Levanto

Buon Giorno!

I have so much to write about after not blogging for a week, my head is spinning trying to remember where I have been and what I have done (but that may just be the wine I had with lunch, as opposed to the overwhelming amount of places I have to write about).

After leaving Lucca last Monday, we arrived in Levanto, a town on the Italian Riviera, just before lunch. This was a really pretty town, and our hotel was along the main street, just up the road a little from the beach. We had a short walk along the shore where Mandy pointed out a few paths that we might like to explore, before having lunch and then having the afternoon free to do as we pleased.

Elise and I went for a walk up one of the paths that Mandy had showed us, which took us up to a small castle which was locked and we couldn't go in. We walked a bit further up the hill though and got a great view over Levanto and out to the Mediterranean Sea. When we got back down to the waterfront of the town, we poked our noses in the gates of one of the four houses in Levanto owned by the family which owns Fiat (the car company). There was a beautiful garden inside the gate but, alas, the gate was locked and we couldn't go in, so I put my camera through the bars to take a photo! As we were turning back around to head back to the hotel, we were approached by an older Italian man who said something to us in Italian which we didn't understand. He said something about the gates being closed and we said "Yes". He asked us where we were from and where were we staying? He took rather a liking to Elise and started walking with us with his arm draped over her shoulder and pinching her cheek (on her face, not her bottom). Elise got a bit concerned when he tried to hold her hand. I was racking my brains as we were walking along, trying to think of a way to rescue her, but short of telling him straight out to rack-off, I couldn't think of anything. To our relief, he left us of his own accord (to go into a bar, I think).

We saw him again that evening as we sat on the promenade by the beach, watching the sunset. We avoided eye contact and hoped that he wouldn't see us, and thankfully he just walked on by. It was a beautiful sunset.
The next morning, we were relieved to find that it wasn't too cold (as it had been freezing, Mandy said it was supposed to snow in Florence the day before) and the sun was shining. In other words, it was perfect weather for walking the Cinque Terre! We caught a train to Riomaggiore which is the first town in the Cinque Terre, and the furthest from Levanto. It was an amazing village where the houses appear to be stacked on top of each other and set into the cliff. Here, we found the start of the path and walked to the second town, Manarola. This first section of path was very easy as it was sealed and relatively flat. It winds around the cliff, high above the water. We walked through a tunnel named "Lovers Lane" so called for the graffitti on the walls where couples have professed their undying love for one another (or just written so-and-so luvs so-and-so 4 eva), and the padlocks which couples have attached to the railing and thrown the keys into the sea (Mandy was concerned for the longeivity of the couples which had put combination locks on the rail).
From Manarola, we walked to Corniglia, the path this time being a little rocky and there were a couple of small inclines. When we reached the end of the path, we had to climb up 380 steps to reach the actual town and continue to the next town. Mandy left us here as she had work to do, and Carole, Tracey, David and Elsie decided to stay for a while and have a drink, so Matt, Kate, Elise, Bruno and I continued to the next town together.
The path between Corniglia and Vernazza was the longest and was again a little more challenging than the previous two paths, having a few more inclines. We were encouraged by the thought of lunch in Vernazza. Vernazza, I think, was the prettiest town of the Cinque Terre. We had lunch at a pizzeria, and were quite suprised to find that the toilet here was a porcelain tray set into the floor, with a hole in the middle, and places for your feet either side! Now, I know that these types of toilets are common in Asia, and in fact there are worse, but we were all a little suprised to see one at a restaurant!
We had a walk around the harbour after lunch, before heading on the path to the last town of the Cinque Terre- Monterosso. This path was a kilometre shorter than the previous path, however it was more challenging, as it was basically a climb for the first 1.5km, followed by a decline for the last 1.5km. I lead the way, and it was quite amusing to hear Matt swearing behind me everytime we turned a corner to find more steps!
Our reward at the end was Gelati (and of course, another nice town to look at). We met up with Tracey and Carole at the train station in Monterosso, as they had caught the train from Corniglia to Vernazza, and then the boat from Vernazza to Monterosso. There were 2 trains due to come within about 2 minutes of each other, as one had been delayed, so we all got on the first train that came along. When we arrived at the next stop, which was Levanto, Bruno, Elise and I, who had all been sitting in the one carriage got off, however, we couldn't see the others who had got on the carriage before us. We looked around the platform for them, but there was no sign of them, so we began to worry that maybe they had all fallen asleep and were on their way to Milan!

We walked back to the hotel, and it was only a few minutes after we got to our rooms that Elise and I heard Kate and Matt's voices coming up the stairs. Apparently, we had got on an intercity train which you need a special reservation for, and it is a 50 euro fine if you get caught without a valid ticket. Tracey and Carole had found this out as they got on the train (in the first class coach in front of ours) and told Kate and Matt to get off, but they couldn't find us to tell us to get off the train. Apparently, while we were worried that they might have been on their way to Milan, THEY were worried that we were facing a 150 euro fine between us, and that possibly we were being taken to a prison cell because we didn't have enough money on us! They were planning on coming to the police station to bail us out!

That night we went to another great restaurant, this one owned by friends of Mandy. Pesto is the local speciality of the region, so I had the pasta with pesto, potatoes and beans. Now, I would have thought this an unusual combination (especially the potato with the pasta), but actually it was really delicious, and was possibly my favourite dish up until a couple of nights ago.

Before we headed out to the restaurant, a couple of the others had some pre-dinner drinks at a bar where they met an old Italian local called Guiseppe. He was about 80 years old and followed us to dinner! He was unable to sit at our table though as there weren't enough spots, but he bought all the women on our table a rose each when the flower seller came around the restaurant! After dinner, a few of us went to a bar for a few more drinks (well, it was Mandy's last night in Levanto afterall), and Guiseppe followed us there as well! There, he bought us a bottle of red wine to share, and I have to say that it smelt really good (a bit like port) but it tasted really bad! In the words of Elise: "The tannins in that will suck your arsehole up through the roof of your mouth!" I really couldn't put it any better than that.

The next morning was a rainy, cold day, which we have now come to expect of our travel days. Unfortunately, we had to check out of our hotel by 10:30am, but our train didn't leave until 4:30pm. Added to this, the shops tend to shut in most towns in Italy for Siesta, which tends to be from 1pm-4pm, so we couldn't even keep warm and dry whilst checking out the shops. We had to settle for eating a warm lunch (Elise and I found a cafe where they sold a fantastic lasagne) and then having coffee at another cafe. Actually, Carole and Tracey decided that it was time for a stiffer drink, so they ordered a port each. They were a little suprised when it came out in 2 large wine glasses. They were very warm after drinking them (and quite happy too).

We caught the train from Levanto to Asti, which was a 3 and a half hour trip.

There's still so much more to tell you, but I'm going to leave you with that for the moment, and I'll blog again later.

Ciao,
Lis x.