Home Again

We put the boat in bristol fashion, ready for our check-out inspection by 9:00 AM.  We managed to book 22.3 hours of engine time, broke one soup bowl, and filled the gray water tank to capacity.  George had a poutine breakfast while the rest of us watched in horror as we ate somewhat more conventional breakfasts.  By 9:30, we had said our goodbyes and promised to do this again…sometime.

We backtracked our trip to Smiths Falls, coming close to Montreal.  Deb thought it would be interesting to actually stop at “Habitat 67,” the condo complex designed through the inspiration of a McGill graduate student’s masters thesis.  There is a website that

offers tours of the buildings but not on the day that we were there.  Scrolling further down in the website reveals an interesting fact, and one that might help to explain Deb’s fascination with the building…it was originally designed using Lego’s!

Back home by 6:00 in the evening, one more dinner out before stepping on the scale to assess the damages!

Smiths Falls - Rideau Canal , CN

A little over the top!

 Our last day,  a 30km motoring back to the rental base.  The weather for the past week has been mostly hot, but today is decidedly cold.  The boat can be steered from inside or up top on the fly bridge.  George, likes to drive from the fly bridge, but after about half an hour decides to check out driving from inside.  After about another half hour, I can feel my fingers again, but not for long, because George has decided to drive from the fly bridge again.  All in all, a nice, but cool, trip back.  

We bought two boxes of wine, one white and one red.  It would be a shame to waste it…so we pretty much finish it off along with the rest of the cheese and crackers.  Deb has made marinara with the left over tomatoes and turkey.  It appears that we still have a bottle of salad dressing left, but that’s about it.  

Our bags are packed and we are ready for our 9:00 check-out tomorrow.  I haven’t decided whether or not to confess to breaking a bowl.  Maybe, I’ll just leave $3 CAD on the table and call it even.

The Narrows (redux) - Rideau Canal, CN

 As planned, we left the Narrows to go to Westport, ate lunch, and returned to exactly where we started but  facing the other way.  We started the morning with pea meal bacon, apparently the real deal for what we refer to as Canadian bacon. (it’s thin slices of pork in corn meal). After “locking-thru” we motored to Westport.  The most exciting part was not noticing the channel markers as we were coming into the town dock, but fortunately there were enough people screaming at us that we didn’t go aground before getting into the channel.  Westport is a lovely town, the ice cream parlor was closed for school break(?) but the local brewery was in full swing.

Now that we are on the fall schedule, the latest that we could “lock-thru” was 4:15, but we made it back and managed to “lock-thru” with 5 of our new best friends.  

Tomorrow, despite the chance of rain, will be our last day on the channel.  We motor back to Smiths Falls so we can be there before 9:00 AM the next day.  Back to the math problems, there is a lock just before Smiths Falls that doesn’t open until 10:00, so you need to get there the night before! I’m sure there is some sort of cosmic logic to all this, but if it were me… you shouldn’t make all our customers start their trip after all the locks were closed and end their trip before all the locks were open.  There, I’ve said my peace, I feel better…well not actually.

The Narrows - Rideau Canal, CN

 

We got to Perth yesterday, in shorts and a t-shirt…left with long pants, long sleeved shirt and a rain jacket.  Needless to say the heatwave has broken.  The day was half navigating the 12’ wide Tay Canal and half being on the open waters of the Big Rideau Lake.  We have three reference manuals, our topographical MacBook, our info book on the locks, and a general interest book about the canals and the towns.  With the three combined we have decided to spend the night on the downstream side of the Narrow Lock, which is the only side that has power, tomorrow we will go through the lock when it opens at 9:00 because it is a week-end and on the fall hours and go to Westport…eat lunch and return by 4:15 to get through the lock again to be back on the downstream side.  It’s a little bit higher level math than just dealing with tide tables.  

Canadian wine and cheese followed by the local speciality for dinner, pork wrapped in bacon and beef steak.  My fishing has yielded nothing but sunfish, but I still have a few more days.

Perth - Rideau Canal, CN

 To get to Perth, just go down the Rideau two lock and take a right on the Tay Canal.  The “Le Boat” instruction video says that the Tay Canal is only for experienced boaters.  So does a week on a boat make me “experienced.”  Apparently it does, since I didn’t hit anything or go aground! 

Perth is a really nice place. Since it is still in the 90’s, we stopped at a tavern for a quaff of ale.  We met some locals who confirmed that Perth is nice, Smiths Falls is not, and Merrickville is just a tourist trap for Toronto urbanites to squander their money.  So now we know all the local gossip.  It is important to note that the town closes at 7:00 PM.

Dinner at a German restaurant, and back to the boat. Next to us at the town dock is a small wooden boat with a Virginia registration.  They did not motor all the way from Virginia, which would have made a much more interesting story.  By 3:00, the rain started, officially ending our September heatwave.  We, of course, have a detailed plan for tomorrow, we are going to the downstream side of the Narrows Lock.  The people in the Virginia boat are headed north, probably.  They are going to spend the night…someplace, which should get them somewhere, sometime.  I’m in a boat full of type “A’s”. We all wish we could be so carefree, and someday, we will carefully plan a carefree trip!

Smiths Falls - Rideau Canal, CN

 

Todays voyage was from Merrickville to Smiths Falls.  There are several locks on the way.  No matter how slow or how fast you travel, the lock masters call ahead to the next lock to let them know you are coming, and you and your two new closest friends will join up up at each lock to rise or fall together.  

Smiths Falls is the boat rental headquarters and we take the opportunity to rid ourselves of sewage and take on more fresh water for our final five days.  Although a break in the heat is forecast, it’s definitely not here yet.  My pick-up truck is at Smiths Falls for the close of the trip, but we use it to make a quick dash to Walmart for a few items.  The air conditioner doesn’t seem to be working well until I realize that six days before, the weather was in the 50’s and I had the heat on!  

Dinner was pure Canadian with deep fried cheese curds (yes, the same thing that poutine is made from) with kimchi egg rolls (you can’t make this stuff up).  Wash it down with some local craft beer, Calabogie IPA (which was better than the Confused IPA that I had in Merrickville).  

Merrickville - Rideau Canal, CN

 From Burrit’s Rapids to Merrickville there are a series of six locks, a few swing bridges, and not much else.  The Labour Day week-end is over and there is no boat traffic on the river at all.  The people manning the locks are more relaxed, and all is serene.  Today is my first attempt at entering and exiting a lock.  Watching boats in the locks is a great tourist attraction in town…NO PRESSURE!

On our final set of locks, our lock mate says he is trying to get home, so I graciously let him go first, but instead he turns and steals our spot at the small town finger dock.  His mission is to save some money by carting 700 liters of gasoline from the local gas station back to his boat in 95 degree heat.  

With the sweltering heat comes a sudden desire to find an air conditioned spot for lunch, afternoon snack, Christmas shopping, before dinner drink…the list goes on!  Tomorrow is the last hot day but with a possibility of thundershowers!

Burrit’s Rapids - Rideau Canal, C

 Finished the Long Reach.  As planned, we arrived at Burrit’s Rapids at precisely noon.  As we were in the middle of lunch we were offered the opportunity to “lock-thru.”  As a further incentive, we were informed that none of the electrical outlets on this side of the lock worked.  So we moved to the upward side of the locks for the night.  Trying to avoid the standard birthday belittling, I asked Deb not to divulge that it was my birthday, but calls from both my children caused concerns that there may be troubles afoot.  Deb finally confessed and all was, for the most part, well.

For Canada, today was particularly hot, so we opted not to use the hob (Canadian for stove).  We cooked sausage, with asparagus, carrots and potatoes on the outdoor BBQ.  We have planned the rest of the trip in minute detail.  Of course, by mornings, things will have changed.

As a little birthday present to myself, I obtained a sport fishing license for the day.  I got to do some fly casting, while the rest of the part stayed on the boat to heckle me.

Hurst Marina, Rideau Canal, CN

 Our plan is to visit Manotick, then get a head start going down the Long Reach by spending the night at a commercial marina six miles south of town. The Long Reach is a 40km (26 miles) section of the Rideau Canal between two locks, which is where we would normally tie up for the evening.  Since we move fairly slowly, it takes about 8 hours to traverse the section.  We are somewhat concerned that there won’t be room at the city dock, so we get a fairly early start.  Fortunately, the dock is empty except for a few kayakers who were easily intimidated by our massive size.  After touring the local mill, in this order: ate a donut, ate a poke bowl, and ate a dish of ice cream.  Six miles down the Rideau, we pull into the Hurst marina, only 20 more miles to go.

Diner at a restaurant next to the marina.  Although we are in Canada, it’s in the 80’s and feels more like Georgia.  I just can’t get into the Canadian mind set.  So there it is, a choice…a pulled pork sandwich (might as well be in Georgia) or pulled pork poutine (nothin’ says Canada like poutine!).  I go for the poutine…next I may get a Maple Leaf tattoo!

So it’s Labour Day in Canada…  Canadiens put “you” in Labor Day!  That’s my dad joke for the week.

Long Island Locks - Rideau Canal, CN

Our sailing buddies, Therese & George 

On our first night, the water pump would come on, then the bilge pump would come on…over and over.  The result was half a tank of fresh water and half a night of sleep lost.  Turned out to be a switch left on for the “hot water cylinder.”  With that resolved, we set sail on the Rideau.  The boat we have looks something like a bumper car at the amusement part with black rubber strips wrapped all around it.  On the canal the rubber bumpers are a clear identified that we are clueless tourists.  

The boat can have a mind of its own swerving to the left or right, sort of like steering a pie plate, further enhancing the opinions of the locals that we a menace on the water.  The people who run the locks give us lots of friendly advice and work hard not to laugh hysterically as we try to navigate getting into and out of the gates.  

Rideau Canal - Ottawa, ON

 Up early in Montreal, no breakfast, out by 8:00 to meet our Virginia based friends in Smiths Falls, ON.  Deb made it 9:00 with no food, but then…Tim Horton’s to the rescue (a cross between McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts).  

The meet-up was successful.  We left our car and rode with them back to Ottawa where our 30’ Motor Yacht was awaiting us.  We had the all important walk thru at 3:00, so we were on high alert to accomplish  all our tasks ahead of time, including eating lunch and going grocery shopping for the items that we could not bring through customs.

Arriving with 10 minutes to spare, we offload the luggage and food, got the car parked in the designated parking lot and presented ourselves to the staff at the charter company.  They had felt that it would be easier to do the walk thru with another couple, who were decidedly more interested in a romantic evening

alone before being joined by their three children, then receiving detailed instruction on the use of a fire extinguisher, the location of windshield wipers, and how to flush a marine toilet.  After two hours of excruciating details, we each had to drive and dock the boat.  Each of us had a few hiccups and took about 5 minutes to dock, except for young wife who accomplished the task with perfect fashion in about a minute.

We all decided to have a congratulatory glass of wine, topped with a mexican dinner and safe evening still tied up to the same slip.

Auberge du Vieux Port - Montreal, Quebec (Day 2)

Today, we explored Montreal.  We are not really cathedral people, but they say that Notre Dame in Montreal is not to be missed.  

Deb has an aversion to cranes.  As we approached Notre Dame, there was a huge portable crane being used to disassemble a building tower crane, not what she needed first thing in the morning.  They are doing a large restoration project on one of the towers of Notre Dame.  As we got there, they were lowering a porta-potty right next to the entrance.  As Deb so astutely pointed out, there would be little reason for lowering a porta-potty unless it was full!  Fortunately, we made it inside without any problems.  The interior of the cathedral was ethereal, with deep blue ceilings and a massive altar. The lighting made it spectacular.

Back in the sixties, I came to Montreal to see the Expo.  Of all the pavilions, really, only the Biosphere remains.  We decided to take the ferry over to the island with the Biosphere and Habitat 67, a strangely shaped apartment complex designed by a McGill University architecture student.  As we rode the ferry, we realized that the Habitat 67 was not on the same island as the Biosphere.  The next time that we are here, we are definitely going to check out the Habitat 67!  

As we explored the Expo, I stepped on something that made a loud crunch!  Unfortunately, it was my reading glasses.  The rest of the afternoon, we were in search of a drug store…what an exciting way to tour a city…with a mission.

Back to the hotel, up to the rooftop for a before dinner cocktail, down to the street for alfresco dining, back to the bar for an after dinner drink and back to room to get ready for an early start of the rest of our trip.

Auberge Vieux Port - Montréal, Quebec

1967 Expo Dome in background. Chris was there!

 We took the pick-up truck from Portsmouth to Montreal.  Hopefully, we will have enough room in the bed to transport all our stuff from one place to another when we pick-up and drop off the boat in Ottawa.  At least that’s the plan.  

It rained most of the trip, off and on.  Sometimes blue skies, sometimes torrential rain.  We stopped for lunch in Montpelier, VT.  In July, the downtown streets flooded in a huge rainstorm.  All but one restaurant downtown were severely damaged, including the “Hippie Chickpea.”  So we ended up having savory crepes at the “Skinny Pancake!”  

The Auberge Vieux Port, as the name implies, is in the old part of the city.  There are dozens of restaurants.  According to trip advisor, of the 3,500 restaurants in Montreal, 500 are in the Old Port part of the city.  After a before dinner cocktail on the roof bar at the hotel, we stroll the sidewalks, looking for the perfect dinner spot.  Deciding to cater to my weaker side, we opt for “Vieux Steak House,” partially because it has a nice outdoor section off the street.  Even before we got our wine, the heavens opened up with a deluge.  The dining area was divided into two parts with awning sloped down to a center gutter.  The rain was way too much for the gutter which overflowed into the middle of the dining room, trapping our waiter, with our drinks on one side and us on the other.  In ten minutes, the rain stopped, and all was as it should be!

Montreal has a very European flair.  Similar to European boutique hotels, the shower in our room defies all logical norms.  It has three settings: the large shower head directly above you, from which there is no escape; the handheld shower wand which requires one hand for the shower, one hand for the washcloth and one hand for the soap; and the triple play, three shower head mounted on the wall, one in your face, one on your chest, and one at a more personal level.  My choice?  Not telling!

Greece and Italy Recollections

 The trip home had a treat.  We got some unexpected refunds from our trip that was cancelled due to COVID.  I used some of the refund to upgrade to first class on the way home.  Besides the benefit of travel lounges, getting of the plane first puts us ahead of 200 other people going through customs, which allowed us to catch an earlier bus home.

In Greece, we rented a car to drive through Peloponnesus (unless you take a bus tour, there is really no other way to travel).  It’s beautiful.  We avoided the National Roads (like freeways, except there are tolls) and stuck with the backroads.  They can be a little intimidating, especially driving through towns.  Parking is a problem, everywhere.  Double parking is a way of life!  Having GPS was essential because roads were not well marked, and many of the road signs were so heavily “tagged” that they were illegible.  Greek food (especially lamb) was delicious and inexpensive, but there are unwritten rules about what to eat, when, that we never really got.  We learned that noon was time for coffee, and dinner was about 7:30 or 8:00, breakfast was pretty early.  Everything else, we just winged and suffered the huffs of the wait staff.

We did not rent a car in Italy, and probably never would.  Most towns and cities are restricted to residents only.  The trains go everywhere, but you need to figure out what train system you need to take.  Travel is on the honor system, except when it isn’t.  You can either buy tickets ahead of time and have them on your phone or get a paper ticket from a machine.  The paper tickets need to be punched by another machine before you board, but obviously you can’t have your phone punched.  It took us four nights to get from Peloponnesus to Cinque Terre:  a night in Patra, GR, a night on the ferry, a night in Bari, IT, and a night in La Spezia, IT.  Not sure what we could have done differently, but it was the only part of the trip that seemed to drag.

Pisa was not on our planned trip, but was fantastic.  We were really glad we went.  We took a wine tasting trip into the villages of Tuscany.  We went through little towns, they had a few hotels and a few eateries, it might have been fun to spend a night at one of them.   Especially since Cinque Terre and Florence (the two places that we stayed for about a week, each) were very crowded. 

Next trip is the Rideau Canal in Canada.

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 8 of 8)

 

Our final day in Italy.  We have a few rules here.  There must be at least one garden tour, one lemoncello spritz, and a Negroni. There has to be at least one meal of Tuscany beef, at least one gelato.  There must be a visit to the Mercato Centrale.  Besides that the day is pretty much free.  

Deb is concerned that we might have to throw food away, so we need to finish off the cheese, the wine, the Tuscan salami and the the potato chips.  It’s gonna be a full day!

Today there was a 24 hour train workers strike, but no worry it should all be over by tomorrow.  To add to the day, it is the first completely sunny day that we have had since we arrived with temperatures in the 80’s.  

Tomorrow we head home, let the adventures begin!

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 7 of 8)

With only two more days left in Italy, we decided to go on a little adventure to see the tower of Pisa.  It’s about an hour train ride from Florence to Pisa, but we are pretty comfortable taking the train to get around. The Florence train station is very busy with cars and busses everywhere, the sidewalks are narrow and crowded.  Yesterday, we found a network of tunnels (unmarked so the tourists don’t know about it) which goes right under all the commotion.

From the train station to the tower of Pisa is about a mile, but it’s flat.  We were awestruck by the tower, itself.  It sits next to a huge basilica and baptistery on a large green.  Everything is in marble and incredibly ornate.  We climbed the tower which was a weird experience.  From inside you can feel the lean of the tower because the steps and the walls slant even though it’s only 5 degrees, although you have no frame of reference.  But it’s standing away from the tower and viewing juxtaposed with the basilica that makes the trip worthwhile.  

From the tower we saw the walls of Pisa with people walking on the top.  Unbeknownst to us when we started up the stairs, the walk is actually nearly two miles long, with stairs at the beginning and at the end fairly near the train station. We were somewhat concerned that the ending stairs were closed, since we never met anyone coming the other way and there was no one else on the wall for the last mile or so.  But  yes, the stairs were open, we got off the wall, crossed the river, got to the train, and arrived safely back in Florence.

 So here’s a little known fact.  Tripadvisor tops out at 2,000 restaurants “near you!” The place just below our apartment, Trattoria de Guido is #557 out of 2,000+.

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 6 of 8)

 

Today we “live like Italians” (well sorta).  First agenda item in the morning is to buy pasta and pasta sauce for dinner, bread, salami and cheese for lunch.  A trip to the market with a little haggling and we have everything we need.  Next agenda item is to get rid of our accumulated trash.  The guy who checked us into the apartment, showed us where to dispose of the trash with a broad sweep of his hand, pointing somewhere to the southwest.  Needing to be more specific, we scouted the area and found the trash receptacles in the Piazza della Unita Italia (where else could it be).  Next on the “live like an Italian” agenda is to find a caffeteria for an Italian cup of coffee (latte, cappuccino, etc).  Then a light lunch, siesta, another walk, and then to find an osteria (tavern) for an aperitif before dinner.

All we needed to do for dinner was heat the sauce and cook the pasta.  The apartment was well stocked with pots and pans, but we couldn’t get the stove to work.  After much head scratching, we realized that we had an induction stove and a kitchen full of aluminum pots and pans.  Back in the corner, we found two unused hot pink pots (apparently made of steel, because they worked!). The “revenge tourist” in me stuck the pots all the way in the back again…snicker, snicker!  The dinner, once cooked, was molto buono!

For tomorrow, our second to last day, we plan to see the tower of Pisa.

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 5 of 8)

 

We have tickets to the Boboli Garden behind the Pitti Palace. The garden was started in 1549 and was the inspiration for future European gardens.  

Yesterday, we went to our favorite place for lunch, the Mercato Centrale.  This was probably our fourth or fifth time there, but this time the first floor was open.  The second floor has food vendor, while first floor is more like a farmers market with produce, meat, raw pasta, and cheese  So, this morning we headed over to buy some fruit and cheese.  The fruit was easy to buy, but how do you say a quarter pound in metric?  Google calculator to the rescue, it’s about .15 kg.

Although we had been to the garden’s before, we had more time to see other parts of the garden this time.  Our favorite was the “Fountain of Little Snouts.”  A series of 16 little waterfalls on the top of a low wall with each little waterfall coming out of the mouth of a different character.  

Allium and dusty Miller

3 boys playing tag

Tomorrow our plan is to return to the Mercato, buy real Italian ingredients and cook dinner.

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 4 of 8)

 

Just another day in Florence.  All the street vendors store their carts in a warehouse just down the alley from us.  Every morning they roll their carts along the alley.  Not quite like hearing the birds singing, but close enough.

Today is our wine tour.  Although we are not “tour people,” a tour was probably the best way to see a little of the Tuscan hills and taste some Tuscan wines.  To minimize the risk of being seen as a tourist, we selected the “small group” tour, and selected the half day tour.

As it turned out, the tour was great, we learned about IGT  and “Docg” wines.  As a vineyard, you need to make IGT wines for five years, following all the rules, and then you can make “Doc” wines for ten years before you make “Docg” which is Chianti.  In other words, it’s very complicated, and you should be honored to be allowed to drink it.  We bought a few bottles along the way, with the promise that we would sip it slowly with a fine meal!  Just for the record, the vineyards we visited were Tenuta San Vito and Villa Ilangi.

The wine tour also offered a charcuterie which was either a meal or a snack depending on who you ask.  For dinner, we split 1/2 a chicken.

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 3 of 8)

Firenze Duomo

Sometimes it’s just the simple pleasures.  We packed 10 days of clothes, and carefully planned laundry stops.  Today we washed enough clothes to finish the trip, simple pleasures!

The last time we were here, we could not get into the Uffizi Gallery because the lines were too long.  COVID brought timed admission, so getting in is much easier.  The gallery was built in 1581, and was officially opened to the public in 1769.  It’s immense, with well over 100 rooms.  I sometimes wonder what aliens would think when they landed their spacecraft in places that we have been.  If they visited the Uffizi Gallery, they would have thought that we didn’t invent clothes until the 19th century!

Tomorrow, it’s a Chianti tour through Tuscany.  Originally, I was going to rent a car to see rural Tuscany, but seeing that things like driving on the right side of the road is merely a suggestion, I have decided against it.

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 2 of 8)

 

A light sprinkle in the morning keeps us in.  Deb had picked up a spinach and cheese pastry, yesterday which we decided would go well, heated up, with a cup of coffee.  Whoops, you can’t run a little convection oven and the coffee maker at the same time, but now we understand why the guy who met us at the apartment spent so much time explaining where all the circuit breakers were.  

With eight days, we are in no rush to see everything.  Today we walked around, saw some piazzas, ducked into the Galileo Museum, had some Chianti and ate.  According to the Washington Post, this is the year of the “revenge tourist.”  All that pent-up demand from the COVID years is exploding.  The streets of Florence are packed with tourists, which means that every available millimeter (see that metric reference) is taken up with some sort of eatery or winery or leather goods shop.  The front stoop of our apartment is a Gelatateria and next door is a

minimart.  Across the alley is an Al fresco bar that is open from 8:00 am till midnight, we’ve never seen an empty table.  Some people never really get the concept of “revenge tourist.”  For example, the previous tenant of our apartment put salt in the sugar container, and he’s probably still snickering…come to think of it, I left the salt in the sugar container…snicker, snicker!

We have reservations at the Uffizi Gallery (pronounced U-feet-see) tomorrow and then a Chianti tour the next day.

San Lorenzo Market - Florence, IT (Day 1 of 8)

Our apartment is on the left

 I could hear the little pitter-patter of rain drops this morning.  A perfect day for traveling.  I snuck in some little lemon pastries last night when I got the take-out ravioli, they complimented the tomatoes and cukes, that Deb had planned for breakfast, perfectly!  Check out, no problem, train to La Spezia, no problem. Which left only 3 hours to kill before boarding the train to Florence.  A second breakfast of cappuccinos and croissants, sipped the cappuccinos slowly, Italian style, so only 2 hours to kill.  With an hour left, they announce the train to Florence is on track 1. Trains in Italy arrive 1 to 2 minutes ahead of time, not a hour before departure, but the sign over the track says it’s the train to Florence, the doors on the train are open.  People are leary, they climb into the train cars but immediately jump back out.  Italians are so apprehensive that they are asking us if this is the right train…we’re not sure.  After staring at it and poking it for 30 minutes, we all decide that it’s probably safe.

Mercato Centrale 

We arrive at the apartment by 4:30, but it’s not ready.  No clean sheets, no towels, etc.  They promise that the cleaning crew is on the way, but what else are they going to say.  We have less confidence that the apartment will be ready before tomorrow, than we had that the train was really going to Florence.

We run a quick trip to the market to get coffee and milk for the morning.  By the time we return, we could hear the cleaners, somewhere in the apartment, complaining about something, we quietly dropped off the coffee and left for dinner before anyone noticed us.  See, that wasn’t so bad!

Seven years ago, we came to Florence, to meet our kids at the airport.  We spent three days in Florence before returning to our villa on the Amalfi Coast.  Megan Hinkley, was studying in Florence at the time, so we all went out for a dining experience at the Marcato Centrale, lots of food vendor hawking various epicurean delights.  Deb has been wanting to relive the experience, ever since.  And pure ecstasy…no seafood…just chicken, and beef, and pork, and lamb, and potatoes and rice.

Casa Duomo - Manarola, Cinque Terre, IT (Day 6 of 6)

 Yesterday’s scramble over the mountain between Riomaggiore and Manarola did nothing good for Deb’s trick knee, so we are taking it a little easy today.  Our destination is Corniglia, our favorite town, for a big lunch.  From the train station in Corniglia to the town is 370 steps up and, of course, 370 steps down to come back.  With a Cinque Terre Card, we can take the bus instead.

Caffe normale 

Although I had “signed up” for a big lunch, I realized that I haven’t seen a green vegetable since we got to Italy, almost two weeks ago.  I ordered pasta and green beans.  Deb, who has seen too much fruita de mare (seafood) opts for hamburgo de Angus con petatine fritte (hamburger and french fries!).  Italians usually have coffee after the meal. After clearing our plates, the waitress asks, “Caffé?” I answer “si.” She says “normale?” I say “si.”  And then she brings out an espresso cup that is a quarter full, an interesting definition of “normal.”  The tour books say that a good Italian can sip his coffee for two hours or so. Wow!

Alternative transportation between towns

After our siesta, we do our final tour of Manarola, checking out a few little alleys that we had missed before, had an aperitif, stopped at the pasta take-out for some ravioli to eat at the apartment, and started preparing for the final leg of our journey, Florence.

Casa Duomo - Manarola, Cinque Terre, IT (Day 5 of 6)

 

Raining again, but we still have one more town to explore, Riomaggiore.  We are staying in an apartment across from a Wine Tasting bar.  Every morning, the trash collector comes to take away a truck load of empties.  

The train schedule has been disrupted by maintenance work, so there are 30 minute delays on most trains which makes for even larger crowds at the stations.  Our trip to Riomaggiore takes only two minutes, once we finally get started.  Our biggest decision of the day is, again, whether to eat a big lunch and a small dinner or vice-versa.  Today, we opt for panini (sandwiches) for lunch, which I inherently think of as small, but Deb apparently thinks of as big.  Hmmm!

The afternoon has cleared and the walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola is only about a mile.  Of course, the path is straight up and then straight down.  Views are lovely, and the smells are great. Coming down into Manarola, we come across a younger man who has apparently slipped and hit his head and is spitting blood.  His party has called Mountain Rescue, who were arriving just as we got to him, with medics and a stretcher.  We could see down in the town where ambulances, rescue vehicles and police cars were assembling.  After awhile, a helicopter arrived on the scene as well, but left without providing any aid.  After about an hour or so, everybody just left. (Sorry, no closure on this!)

We finally got to the Wine Bar across the street, sampled some wine with a charcuterie board, delighting in the knowledge that we were going to hear our wine bottles crash into the trash truck tomorrow.  Deb felt that the charcuterie would be a sufficient dinner, I was not of the same opinion.

In Portsmouth, we have the 110 Grill, across the street, as our easy, we’re not cooking tonight, go to.  Here we have La Regina de Manarola as our, across the street, go to place.  Deb had a Caprese Salad and I had a ham and artichoke pizza.  So we survived another day!

Tomorrow is our last day, and we have been to all the towns, so we are going back to our favorite, once we figure out which one that is!

Casa Duomo - Manarola, Cinque Terre, IT (Day 4 of 6)

 

Morning rain, so a few loads of laundry, to start the day.  By noon, we are ready to roll. Today, we visit town #4, Vernazza.  It was heavily flooded in 2011, up to the second floor with a huge flash flood.  Today it is a bustling tourist town with more restaurants than inhabitants.  The trains are crowded, as usual, but we are able to get a seat.  Our mission is to get pranzo (lunch) at some outdoor cafe.  We find a place in the square by the marina.  The wind is a little gusty which occasionally blows wine glasses right off the tables, but the sun is out.  Most of the food served here is local, so it’s vegetables and seafood, with ubiquitous pasta.  Deb, not a seafood lover, has been searching for Bolognese (tomato and meat sauce) but is not

Pranzo 

finding it on most menus; however, today she is in luck.  Spaghetti and Bolognese.  I go for the pasta and mussels (it turns out the mussels make pretty good little sails when the wind is up).  After lunch, we amble around town, climb the tower on the edge of town (built in 1276), as required of every tourist, and then return to the train station, smug in the knowledge that the train actually stops inside the tunnel, not at the train terminal where all the tour-groups have congregated.  We will get seats, they won’t!

Back to Manarola for a short siesta before heading out for dinner.  Deb snags some lasagna bolognese, and I have sea bream, the whole thing…head, tail, fins and all!

Tomorrow we plan to walk to town #1, Riomaggiore.

Casa Duomo - Manarola, Cinque Terre, IT (Day 3 of 6)

 Today is a sunny day, yesterday was rain, and the next three days are forecast to have rainy periods.  So this is our chance for a dry day to hike to Corniglia (the “g” is silent).  The hike is about 3 1/2 miles, with 1,200 stair steps on the Manarola side with a total elevation of 1,400 ft.  The big question is which way to go: up the stairs or down the stairs? Our knees are better prepared for up the stairs, so we decide to go from Manarola to Corniglia rather than the other way.  The climb out of town is very steep, so we got incredible views almost instantly.  Of course, there was a small town about half way with bars and restaurants, but we are serious hikers (and, besides, it was only 11:00) so we pushed on without stopping.  

We’re not in awful shape, but we were both very happy to see the edge of town in Corniglia.  At the end of the trail, a restaurant beckoned us, along with all our other trail mates.  After lunch, we explored the town of Corniglia, with narrow passageways filled with restaurants and shops everywhere.  Corniglia is the smallest of the five towns and the only one that is on a cliff, high above the water.  The train that runs between the towns is fairly close to the water, so we probably should have seen what was ahead…370 stair steps from the town down to the train station.

Back in Manarola, it’s all uphill to our apartment.  We planned on going out for a cocktail…cancelled!  We planned to go out for dinner…cancelled!  It’s boxed wine and take-out pasta night!

Tomorrow, we will have more energy, hopefully!

Casa Duomo - Manarola, Cinque Terre, IT (Day 2 of 6)

 It’s Mother’s Day. It’s also rainy, so Deb did a little laundry.  No dryer, but a well used European clothes drying rack and a jar of clothes pins.  We’ve set it up in the kitchen because it’s pouring outside, the sun is scheduled to come out at noon, maybe.

Even if it stops raining, the trails will be muddy, so hiking is out for the day.  Instead, we head for Monterosso, the most northern of the five towns.  It is divided into the new town and the old town with a long tunnel (or a steep hill, you choose) between them.  As we get off the train, the rain starts again.  When faced with a town teaming with restaurants, we often get decision paralysis…rain is a great cure for that.  At the first restaurant, Deb takes a look at the menu…octopus, mussels, anchovies…she’s all in (really?).  We get a lovely table, with a gracious waiter, who helps us with our feeble Italian.  Good food is molto buono not molto bene.  Deb settles for the beetroot gnocchi, the only item on the menu without seafood, and I have the anchovy pasta.  By the time we are done, the sun is finally out.  We walk around the new and the old part of town before settling for our afternoon aperitif.

After talking to our kids, a Mother’s Day treat, we head for a quaint restaurant across the alley from our apartment.  Deb saw the place last night and wanted to make reservations, menu unseen.  As it turns out, the menu had three selections of raw fish and a cheese pizza.  After some discussion with the waitress, Deb was able to get her tuna “slightly more cooked.”  Well, the view from the table was fabulous, anyway.

Tomorrow, hopefully, the trails will be dry and we can hike to Corniglia for lunch.