geriandlennyblog: SATURDAY May 21st, CINQUE TERRE AND THEN LUCCA!

SATURDAY, CINQUE TERRE AND THEN LUCCA!

We got up early, had breakfast at the hotel and checked out by 8:00 so we could walk to the boat to tour the lovely 5 cities of Cinque Terre. Our first, most important task of the day, was to ask the front desk clerk to call our landlord to let her know that we would be arriving about two hours late, at six p.m. instead of at four. He placed the call but could not reach her and there was no answering machine. He kept our information and said he would try throughout the day to reach her.

We set off on our mile walk to the hop on hop off boat that tours the five cities. The cost was 24 Euros which is about $36 US per person. With a brisk stride, we made the boat in plenty of time. We had already seen lovely Manarola and we decided to go to the furthest town first, Monterosso, about a 50 ride on the water. Monterosso is a gorgeous little town; the only Cinque Terre town built on flat land. This is a beach resort town with many beaches (rocky like gravel), colorful umbrellas and beach chairs, hotels and a zillion little cafes, restaurants and shops. People are laying on the beach all decked out in their bikinis and speedos, no matter how fat they are, letting it all hang out. I, Geri, decided that a speedo should be one of our purchases for Lenny – hah! Geri was really taken by the Italian men in their speedo’s. I on the other hand was looking at those in bikinis or parts of bikinis. We spent about an hour and a half in the town and then caught the boat to go to Vernazza. The boat leaves on the minute – truly, not a minute late.

Vernazza is considered the jewel of the Cinque Terre towns. There is a lovely harbor, many squares, cafes and shops. The beaches were crowded with people, some actually swimming in the yet cold water of the Mediterranean. Though it has been in the highs 70s and perhaps into the 80s, this is the very beginning of their season. Vernazza’s high cliffs are topped by an old stone church and a castle with a bar almost hanging off the cliff. There is also a restaurant up there with an amazing view and we decided that we would splurge, no matter what, and climb up there for a wonderful glass of wine and lunch, making that our big meal of the day. We followed the signs for what we thought was the restaurant. It was a huge heart pounding hike to the top where we found, not the restaurant, but the castle and view. Having made it to the top, we plunked down our 3 Euros to look at the view which was spectacular and probably worth the climb. Near the top, we saw the back of the restaurant and there was a sign that they were closed due to a death in the family. Sorry for the family but glad that we didn’t climb up the other way only to find the restaurant closed. With this news, and now really hungry, we settled for a good pizza and a glass of very cold beer. Yum! Not quite the lunch we had in mind but it was really very very good. We missed the boat departure by a few minutes so had to end up walking through the narrow streets of Vernazza for about another hour and a half which was lovely. Now we decided that we had to return to Porto venere, retrieve our car and set off for Lucca and our next adventure in our rental house. Fortunately, there was a note at the hotel desk letting us know that our late arrival was fine. A trip to the Cinque Terre is very high on our recommended list and we feel that if you have limited time, the three cities that we visited were certainly the way to go:

Manarola, Monterosso and Vernazza!

Our GPS, Betsy, is getting us close to each destination, but not quite there. We easily arrived in Lucca and quite close to our house but not quite there. We did have to stop at a house with an address one house away to ask how to find our address. The people did not speak English, as has been the case, since arriving in this part of Italy. Everyone, however, takes a crack at looking at our map and trying through an endless chatter of Italian and gestures to show us where we need to go. We were clearly in the countryside. “Betsy” gives us directions to “enter the turnabout and take the fourth exit” however, there are always too many little choices and we end up going around and around, then giving up and trying to find someone else to ask. Once we understand how to go, we see how we went wrong. We are determined to figure this out and not get too frustrated.

Our mustard colored huge house turned out to be the owner’s house and our accommodations are at the back of the house, very separate and fine for a week. We rang the bell and were greeted by the husband who spoke not one word of English. His wife was not there; she was at her shop, but through much gesturing, etc., he called her and indicated that she would come in about 15 minutes. He did take us to show us where we would be staying. There is a very modern kitchen – well sort of – no microwave, no coffee pot, at least none in sight. A modern stove works by turning the gas on and off by a lever on the wall. On the kitchen table were two bottles of wine, one red and one white as a welcome gift. There is a modern refrigerator and freezer – no ice cube tray in sight – a dishwasher, a washing machine – no dryer – and a nice bathroom. There are two tv’s with nothing but Italian stations, a lovely wooden kitchen table and a glass dining room table, a somewhat lumpy couch, a large but sparsely furnished bedroom – the husband thought that we would not be able to have internet access – oh no – this is why we chose this place.

In about 20 minutes, Gisella arrived. She apparently owns a shop and had to leave it unattended to come to see us. She came armed with a huge container of gelato from her store for us and some biscuits. She is delightful. Within 5 minutes, in broken English, she gave us the lay of the land. Her husband was sent to bring a modem and hookups but still no internet access. Gisella assured us that tomorrow she would get someone to get it to work. We told her to go back to her shop and not to worry. We did ask her for a dinner suggestion and for directions to a supermarket which she gave us.

Then they were both gone!

By now, it was 7:00 and believe it or not, we were hungry again and also needed to get some provisions for breakfast in the morning. The fridge had one bottle of water and we only had one can of sardines, left over from our Barcelona breakfast routine.

Gisella’s directions totally confused Betsy, well not exactly Betsy, but us. The directions for the restaurant took us to the walled city of Lucca and we did not understand how to enter the city. Gisella did not say that the restaurant was in the walled city and at this hour, we were not brave enough to give it a try. After three attempts, we gave up and found a small market where we purchased a bread and some marinated eggplant and peppers and onions and two pieces of lightly sautéed wonderful looking fish which we thought we would have for lunch the next day. The owner, actually spoke a little English and recommended his favorite local restaurant about 15 minutes away. He showed Lenny on the map and wrote out the name of the restaurant for us. Betsy got us close, as usual, but not quite there. After stopping a few people, we got the pointing and gesturing through lots of Italian and voila, we were there. The restaurant was closed and it was a Saturday night! A neighborhood woman, who spoke decent English, told us it would be open the next night and was definitely worth the trip back. At least we had a plan for the next day. Worried that we wouldn’t be able to find the house in the dark, we opted to return and have the fish sandwiches and a glass of wine for dinner and start over in the morning.

It was a wonderful day filled with some frustration but we were not undone over it. Here we were, outside of Lucca, Italy, in a little house, with a delightful owner who would certainly give us all the help we needed tomorrow. What could be better!