The last weekend of September we took a couple days off work, and did a long weekend down in Italy. Much of the tranquility gained during the short visit has already been lost to the day-to-day rat race. All the same, it was a lovely trip. And one thing that is still quite present in our day-to-day is the newly acquired pasta machine. But more on that later. Now for the trip details...
Thursday evening after work we (Ignasi and myself) headed to the airport. We got into Florence late that night and went straight to our hotel to pass out. Unfortunately the hotel was surrounded by freeways. So, although it was a very lovely, clean, new place...we didn't get much sleep.
Up bright and early Friday morning we groggily ate some breakfast and went to get our car:
That morning we drove straight from Florence to Levanto. Parked the car. Sorted out when the next train to Monterosso would leave, and wandered to the waterside to kill some time.
Our first proper beer of the trip had a pleasant view:
We arrived in Monterosso (the Northern-most city in Cinque Terre) in the late afternoon. We had planned to hike the upper trail between the cities, and this turned out to be a good plan because the whole lower trail had been closed off due to landslides. We had some kilometers to get behind us, and had a late start, so we didn't spend any time in Monterosso. We just dove straight into the hike. The first leg of the walk was a bit more straight up than expected. And it was hotter than expected. Later in the day than expected. And we were hiking off of less sleep than expected. So, as you might imagine, it was a bit of a struggle. And we were beat by the time we made it up to Soviore. I think the strategically-placed water tap two thirds up the trail saved us. Since at that point we were most of the way through our water. Anyway, we randomly came upon this structure in the woods on the way up:
The monastery at the top was quite beautiful. I particularly liked the organ inside the church. And was a little surprised to find a lot of people had written all over it.
After Soviore we continued on to Vernazza. At this point we were quite a ways above the water and got to enjoy some great views.
When we were in Levanto earlier in the day we got some provisions, so somewhere between Soviore and Vernazza we found a nice stump and ate a late lunch:
Looking down on Vernazza—Quite the descent ahead:
View of Vernazza from the water:
Some kids darting between the boats looking for something...
Turns out that' something' is little styrofoam bits that they were turning into mini-boats:
The hunter:
Our destination that night was Corniglia. We decided we had no desire to go back up the mountain to the upper trail from Vernazza. It was getting late and would be dark soon, so not only were we out of time, we were beat. Since the lower trail wasn't an option, we had to take the train from Vernazza to Corniglia. Corniglia was a very quiet town. A very welcome atmosphere to be in. We ate dinner at the only restaurant that was still open. The appetizer was divine.
"Early" the next morning we hit the trail to Riomaggiore. We had about 8 or 9km to do that day. Since the weather wasn't too good, and we were taking the uppermost trail, we didn't run into too many people. And it was a lovely hike. Ciao Corniglia:
The trails were all very well marked and easy to follow:
The trail varied a lot between dry sections, wet sections, forested/and non. There were some portions that made me feel like I was hiking in the Northwest more than in Italy:
The trails were well marked...but the trees had other plans:
Being on the upper less-traveled trail, there were some sections that were full-on bush whacking. It didn't look like anyone hiked it. It got quite a bit thicker than this at times:
The clouds were kind enough to burn off for our day-two picnic:
After lunch we descended straight down to Riomaggiore. That was a lot of downhill. Stairs. My legs were feeling it for a couple days for sure. We got to the town's waterside and had a seat, contemplating what to do next. It was fairly dead there, a sharp contrast to what I read about it during the peak season months. When we were about to make our move to the train station, we were approached by a random stranger.
She said she had seen us from her balcony and decided to invite us up for a wine. She could see that we were beat. A little strange, but sure why not. Turns out she's from the States (well, sort of guessed that one immediately when she started talking). Oh Portland Oregon? Really? SE Portland? Yea...I know the neighborhood. Turns out we have the same employer. Talk about random. She was doing some traveling with her sisters and had arrived to town at 4am that morning. So she was all too familiar with the feeling of getting to town and trying to figure our what to do. Anyway, meet Vanessa and her great balcony:
On the balcony with Riomaggiore behind us:
Vanessa's door:
We decided to skip Manarola. It would have been nice to see it, but we had already seen 4 of the 5 towns, and we had a bit of driving ahead of us that day. So, instead we opted for the quick train ride north to Levanto to get the car and head south.
So Phase 1 of the trip—hiking Cinque Terre—came to a close. And it was time for Phase 2—Tuscany Countryside.
We arrived late Saturday night to our agriturismo under the guidance of the full moon. Being overwhelmed with the smell of rosemary going up the drive, we knew were were going to be enjoying our stay.
Sunday we woke up at Podere San Lorenzo just outside of Volterra. I was worried about being disappointed since my visit to Casa Migliaca in Sicily set the bar impossibly high. But it wound up being very pleasant and I would recommend it to anyone. The old house is surrounded by olive trees and overlooks a lovely valley. In the back they had a semi-natural swimming pool. And off the south side of the house is a very impressive garden.
Our room turned out to be an apartment, with a little kitchen. Something that we took full advantage of for breakfast:
Our first full day in the countryside we decided to take a little drive over to San Gimignano. San Gimignano (we never said it correctly) turned out to be a very bizarre, very medieval, very touristy little town. I call it bizarre because of these weird tower columns that dominate its skyline and looks unlike anything I've seen before. Lower in the post I have a picture of it in the distance.
We wandered the streets a bit. Took in a outdoor photography show, and ducked into a store to grab some edible goodies. At the store we asked for a lunch recommendation outside of the city.
And that is how we wound up at Da Pode, just outside of the city. How am I supposed to park with all these olive trees getting in my way? Sheesh! Rough life.
Lunch was a proper food-coma-enducing experience that required a walk afterword. While poking around the back roads behind the restaurant we sampled some of the region's bounty:
U.S. Mail eh? We wound up seeing a lot of these guys.
San Gimignano in the distance:
Back at Podere San Lorenzo we had another coma-enducing meal for dinner, and got better acquainted with the feline of the house:
The next day we decided to do a hike to Volterra. We thought we were following the trail. But it wasn't exactly marked. We definitely made a wrong turn at some point. Either way, a few backyards, vineyards, and olive trees later we eventually stumbled our way into town.
Volterra was very quaint and quiet. I liked it.
We dipped into this place to sample a local wine.
Turns out it was covered in bras. When we asked about them, they said they were gifts. Ok Mr. Suave.
And then we did some more shopping.
Another picnic lunch with another view:
After lunch we realized we didn't have a whole lot of time to make it back to our cooking class at the farm. But, we thought, what the heck, may as well try that trail from this direction. We made a wrong turn again. But eventually we found the way we had come up and re-traced our steps. Except this time we had a cooking class to get to. So we ran. It was a fun little hop/skip/jog down the mountain amongst grapes and olives. After a quick rinse in the shower we made it to the cooking class without a minute to spare.
Unfortunately at this point my phone was dead and we had no way to take pictures. But basically it was fun. There were 3 of us in the class plus the cook. We started by making the dessert and putting it in the freezer. Then we made ravioli, and spaghetti, and a chicken dish to feed the 12 guests that were staying at the farm. We finished making dinner, cleaned ourselves up, and sat down to a great meal. First Course: Spinach Ricotta Ravioli:
Our dining hall was a chapel (pretty cool), and below are our test subjects (I think they liked it):
Their olive oil at the end of the chapel:
It was time to say goodbye to the farm, but not without getting some of their olive oil!
General trajectory of the day: Drive Volterra to Poggibonsi to Castellina and hit the SS222 scenic highway through the Chianti region up to Florence. I must say, I thought the countryside around Volterra was much more beautiful than the Chianti region. Seemed less populated. But I was driving the 222, so who knows, I'm sure it's more beautiful when you get off the main road.
A great sculpture near the highway, not sure the artist:
Stopping in a grocery store to get a pasta machine, I was quite impressed by the 3, yes 3, aisles of pasta. Wow.
Landscape parting shot:
We randomly stopped at a place along the highway to buy some wine. This lady said a lot of things in Italian:
And then she showed us her olive oil. Wow. She scooped it directly out of the pot, poured some in a spoon, and gave it to us to sample. Can't say I've ever sampled oil directly from the source like that before. It was delicious:
We made it to Florence much earlier than expected. Returned the car and took a cab straight into the heart of the city. Oh, what's that tower ahead?:
Yes. The Florence Duomo was indeed very impressive.
Climbed the 400 and something steps up. Great view:
Climbing up the tower:
The ceiling of the baptistery was stunning. My neck was sore from looking up. I really just wanted to lie on the floor:
And then it was time for a refreshment. Can't say I've ever seen mountains of gelato before:
Gelato con Koffee
Gelato con Leather Gloves
Bought some artwork:
Ate a delicious dinner:
Where we stayed in Florence was a bit ridiculous. It was amazing. Found it on airbnb (click here). It was an apartment located right in center, with this thing out the bedroom window:
Went to bed staring at that thing.
Woke up staring at that thing.
Enjoyed some made-in-Taiwan poetry during breakfast:
We spent the final morning of our trip at the Uffizi museum. I do not have any pictures of it (no cameras allowed), but we saw a lot of work. I certainly enjoyed it, but I must say, I'm perfectly okay with not seeing another painting of Mother Mary with Baby Gee for...lets say 10 years? I got my fill.
Ceiling of the pizza joint we grabbed lunch:
Spotted some fake windows, grabbed our bags, and headed to the airport.
We made it back to Amsteradam safe and sound. With all our treasures intact. The pasta machine has been a very good investment. I must say I'm getting the hang of the dough, and we've probably eaten more pasta in the last couple weeks than a human ought to.
