Sunday, October 10, 2010

Perfect October Days – New friends in the Lunigiana

Some days are just perfect so much so that they make you realize how lucky you are and enable you to forget about any other trials or tribulations that you may be facing at that time.
On saturday we went by train to the Cinque Terre. We took an early train from Sarzana, the crystal clear blue sky and early morning sun bode well for the day. Our five month old Norfolk terrier puppy Sam normally straining at the leash  hid under the bench on the platform his first experience of the fast screechy monster that raced past the platform. We changed at La Spezia and by 10.30 we had our first glimpse of a sparkling Mare Ligure as we alighted at Riomaggiore in the sun. We leisurely walked round the town, up to the quaint  little church and down to the port where we sat on the rocks and people watched, my favourite Italian pastime.


The port of Riomaggiore
We then retraced our steps back towards the station and the Via dell’Amore. There were quite a few people around now on the coastal path (the area is a popular tourist attraction)but notwithstanding this it was enjoyable. The views from the path are spectacular and the October sun brought back memories of summer.
We arrived in Manarola hot and thirsty (most of all Sam) for whom we quickly found a little fountain from which he could drink. Unfortunately the path between between Manarola and Corniglia was closed but so we decided to have a stroll around Manarola and an early lunch in the port. We chose the restaurant overlooking the small port(Ristorante Marina Piccola) and had an excellent(and leisurely) seafood lunch accompanied by a crisp white wine overlooking the sea. Sam had a nice rest in the shade. It was soon time ti make tracks as we had an evening appointment in the Lunigiana our first visit to the Luni Wine Club (the 11th so far)to be held in Lusignana.  We decided to head back along the the coastal path to Riomaggiore to get our train to La Spezia/ Sarazana and also to work off our lunch. We arrived back in Sarzana around 4pm and time for a quick nap.
Our early evening appointment at the Luni wine club was in Lusignana a small town in the Lunigiana we had never visited; armed with maps, written instructions regarding a landslide to avoid and a GPS we headed off into the sunset The evening was beautifully clear and the clouds on the Alpi Apuane reminded me of the cloth of cloud which often covers Table mountain in Cape Town. Once off the motorway the narrow road required some concentration(and no looking out of the car window) as it winded up into the wooded hills. After some wrong turns we eventually arrived at the top of a hill and a small village in which time seemed to have stood still. We had to call for help from our hosts to guide us on foot through the narrow streets to the venue for the wine club that evening a warm living room in front of an open fire. The meeting that evening consisted of a tasting of two Tuscan white wines and five reded, Chianti,Cabernet Sauvignon and Supertuscans all from the province of Arezzo. The company consisted of the organizer Heiko and his wife and the attendeees mainly expat residents in the area. We had a good time improved our knowledge of wine,made some new friends and discovered a new area to explore later at our leisure. We left late with flushed faces and head out into a cold dark night under a  galaxy of stars.
A great day and one to remember.


Via dell'Amore