking about us!
We finally got to Venice and checked into our little apartment and then went out to explore the town. We had dinner at one of our local restaurants (we were staying a little bit off the beaten path, so not too touristy) and we were even treated to a performance afterwards!
Our first full day in Venice we:
Visited St Mark's Basilica;
Toured the Doge's palace;
(The main square inside the Doge's Palace looks a lot like St Marks Square outside the Doge's Palace.)
(Most of the palace was off limits to photos. This is one of the staircases.)
(The famous "Bridge of Sighs". That's the Doge's Palace on the left and the "new prisons" on the right. We got to cross the bridge and tour the prisons. Check out the throng of tourists on the bridge outside the Bridge!)
And in the evening went to a performance of "Rigaletto" at one of the local palazzo's (palaces). We thought it was at Palazzo Barhauger (or something like that) so we took a vaporetto (water bus) to the closest stop, and then (since we were early) found a nearby cafe for a drink. Of course we were at the completely wrong place, as we found out after our drink, and it was 12 minutes until showtime. We asked a couple of well-meaning locals, who also lead us astray, and then asked at a nearby hotel. The hotel desk person happened to know the show (it was at the Palazzo Barhauger-something else) so she gave us directions. It was on the other side of the Grand Canal, so a short footrace later we made it to the show JUST ON TIME. Of course then the show started about 10 minutes late ...
However it was very interesting. I think it was an abbreviated version of "Rigaletto" (there were only 4 actors and it was a bit under 2 hours long) and took place in several rooms of the palace. We the audience followed the actors from room to room. This is a highly recommended way to see an opera!
(Note no pics allowed during the performance, of course :-( So here are a couple of crappy pics of the palace as we were filing out:)
The next day, still in "full tourist mode", we:
Took a vaporetto the full length of the Grand Canal;
Near St Mark's Square, the traffic was unreal - gondolas, vaporettos and other craft. Pretty much everything in Venice is delivered or taken away by boat.
A lot of the homes and hotels have their main door on the canal rather than one of the streets.
Near the Rialto Bridge. More traffic.
Went on a gondola ride;
And explored a bunch of Venice neighbourhoods.
(Our gondola ride started out on the Grand Canal, near the Rialto Bridge, but it was too crowded and choppy so we made our driver take us down some of the small side canals.)
Overall it was a very enjoyable visit. There are some areas of Venice that are as crowded as anywhere on earth (trust me I spent 3 months in China) - St Marks Square, the bridge next to the Bridge of Sighs, the Rialto Bridge - but once you get even a bit off the beaten path the crowds die down and it's very pleasant to wander about. Of course other than Florence this is the most expensive city we visited, so be prepared for a hit on your wallet!
Tomorrow we are headed to Volterra for a medieval festival. Motto - "Party like it's 1349!" We're down to our last week so no more rest days!
(Just a picture of the Venetian sunset. No big deal.)
It didn't start out well though. We had booked a cab to take us to the train station on Wednesday morning, but at exactly 6 minutes past the time we had booked the cab (have I mentioned that all Italian cabs run exactly 6 minutes behind schedule?) we got a call from our cabbie saying she way waiting outside our house.
I looked out the window. "No you're not."
"Yes I am, number 5 Via San Donato."
Well eventually we figured she was at some similarly-named street, and not San Donato at all. We tried giving her directions but eventually she just asked one of the locals and then followed a little motor scooter that happened to be going in our direction. Then, on the way to the train station, she spent most of the time on her cell phone complaining to all of her friends (in Italian) about her lousy morning. Hey, we don't speak Italian, but we're pretty sure you're speaking about us!
We finally got to Venice and checked into our little apartment and then went out to explore the town. We had dinner at one of our local restaurants (we were staying a little bit off the beaten path, so not too touristy) and we were even treated to a performance afterwards!
Our first full day in Venice we:
Visited St Mark's Basilica;
Toured the Doge's palace;
(The main square inside the Doge's Palace looks a lot like St Marks Square outside the Doge's Palace.)
(Most of the palace was off limits to photos. This is one of the staircases.)
(The famous "Bridge of Sighs". That's the Doge's Palace on the left and the "new prisons" on the right. We got to cross the bridge and tour the prisons. Check out the throng of tourists on the bridge outside the Bridge!)
And in the evening went to a performance of "Rigaletto" at one of the local palazzo's (palaces). We thought it was at Palazzo Barhauger (or something like that) so we took a vaporetto (water bus) to the closest stop, and then (since we were early) found a nearby cafe for a drink. Of course we were at the completely wrong place, as we found out after our drink, and it was 12 minutes until showtime. We asked a couple of well-meaning locals, who also lead us astray, and then asked at a nearby hotel. The hotel desk person happened to know the show (it was at the Palazzo Barhauger-something else) so she gave us directions. It was on the other side of the Grand Canal, so a short footrace later we made it to the show JUST ON TIME. Of course then the show started about 10 minutes late ...
However it was very interesting. I think it was an abbreviated version of "Rigaletto" (there were only 4 actors and it was a bit under 2 hours long) and took place in several rooms of the palace. We the audience followed the actors from room to room. This is a highly recommended way to see an opera!
(Note no pics allowed during the performance, of course :-( So here are a couple of crappy pics of the palace as we were filing out:)
The next day, still in "full tourist mode", we:
Took a vaporetto the full length of the Grand Canal;
Near St Mark's Square, the traffic was unreal - gondolas, vaporettos and other craft. Pretty much everything in Venice is delivered or taken away by boat.
A lot of the homes and hotels have their main door on the canal rather than one of the streets.
Near the Rialto Bridge. More traffic.
Went on a gondola ride;
And explored a bunch of Venice neighbourhoods.
(Our gondola ride started out on the Grand Canal, near the Rialto Bridge, but it was too crowded and choppy so we made our driver take us down some of the small side canals.)
Overall it was a very enjoyable visit. There are some areas of Venice that are as crowded as anywhere on earth (trust me I spent 3 months in China) - St Marks Square, the bridge next to the Bridge of Sighs, the Rialto Bridge - but once you get even a bit off the beaten path the crowds die down and it's very pleasant to wander about. Of course other than Florence this is the most expensive city we visited, so be prepared for a hit on your wallet!
Tomorrow we are headed to Volterra for a medieval festival. Motto - "Party like it's 1349!" We're down to our last week so no more rest days!
(Just a picture of the Venetian sunset. No big deal.)
Back "home" in Calci
We just arrived home from our Venice trip! We were in Venice for 3 nights and basically in "full tourist mode" the whole time. We took in all the sights - St Mark's Piazza, the Doge's Palace, "Rigaletto", a tour of the Grand Canal, and we even went on a gondola ride. (I'll post pics later when I have time.) When we got "home" we heard the shocking news that a German tourist has been killed in a collision between a vaporetto (water bus) and a gondola. We had been remarking when we were there about the congestion in the canals, and in fact the accident occurred in exactly the same place that we hired our gondola. Sad news :-(
Thursday 15 August 2013
In Venice
We made it safely to Venice! We had an adventure with our taxi in the morning. At exactly 6 minutes past the time we had booked (I've determined that the taxis here all run exactly 6 minutes late) we got a call from our cabbie saying she was outside waiting. I looked out the window, no cab. "No you're not." "I'm here at Via San Donato number 5." "You're at the wrong address." So eventually we determined that she wasn't at San Donato, but at some similar sounding street. We tried to give her directions "up the hill" but eventually she followed some scooter that happened to be coming in the same direction. In any case we made out train, and even had time for a cappuchino at Florence, where we had to change trains.
Here's your first view of Venice when you exit the train station:
We took the water taxi t our hotel, and then wandered about a bit.
Venice is a magical town! We're going to see the Doge's palace and other sights, and I'll post more pics over the next few days.
Here's your first view of Venice when you exit the train station:
We took the water taxi t our hotel, and then wandered about a bit.
Venice is a magical town! We're going to see the Doge's palace and other sights, and I'll post more pics over the next few days.
Tuesday 13 August 2013
A few days relaxation in our little house in the Tuscan hills, Italy
Cinque Terre was a couple of days of hard hiking, so we've spent the past few days relaxing.
I don't know if I've mentioned but the drive from Calci up to our little house in the Tuscan hills is, in a word, harrowing. So, the day after our return from 5T I decided I needed a day off of driving completely. Here is an example of the Italy driving experience:
I guess 700 years ago when the inhabitants built their original dwellings they didn't have the foresight to build them far enough apart for proper 2-way traffic. Outside the villages it's not so bad, and the roads are wide enough to pass other cars without danger of a heart attack.
In the morning we walked down to Calci (about a half hour stroll through the backroads) for a cappucino and pastry at our favourite local cafe. Then we picked up some groceries and found that the return was not quite as casual a stroll - it was all uphill! Jack repeatedly reminded us of our 5T pledge - No more hiking! In the afternoon we went for a drive and visited Vicopisano, which is a nearby town with a very medieval feel to it. It has a portion of the old city wall, and several towers, but when we were there everything was closed! We still haven't quite adjusted to the Italian clock, which dictates that everything is closed from about noon to 6 PM.
For dinner, pizza-oven pizza, and this time we also attempted focaccia bread, yum!
Warming up the brick oven with a roaring fire.
The finished product. (No we did not make 2 half pizzas! As usual we dive into the food and the meal is half done (or even completely done) by the time I remember I'm supposed to be documenting it.)
The next day we visited our local Italian pool. My verdict - not terribly impressive. It was about 30 Euro for the 3 of us to get in, and the pool was small and crowded. There were a few people swimming lengths - there were no lanes marked off so they had to weave through everyone who was just playing or standing around (like me). However we made the best of it, had a burger and hot dog for lunch (my advice - stick to Italian food in Italy) and lazed about in the sun.
In the evening Sonya took me to the local fancy restaurant - Il Conventino - for dinner. It's a short walk up in the Tuscan hills.
About halfway, the view back to our house in the Tuscan hills.
That's the restaurant on the right. On the left is the convent, hence "Il Conventino".
We decided to eat full Italian style and we each ordered our own pasta and secondi (usually we just order a couple of dishes and share, Chinese style). After dinner we rolled down the hill to our little house in the Tuscan Hills.
A mixed appies plate to share.
A nice local wine :-)
Some kind of pasta, I forget ...
Prosciutto ravioli :-)
Some kind of secondi, I forget :-S
Wild boar!
Nothing like a nice espresso to chase down a rich meal.
Here's the Pisa skyline on the way home:
The next day (yesterday) was very exciting! We decided to visit a "traditional" Italian beach. We drove to the recommended Marina di Pietrasanta, which is about an hour drive from our little house in the Tuscan hills, and rented a couple of beach chairs at one of the beach houses. The beach was quite impressive. We were at Beach House "Sebastian", which was about halfway down the beach, and was beach house number 101. (Meaning there were about 200 beach houses? At least!) For 30 Euro we got an umbrella, 2 beach chairs and a lounger for the day, along with a little patch of beach to call our own. This also gave us access to the beach house changerooms, wc's, cafe, and they also provided a shower close to the water to rinse the salt off. It was a long day, and our busy hectic schedule included the following:
- sleep in
- throw towels in the car and drive to the beach
- rent our beach chairs and lounger
- have a cappucino and snack at the beach house cafe
- short nap (just to test out the lounger)
- swim in the warm Mediterranean Ocean
- another nap
- walk to a nearby pizzeria for lunch - I had the set menu, which consisted of bruschetta, spaggetti al ragu, and a large "biera ala spina", which meant that after lunch I needed:
- another short nap
- another swim in the warm Mediterranean Ocean
- glass of Prosecco and a gellatto at the beach house cafe
- another short swim
- another nap, and then the drive home.
Today we're going to visit San Guiliano Terme (another nearby town in the Tuscan hills), catch up on our laundry, and pack for our next trip. Hey, not every day can be a rollicking adventure!
(PS I've gotten a couple of "complaints" that I haven't been very regular in updating my blog recently. I hope that now that you've seen my hectic schedule over the past couple of days you can be understanding! However if you post comments occasionally then it may spur me on to posting a few extra entries. We're on our way to Venice tomorrow for a few days, and afterwards are planning to attend a Medieval Festival at Volterra, which is near San Gimignano. I'll try to post regularly but no promises!)
I don't know if I've mentioned but the drive from Calci up to our little house in the Tuscan hills is, in a word, harrowing. So, the day after our return from 5T I decided I needed a day off of driving completely. Here is an example of the Italy driving experience:
I guess 700 years ago when the inhabitants built their original dwellings they didn't have the foresight to build them far enough apart for proper 2-way traffic. Outside the villages it's not so bad, and the roads are wide enough to pass other cars without danger of a heart attack.
In the morning we walked down to Calci (about a half hour stroll through the backroads) for a cappucino and pastry at our favourite local cafe. Then we picked up some groceries and found that the return was not quite as casual a stroll - it was all uphill! Jack repeatedly reminded us of our 5T pledge - No more hiking! In the afternoon we went for a drive and visited Vicopisano, which is a nearby town with a very medieval feel to it. It has a portion of the old city wall, and several towers, but when we were there everything was closed! We still haven't quite adjusted to the Italian clock, which dictates that everything is closed from about noon to 6 PM.
For dinner, pizza-oven pizza, and this time we also attempted focaccia bread, yum!
Warming up the brick oven with a roaring fire.
The finished product. (No we did not make 2 half pizzas! As usual we dive into the food and the meal is half done (or even completely done) by the time I remember I'm supposed to be documenting it.)
The next day we visited our local Italian pool. My verdict - not terribly impressive. It was about 30 Euro for the 3 of us to get in, and the pool was small and crowded. There were a few people swimming lengths - there were no lanes marked off so they had to weave through everyone who was just playing or standing around (like me). However we made the best of it, had a burger and hot dog for lunch (my advice - stick to Italian food in Italy) and lazed about in the sun.
In the evening Sonya took me to the local fancy restaurant - Il Conventino - for dinner. It's a short walk up in the Tuscan hills.
About halfway, the view back to our house in the Tuscan hills.
That's the restaurant on the right. On the left is the convent, hence "Il Conventino".
We decided to eat full Italian style and we each ordered our own pasta and secondi (usually we just order a couple of dishes and share, Chinese style). After dinner we rolled down the hill to our little house in the Tuscan Hills.
A mixed appies plate to share.
A nice local wine :-)
Some kind of pasta, I forget ...
Prosciutto ravioli :-)
Some kind of secondi, I forget :-S
Wild boar!
Nothing like a nice espresso to chase down a rich meal.
Here's the Pisa skyline on the way home:
The next day (yesterday) was very exciting! We decided to visit a "traditional" Italian beach. We drove to the recommended Marina di Pietrasanta, which is about an hour drive from our little house in the Tuscan hills, and rented a couple of beach chairs at one of the beach houses. The beach was quite impressive. We were at Beach House "Sebastian", which was about halfway down the beach, and was beach house number 101. (Meaning there were about 200 beach houses? At least!) For 30 Euro we got an umbrella, 2 beach chairs and a lounger for the day, along with a little patch of beach to call our own. This also gave us access to the beach house changerooms, wc's, cafe, and they also provided a shower close to the water to rinse the salt off. It was a long day, and our busy hectic schedule included the following:
- sleep in
- throw towels in the car and drive to the beach
- rent our beach chairs and lounger
- have a cappucino and snack at the beach house cafe
- short nap (just to test out the lounger)
- swim in the warm Mediterranean Ocean
- another nap
- walk to a nearby pizzeria for lunch - I had the set menu, which consisted of bruschetta, spaggetti al ragu, and a large "biera ala spina", which meant that after lunch I needed:
- another short nap
- another swim in the warm Mediterranean Ocean
- glass of Prosecco and a gellatto at the beach house cafe
- another short swim
- another nap, and then the drive home.
Today we're going to visit San Guiliano Terme (another nearby town in the Tuscan hills), catch up on our laundry, and pack for our next trip. Hey, not every day can be a rollicking adventure!
(PS I've gotten a couple of "complaints" that I haven't been very regular in updating my blog recently. I hope that now that you've seen my hectic schedule over the past couple of days you can be understanding! However if you post comments occasionally then it may spur me on to posting a few extra entries. We're on our way to Venice tomorrow for a few days, and afterwards are planning to attend a Medieval Festival at Volterra, which is near San Gimignano. I'll try to post regularly but no promises!)
Friday 9 August 2013
Cinque Terre, Italy's version of the Grouse Grind
We have just returned from a 2 day visit to Cinque Terre, a UNESCO heritage site and Italy's answer to the Grouse Grind. Cinque Terre is a park that includes 5 beautiful villages along a rugged coastline, connected by railway, ferry and a series of hiking trails. We had planned to visit Cinque Terre later in the month (i.e. not the day after our return from Spain) however hotels in this area fill up months in advance and we were limited in the days when we could find an available room.
The 5 Cinque Terra villages (North to South) are Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Here is a map for the visually inclined:
The train runs from Levanto (North of 5T) to La Spezia (South of 5T). Tourists typically park at either Levanto or La Spezia and then take the train into 5T. So, based on a recommendation by "Experienced Traveler" on tripadvisor.com ("Levanto is much less busy than La Spezia and there is lots of parking near the train station") we decided to drive the extra 30 minutes to Levanto. We planned to then take the train into Monterosso, hike into Corniglia (where we had found a room for the night) and then hike the rest of the way the next day. "Experienced Traveler" would probably have checked the trail reviews before heading out but we just threw caution to the wind and lots of food and beer into our backpacks.
If we had read the reviews (which we did afterwards) we would have known that the trails from Monterosso to Corniglia were the most challenging in 5T, and rated medium/difficult. It was recommended to hike these trails in the spring or fall (not in August, as we were doing) and if hiking in the summer, to hike early in the morning or late in the afternoon, to avoid the worst heat of the day. We did pretty much all of our hiking between noon and 4 PM, the hottest part of the day. However the trails weren't (quite) as bad as we would have been lead to believe (if we had read the reviews), and the views from these trails were pretty spectacular:
Monterroso, a disappointing tourist trap.
You can see our next stop, Vernazza, in the distance. You can also get an idea of how high the trail climbs between the Terre's.
In sight of our lunch!
From a distance the towns are bright and cheerful, but close up a bit run down.
The second leg of our first day - Vernazza to Coniglia.
That's Coniglia in the distance. The closer town is also "Coniglia" (according to Google maps) but the trail skirts around it.
Getting close to our destination (and dinner!).
Our room in Corniglia was also pretty spectacular. Not so much for the room itself (a couple of sofa beds, no wi fi, etc), but the view!
Although I suspect every room in each of the Cinque Terra towns would have just as spectacular of a view. You can see Monterroso off in the distance, and we had a spectacular sunset!
The next day we took an "alternate" trail to the next town, Manarola. (The main trail, "trail 2", runs along the waterfront, and is the main hiking trail in the 5T. This is the one you have to actually pay to use, and the one we took from Monterossa to Corniglia. However due to flooding and landslides in the past few years, this trail is closed from Corniglia to Riomaggiore, the "easy" parts.) So we took trails "7a" and "6d" to hike, via Volastra (a small town in the hills which is not an official "5T" town, and which I believe you can actually drive to), to Manarola. This in my opinion was the best of the trails. The first 40 minutes or so were pretty much straight up (as were the 2 trails we did on the first day) however the remainder was mainly along old terraces, so was pretty much flat, and the views were spectacular!
Enjoying a beer and a picnic. Strangely we didn't see anyone else lolly-gagging around on the trail with drinks and snacks. I guess it's a North American thing ...
Corniglia in the background.
Hiking along the terraces.
Our destination - Manarola, and lunch!
(An aside on the terraces. You can see from the fotos that a lot of the terraces are overgrown and out of use. Our landlady in Corniglia explained to us that most of the residents are now supporting the tourist industry by renting out apartments, running restaurants, etc, and not many folks are maintaining the traditional industries - running vineyards, growing olives, etc. In fact the population of Corniglia in the off-season is only about a hundred souls. The remainder move into their apartments in the city.)
The descent into Manarola was one of the highlights of the trek:
As was our Manarola lunch:
Some kind of pasta with pesto, grilled seafood, steak and chips. Yum!
We planned to take the ferry back to Levanto, however due to bad timing (I'm sure "Experienced Traveler" has never had this kind of bad timing) we just missed the 4 PM ferry and there wasn't another scheduled until 6 PM. So we took the train back to Levanto, had a short nap, and made a pact with ourselves: "No more hikes until we get back to Canada".
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