On the Italian Riviera...

Now, where were we up to...?

Mike and Bev, David and Jill left Oberammergau in Germany about 10.30am, and David's text message said their ETA was about 7pm. 7pm??? David's GPS had told him that Assisi was less than 500km away, so it was a rude shock when he discovered mid afternoon that it was leading them to a town over 200km north of here! Communication with our travellers has often been tricky (quirks of mobile phones and poor coverage here at Paradiso) so it was a God thing that I happened to step outside about 9pm to send a text message and received David's SMS saying they had arrived in Assisi but couldn't get through on the phones. After some confusion (they were waiting for me in the town below while I was hunting for them in Assisi), we found one another, and they spent a week here soaking up the peace and beauty of the house, area and towns. We had the traditional farewell dinner together, this time in our favourite restaurant in Assisi (La Palotta).

Jan and I left early Wednesday morning for the Cinque Terra on the Italian Riviera, the strip of coast between Tuscany and Provence. We decided to check out the old city of towers of San Gimignano on the way, which was lovely, but the lack of detail on our map meant we got considerably confused trying to get back onto a main road, and our journey to Volastra took about an hour longer than it should have. We arrived at 5pm to be greeted warmly by the English owner of the apartment, which was very modern and comfortable, somewhat surprising in the 400 year old house.

Volastra sits high above the 5 coastal towns of the Cinque Terre, and has very few tourists. We felt we experienced a bit of life in an Italian village there. Every cellar seemed to have a wine press (the old wooden ones) and we awoke one morning to four chaps tossing freshly picked crates of grapes into a stainless steel sorting contraption outside our window one morning. They enjoyed our fascination with the noisy process.

We spent 3 lovely days exploring the towns of the Cinque Terra and nearby Portovenere by bus, train and boat. The weather was glorious, and the towns charming - colourful and built impossibly on steep rocky slopes. The most astonishing feature though were the 1000 year old drystone wall terraces covering the slopes and are still used to grow grapes and olives. We saw them up close and personal when we walked down the long and steep pathways from Volastra to Riomaggiore - twice! Our friends at Curves would be proud of us!!

We arrived home on Sunday to three different people - the Marshalls and Robinsons had left for Venice that morning, and were replaced by Lance, Sandie and Deslie. While Lance had a recovery day at home yesterday, the ladies walked the streets of Assisi, were treated to a service and singing by an Irish choir in the lower basilica, and all bought some special things.

We're off to Spoleto and Deruta this afternoon. Jan's just putting the finishing touches to a lunch of crusty bread, cheese and tomato, so I'd better go! Ciao till next time....