I know I keep saying it, but I think it keeps getting better. At any rate, each part of Italy that we have seen has been beautiful, and each in a different way. This leg of our trip, we are sitting on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean.
I couldn’t be any more serious than that. Our hotel is located in a town called Sestri Levante that is just north of the Cinque Terre. The hotel sits high on a hill overlooking the town and the beautiful sea. In fact, it sits on such a high hill that we were thinking perhaps our GPS had led us
astray. But no, it really does sit on the top of this hill overlooking the town. We just watched the sun set over the Mediterranean sitting on the patio of the hotel. Bill smoked a cigar and we drank some wine that we still had from France. Really, how does it get any better than that?We left Perugia about 10 this morning and arrived here around 2 or so. We caught our breath after seeing how beautiful this all was, got settled in, and then set out on our first-day adventure. We drove into the town of Sestri Levante, parked, and bought train tickets for Venazza, one of the Cinque Terre towns. About the same time, it started to pour rain. We went back and forth: should we go, or should we use the tickets tomorrow? The rain seemed to be coming down a little slower, so we decided to risk it and go into Vernazza.
Vernazza is probably the prettiest of the Cinque Terre towns. Cinque Terre stands for “five towns” that literally sit on cliffs overlooking the sea. You can’t reach them by road; you can only get to them by boat or train. There is a hiking trail that connects all of the towns. When we were here in 2001, my sister and niece and Bill and I hiked part of the trail. I would like to try it again. Maybe tomorrow.The area is known for lemons and basil, and I can attest that there are plenty of both. The gardens around the town are stupendous. They already have gorgeous tomato plants, and the basil grows wild. Because basil is so prominent, so is pesto. So what the heck? Bill and I both ordered spaghetti with pesto for dinner. Oh my gosh. Was it ever good
.Tomorrow we may go visit the beach that is near our little place. Or, I may just sit out on the patio and read and look at the ocean.
1 comment:
aaaahhhh...now that's living! We could almost smell the cigar smoke and taste the wine. Your writing invokes such nostalgia for us. Not for the places you are but for the places we've been...and loved! Now we want to follow in your tire tracks!!!
Arrevederci! Don and Jennie
Post a Comment