6/17/14, part 2. The post where I talk more about the last few days.

6/17/14:  we left Monte Carlo Sunday morning and set out for Cinque Terre ("Five Lands"), five small Italian villages on the Ligurian coast.  A bit more rustic than our last week, but one of my favorite places in the whole world.  Again, we rented a villa for a week so we could have a leisurely vacation, enjoying the sights and immersing ourselves a bit more in the local culture.

And boy, have we immersed ourselves!  The road that leads to the villages is very scenic, ringed by wildflowers, forests, and beautiful views of the sea - all meant to distract you from the fact that you are on a treacherous one-lane switchback road hundreds of meters above the sea, with no idea what is coming at you around the next blind corner.  We've seen hikers, packs of cyclists, scooters, motorcycles, cars, work trucks, and station wagons pulling campers.  My patient, long-suffering husband gets a gold star and a defensive driving award for getting us through this alive.  He was very cautious the first few times he made the drive, but by now he is driving like a local.

The villa is on a bit of land high above the Cinque Terre.  In fact, it is considered to be in a very small village that was probably bigger at one time, but now consists of our villa and three other families who have larger pieces of property with small farms in addition to their homes.  The family next door has a laundry business and it looks like they wash every towel in the Cinque Terre.  Our villa appears to be new, or at least it has been completely remodeled.  There is a large iron gate and a stone drive leading to the house.  There is a large stone patio looking out on the sea with two outdoor tables and two lounge chairs, as well as a wood grill, a sink, and an outdoor shower (spiders included free of charge).  There is a large "yard" beside and behind the house with olive, cherry, and several other types of trees as well as wildflowers and a very shady area with concrete benches.  While the owner doesn't get high marks for accuracy in advertising (the villa lacks wifi and air-conditioning, contrary to the listing), she gets an A for creating a beautiful and peaceful getaway.  Fortunately, the weather has cooled down enough that the air conditioning is unnecessary and as for the wifi, well, it's doing us good to be without it for awhile.

By early Sunday evening we were ready to explore, so we made the trip down to the nearest Cinque Terre town.  We were a bit concerned they might roll up the sidewalks early on Sundays and wanted to make sure we got dinner and some breakfast supplies for the following morning at the villa.  We needn't have worried.  We got our groceries and tried to find a restaurant, but most had not yet opened for dinner, so we had an opportunity to explore the village thoroughly.  When the restaurant we had scoped out for dinner opened, we were the first ones in the door and when we left after a nice leisurely dinner, it looked like the town was just gearing up for the evening.  

It was still dusk when we got back to the villa, so we sat outside until it got dark.  As we stood up to go inside, we saw a firefly buzz past us into the shady area beside the villa.  We decided to follow him and discovered he had hundreds of friends, and they were all flying around happily under the trees.  We stood there watching them for several minutes, in complete silence except for the sound of their buzzing and the wind rustling the tree leaves.  It was perfect.

The roosters started crowing at 4am Monday morning.  Apparently the roosters in our little village have an agreement to ensure they each get a solo in the morning and it was quite a lengthy performance.  No need for alarm clocks here.  We spent the morning exploring another town and buying dinner supplies.  After a delicious lunch, we trudged back to our car full and happy, and spent the afternoon hiking on a trail just outside our village.  The trails here are fairly steep and rocky, so all our stair climbing last week was a good warmup.  After making it through nearly the entire hike in a vertical position, I managed to fall down on the very last bit, no more than 100 meters from the villa.  I was wearing jeans and fell on my most heavily padded spot, so no damage done.  (I knew that extra ten pounds I've been carrying would come in handy at some point!)

My patient, long-suffering husband whipped up a delicious (and thankfully, light) meal with the supplies we had purchased.

Then we spent another quiet evening watching the sea and talking.  Not about work or calendars or chores.  Just talking.  Something we rarely can find enough time to do at home.  We also spent a little time with our new canine friend.  One of our neighbors has a dog who came to check us out when we first got to the villa on Sunday.  He sniffed every inch of our car, he sniffed all over the property, he sniffed us.  He finally let us pet him, but just once, and then he was off.

He wears a bell on his collar, so we always know when he is coming by to visit.  Last night when he made his rounds, we opened the gate and sat down on the road outside.  He came to us and sniffed us thoroughly again to ensure nothing had changed.  Then he stood there quietly and let us pet him for awhile.  He didn't seem to enjoy it or to loathe it.  He just knew it was part of the bargain.  After what he deemed was a sufficient amount of time, he went on his way without so much as a "ciao".  Or in his case, a "goodbye", because oddly enough, if his tag is to be believed, his name is Russell.  

Our human neighbors are very friendly.  We leave our car windows rolled down so we can exchange pleasantries when we pass by and we see them when we take our walks.  Everyone seems to be outside most of the day.  If I lived here, I would be, too.  I'm not sure what they think about one of their neighbors building a fancy villa and renting it out to strangers, but they've been very kind and we are trying to be good neighbors.

I have a lot more stories to tell, but this has already gotten longer than I intended and it is now that time of evening. Time for watching the sea, making dinner, and spending time with Russell, the fireflies, and my patient, long-suffering husband.  Ciao.