Day 12: Lerici
The sun is shining this morning so our plans to take the boat to the Cinque
Terre are a go. After another wonderful Doria Park breakfast, we walk down
to the dock and buy our tickets for the boat. When I ask for tickets to
Vernazza, our favorite of the five towns, the clerk tells me that the sea is
too rough for landings at Vernazza and the boat will only be stopping at the
largest town, Monterosso. If we want to go to Vernazza, we will have to
walk or take the train.
The hour and a half boat trip is extremely pleasant. We stop at the
entrance to the Gulf of La Spezia--Portovenere, a very striking town with a
tall row of colored
buildings overlooking the harbor, a long boat harbor and an impressive
church set out on the rocks at the narrow mouth of the harbor. Soon we are
cruising along the Cinque Terre coast, with its olive groves and vineyards
planted on what seem to be impossibly steep grades. In addition to the
five towns, there are smaller villages scattered on the cliff sides--they
seem to defy gravity hanging on the sides of the hill.
We pass the first four villages and go in close to the rocky shore for
better views. At times, we can see the hikers walking along the trail half
way up the cliff face and once in a while, we see the train as it emerges
from the tunnels that have been blasted into the rock for its trackbed. The
sun is shining brightly, the water is a beautiful blue--a great ride.
We dock in Monterosso and immediately head for the railroad station to see
when the next train to Vernazza will leave. There is one scheduled in
fifteen minutes, so we buy our tickets and wait on the platform for the
train to come. Two trains come into the station at the same time and
somehow I have misread the schedule; we are waiting on the wrong track. We
run to the other track and jump on the right train just as it starts
moving--a close call. Vernazza is only minutes away and we hop off the
train and walk down into the town.
We have heard how crowded the Cinque Terre has become but thought it was
worst on weekends. But on this Tuesday afternoon, the main (only) street in
town is wall to wall with people. They are milling around, eating lunch,
shopping, strolling up and down, finishing their hikes, getting ready to
take their hikes--they are everywhere. We also note that there is not only
an internet cafe but a self-service laundromat--a far cry from the somewhat
sleepy town we had first visited in 1993. We make our way down to the
waterfront and walk around the rocks for a while....the town is still very
attractive and it is not hard to understand why so many people are there.
But it is not the same with wall to wall tourists.....
We've done the walks in the past and are just looking for a relaxing
afternoon in town. We decide to eat lunch on the main piazza, overlooking
the harbor, at Gambero Rosso, which has gotten very good write-ups in guide
books. We get a table quickly (one was vacated by a young couple who never
ordered--we
speculate that either they couldn't get a waiter's attention or the place
was too pricey for
them). The restaurant is crowded--there is a table of twelve German
tourists, who are keeping the one waiter that we see very busy. But a
second, very charming waiter saves the day....it is amazing how little
effort it takes for a waiter to ingratiate himself.
We eat very well and enjoy the unending passing parade of people walking
from town to the harbor and vice-versa. We have some local
specialities--Diana starts with tortelli with a very fresh and sparkling
pesto sauce and I have something called mes-ciua, a soup of various grains
and a delicate broth. For seconds, Diana has a composed dish of potatoes,
tomatoes and fresh anchovies, while I have a delicious plate of La Spezia
stuffed mussels--cozze ripieno. For dessert, I get a very good panna
cotta, with a chocolate sauce. We drink a local Cinque Terre white which
goes down very easily.
Lunch is a big success...we have a good time and enjoy the food very much.
It has been very leisurely so we head back to the station to get the train
for La Spezia. We have decided not to take the boat back, but will catch a
bus in La Spezia back to Lerici. Diana stops on the way at the bakery and
has the same type of walnut cake that she had on our previous visits....it
is still very good.
The station is packed with people going in both directions. Just before the
train is supposed to arrive, we hear an announcement that our train is
running about 25 minutes late. We tell this to some puzzled Americans on
the platform and decide to sit down and wait for the train. In spite of
the crowds, we have enjoyed our visit to Vernazza but think that this may
well be our last trip to Vernazza, unless we come in the off season.
The train finally comes and we are in La Spezia ten minutes later.....the
train spends most of its time in tunnels so there are no views of the water,
except when the train stops at the other Cinque Terre town stations. Once
in La Spezia, we find the bus stop for Lerici but we miss the first bus
because we don't have any bus tickets. (In fact, we could have jumped on
and made it without tickets; the inspectors on these buses are few and far
between.) We only have to wait for fifteen minutes for the next bus and
the trip to Lerici takes about 30 minutes. The bus makes a long circuit
through the city of La Spezia, passes the large naval yard and port area,
and goes through the beach town of San Terenzo before arriving in Lerici.
Very convenient.....
Before going back to the hotel, we stop in the wine and olive oil store that
we have gone to on previous visits. On both occasions, we had nice
discussions with the proprietor and he was very gracious giving us short
courses in olive oil and balsamic vinegar before we bought. After we show
him my card, he remembers us and we have another pleasant chat--in a mixture
of Italian and English--about politics in Italy and the introduction of the
Euro. We buy a couple of bottles of the Cinque Terre sweet
wine--schiacchetra'--for presents and a few bars of olive oil soap.
We only have about thirty minutes before Luigi, our friend from the Doria
Park, comes to pick us up for dinner. We are heading to Palmaria, the
island just across from Portovenere. You have to get to the restaurant by
launch from Portovenere. We drive to Portovenere, walk around, and have an
apertif at a cafe on the waterfront....as well as a nice array of snacks.
The boat ride to the restaurant takes about ten minutes. The restaurant is
a very attractive building with a covered porch with windows looking over
the water towards Portovenere. The light is wonderful as the sun is
setting.
We order the house specialty, the antipasto di mare. We get an endless
series of dishes with all manner of seafood--fritters, mussels, fried squid,
shrimp, marinated anchovies as well as some non-seafood dishes, like fried
rice balls. It is all delicious. There is so much to eat that we agree
that we can only order one more dish each--either a pasta or a secondo.
Luigi and I share two pastas--one with asparagus and shrimp and the other
with a red seafood sauce and mixed seafood. The asparagus pasta is the
better of the two. Diana has a grilled gamberoni dish, which is tasty but
difficult to deal with cracking the shells and getting the meat out. No one
has room for dessert. We agree that the antipasto was the high point of the
meal and that it would be nice to return to the restaurant in the summer
when one can eat out on the terrace.
We have to wait about 15 minutes for the launch to come and then the drive
back to Lerici takes about thirty minutes. We have had an extremely
pleasant evening with Luigi; we enjoyed the food and the company very much.
We are very glad that we decided to come back to Lerici....it is really one
of our favorite places in Italy.
Jim and Diana
Terre are a go. After another wonderful Doria Park breakfast, we walk down
to the dock and buy our tickets for the boat. When I ask for tickets to
Vernazza, our favorite of the five towns, the clerk tells me that the sea is
too rough for landings at Vernazza and the boat will only be stopping at the
largest town, Monterosso. If we want to go to Vernazza, we will have to
walk or take the train.
The hour and a half boat trip is extremely pleasant. We stop at the
entrance to the Gulf of La Spezia--Portovenere, a very striking town with a
tall row of colored
buildings overlooking the harbor, a long boat harbor and an impressive
church set out on the rocks at the narrow mouth of the harbor. Soon we are
cruising along the Cinque Terre coast, with its olive groves and vineyards
planted on what seem to be impossibly steep grades. In addition to the
five towns, there are smaller villages scattered on the cliff sides--they
seem to defy gravity hanging on the sides of the hill.
We pass the first four villages and go in close to the rocky shore for
better views. At times, we can see the hikers walking along the trail half
way up the cliff face and once in a while, we see the train as it emerges
from the tunnels that have been blasted into the rock for its trackbed. The
sun is shining brightly, the water is a beautiful blue--a great ride.
We dock in Monterosso and immediately head for the railroad station to see
when the next train to Vernazza will leave. There is one scheduled in
fifteen minutes, so we buy our tickets and wait on the platform for the
train to come. Two trains come into the station at the same time and
somehow I have misread the schedule; we are waiting on the wrong track. We
run to the other track and jump on the right train just as it starts
moving--a close call. Vernazza is only minutes away and we hop off the
train and walk down into the town.
We have heard how crowded the Cinque Terre has become but thought it was
worst on weekends. But on this Tuesday afternoon, the main (only) street in
town is wall to wall with people. They are milling around, eating lunch,
shopping, strolling up and down, finishing their hikes, getting ready to
take their hikes--they are everywhere. We also note that there is not only
an internet cafe but a self-service laundromat--a far cry from the somewhat
sleepy town we had first visited in 1993. We make our way down to the
waterfront and walk around the rocks for a while....the town is still very
attractive and it is not hard to understand why so many people are there.
But it is not the same with wall to wall tourists.....
We've done the walks in the past and are just looking for a relaxing
afternoon in town. We decide to eat lunch on the main piazza, overlooking
the harbor, at Gambero Rosso, which has gotten very good write-ups in guide
books. We get a table quickly (one was vacated by a young couple who never
ordered--we
speculate that either they couldn't get a waiter's attention or the place
was too pricey for
them). The restaurant is crowded--there is a table of twelve German
tourists, who are keeping the one waiter that we see very busy. But a
second, very charming waiter saves the day....it is amazing how little
effort it takes for a waiter to ingratiate himself.
We eat very well and enjoy the unending passing parade of people walking
from town to the harbor and vice-versa. We have some local
specialities--Diana starts with tortelli with a very fresh and sparkling
pesto sauce and I have something called mes-ciua, a soup of various grains
and a delicate broth. For seconds, Diana has a composed dish of potatoes,
tomatoes and fresh anchovies, while I have a delicious plate of La Spezia
stuffed mussels--cozze ripieno. For dessert, I get a very good panna
cotta, with a chocolate sauce. We drink a local Cinque Terre white which
goes down very easily.
Lunch is a big success...we have a good time and enjoy the food very much.
It has been very leisurely so we head back to the station to get the train
for La Spezia. We have decided not to take the boat back, but will catch a
bus in La Spezia back to Lerici. Diana stops on the way at the bakery and
has the same type of walnut cake that she had on our previous visits....it
is still very good.
The station is packed with people going in both directions. Just before the
train is supposed to arrive, we hear an announcement that our train is
running about 25 minutes late. We tell this to some puzzled Americans on
the platform and decide to sit down and wait for the train. In spite of
the crowds, we have enjoyed our visit to Vernazza but think that this may
well be our last trip to Vernazza, unless we come in the off season.
The train finally comes and we are in La Spezia ten minutes later.....the
train spends most of its time in tunnels so there are no views of the water,
except when the train stops at the other Cinque Terre town stations. Once
in La Spezia, we find the bus stop for Lerici but we miss the first bus
because we don't have any bus tickets. (In fact, we could have jumped on
and made it without tickets; the inspectors on these buses are few and far
between.) We only have to wait for fifteen minutes for the next bus and
the trip to Lerici takes about 30 minutes. The bus makes a long circuit
through the city of La Spezia, passes the large naval yard and port area,
and goes through the beach town of San Terenzo before arriving in Lerici.
Very convenient.....
Before going back to the hotel, we stop in the wine and olive oil store that
we have gone to on previous visits. On both occasions, we had nice
discussions with the proprietor and he was very gracious giving us short
courses in olive oil and balsamic vinegar before we bought. After we show
him my card, he remembers us and we have another pleasant chat--in a mixture
of Italian and English--about politics in Italy and the introduction of the
Euro. We buy a couple of bottles of the Cinque Terre sweet
wine--schiacchetra'--for presents and a few bars of olive oil soap.
We only have about thirty minutes before Luigi, our friend from the Doria
Park, comes to pick us up for dinner. We are heading to Palmaria, the
island just across from Portovenere. You have to get to the restaurant by
launch from Portovenere. We drive to Portovenere, walk around, and have an
apertif at a cafe on the waterfront....as well as a nice array of snacks.
The boat ride to the restaurant takes about ten minutes. The restaurant is
a very attractive building with a covered porch with windows looking over
the water towards Portovenere. The light is wonderful as the sun is
setting.
We order the house specialty, the antipasto di mare. We get an endless
series of dishes with all manner of seafood--fritters, mussels, fried squid,
shrimp, marinated anchovies as well as some non-seafood dishes, like fried
rice balls. It is all delicious. There is so much to eat that we agree
that we can only order one more dish each--either a pasta or a secondo.
Luigi and I share two pastas--one with asparagus and shrimp and the other
with a red seafood sauce and mixed seafood. The asparagus pasta is the
better of the two. Diana has a grilled gamberoni dish, which is tasty but
difficult to deal with cracking the shells and getting the meat out. No one
has room for dessert. We agree that the antipasto was the high point of the
meal and that it would be nice to return to the restaurant in the summer
when one can eat out on the terrace.
We have to wait about 15 minutes for the launch to come and then the drive
back to Lerici takes about thirty minutes. We have had an extremely
pleasant evening with Luigi; we enjoyed the food and the company very much.
We are very glad that we decided to come back to Lerici....it is really one
of our favorite places in Italy.
Jim and Diana
