Nancy's Travels

We were woken by the lovely church bells of Sinio, and an enthusiastic rooster. We head down the stone staircase for breakfast and realized what we missed the day before - A colorful buffet breakfast laid out like a palette before us - orange and grapefruit juice, scrambled eggs with pomodoro, procciutto, cheese, croissants, bread, cake, yogurt, fruit torte, fruit (watermelon!), cereals... and oh, the local ricotta with chestnut honey - holy cow yummy! We sat with a wonderful couple from Florida (Vincent & Karen), and hit it off immediately. After much laughs and second servings of ricotta, we reluctantly made our way upstairs for checkout.

It's mid-morning, and armed with our GPS persona whom we've named Madison, we head for the riviera. The landscape gradually morphs from rolling vine-covered hills to steep mountain-like terrain covered with trees. We thread through tunnel after tunnel and eventually the ocean is revealed to us - a stretch of deep blue just beyond the maze of highways and the city of Genoa (Birthplace of Columbus!). The landscape is actually quite drab and gray, full of anxious cars and concrete, so we're grateful to be navigating out of the main city and into the much smaller town of Nervi. Arriving at our hotel - "The Romantik Villa Pagoda", we were somewhat dissapointed to discover that our most expensive hotel booking bordered the local train tracks. ("Not so romantik" Chris remarked.) Even with a sea-view room, we already missed the idyllic castle just a bit.

Undaunted by the heavy clouds outside and occasional thunder, we grabbed our jackets and set out for Camogli (recommended by Denise at Sinio). Fifteen minutes later of weaving along the coast, we arrive and park just outside a very quaint sea-side town. We gravitate towards the beach, and start down the main "boardwalk" lined with shops and bars. In a flash, the light drizzle turns into a downpour - and we didn't have an umbrella! Luckily we ducked into a gellateria and I yummed up my strawberry and fiore di latte gelato as we sat on a bench outside under the awning. Two italian ladies chatted up a storm next to us as we watched a parade of wet people go by. Eventually the sky relented and we headed for the village square. Having perused the seemingly endless shops and patisserias, we find our way farther up in town and decide its time to enjoy some local vino.

Enoteca La Bossa is the perfect solution! This cute wine bar has a modern flair and walls lined with bottles and books on food and wine. It is owned by a Julio Iglesias look-alike in cowboy boots, hand-writing out the menu for the evening. He recommends a couple local white wines from Cinque Terre, and we shed our jackets, ready for some relaxation. When the wine arrives, it is accompanied by a plate of fried anchovies (locally certified) and bruschetta with a tuna pate and olive tapenade. In time, we order another 2 glasses of wine (all quite delicious, light & fruity), and before we know it, it was dinnertime! "Why not?", we thought, and asked for the dinner menu. We order with some help from his handsome son (deciphering his father's handwriting). Chris is presented with mini gnocchi sauteed with fresh polpi (octopus), and I got the local Ligurian pasta: Trofie al Pesto. I have never seen such green pesto sauce, and the aroma was intoxicating. Molto bene!! A little old italian lady with RED hair walks in and sits at the table next to us. She orders a glass of red wine, some kind of fried pop-tart filled with mozzarella (of course we had to order one too), and a grappa for dessert. Locals coming through all seem to know her, and she asks us where we're from. Before long, she offers some sagely advice. "Don't spend money on house. Spend on vacations with eachother - those are the best memories." She says with a faraway look in her eyes. She shares that her husband passed away a long time ago and her best memories are from their vacations. She said life has been difficult, not because she's alone, but because she loved him. Awwwn. She finishes her grappa, smiles at us, and waves good-bye.

Overly satiated, we extract ourselves from the enoteca and are lured across the street into a little bar by the promise of live jazz. We find a table next to the band (sax, guitar, and bass) and order a couple pints. Chris and I spot an italian Scrabble set nearby and start a game - I impressed myself and spelled Duomo! Most importantly, the band was totally groovy! When our eyelids got heavy, we made our way out into the night air and back to bed. Tomorrow is the much-awaited Cinque Terre!