The Ligurian Riviera
“Italian culture is so deeply soaked in an appreciation of the good things in life”. — Mariska Hargitay
The weather continued to play hide and seek between clouds, rain and sunshine as we made our way from Turin towards the Ligurian Riviera. We did not stop in Genoa which appeared large and commercialized as we drove by but made landfall in Santa Margarita Liguria that charming town nestled right on the water a few miles from the popular Portofino.
We continued with the food and wine tasting part of the program focusing on the local delicacies of fish, pesto and walnut sauce but here we also focused on enjoying the natural beauty of the water and the colorful fishing villages nestled in the hills and bays.
Rain greeted us on arrival into Santa Margarita as we quickly dropped off our hand luggage at our hotel and made our way to the town itself where we had time for lunch if we wanted or wandering.
The rain and drizzle certainly did not keep us from any activities, but we did have to adapt to the weather conditions. Private cars, buses and trains instead of ferries which were nonoperational due to the turbulence of the water.
While we missed the adventure of taking boats and ferries and seeing these picturesque destinations from the water, sometimes the views as we came out of the train stations was breathtaking.
Christopher Columbus is a local boy born right here in Genoa. His discovery of the America's however was credited to Spain since it was Ferdinand and Isabella who financed his expedition, but the locals have honored him with a statue right here in the main square of Santa Margarita.
Vendors of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin wandered this area selling rain gear and tchotchkes. While I was not in the market for either I had quite the conversation with a young homesick Pakistani student.
There were not a lot of people wandering around here thanks to the rain, but I did notice a few daring people dipping their toes into the water and these young children exercising their high spirits along the rocky shore. No calls of caution from adult throats, I always wonder where the parents or other supervising adult is when I witness such situations.
We boarded our private cars hired to take us to Portofino in lieu of the ferries or public buses. Portofino was wet with the rain deciding to greet us with abandon as we walked from the taxi stand down towards the iconic waterfront.
Despite the damp and overcast weather we managed to walk around and get a feel for this little spit of a town and dip into some of the shops that surround the harbor. Having heard of the local delicacy of fresh fruit and cream we had determined to get us some at the Dolce and Gabbana Gelateria.
Unfortunately, they were not serving due to the rain and so we found a cafe that was happy for our business and parked ourselves under an umbrella and proceeded to get a load off our feet and engage in some interesting conversation with the cafe owner server.
We ordered the local treat, paciugo which is a delicious concoction of gelato, berries and cream. Yum, yum, good to the very last drop and lick of spoon.
The cafe owner was in a mood to chat, and Usha was very curious about the stories she had heard about the Ambani celebrity guests who had visited during the summer and shut down the town for their exclusive visit.
We sure got the inside scoop as the cafe owner regaled us with how the entire town was taken over and all the cafes and restaurants cooked to order for these special celebrities. Something that has never happened before in their history and he doubts would happen again. It's definitely the talk of the town as was at our hotel where the concierge told us about their 4-star hotel that had been booked to house some of the staff that were attending the celebrities on board the cruise ship.
There is a very small local Indian population in Santa Margarita, but it so happened that one of the hotel staff was an Indian gentleman from Mumbai. He told us how all the locals pestered him about his nonexistent invitation to the festivities.
Interesting kettle of fish indeed.
Enough about gossip and onto bigger and better things especially the weather which dawned bright and shiny the following morning. Notwithstanding the day's sunshine the water was still choppy and turbulent and not conducive to ferries so trains it was as we took off to spend the day in the legendary beauty of Cinque Terra.
Our first stop of the day was in Monterrosa. As you emerge from the train station the beautiful view of the water is right in front of you. We walked with our guide along the promenade to the village and enjoyed visiting the church and browsing through the quaint town before meeting back at the train station.
A one stop hop on the train took us to the second town of Vernazza. As the rest of the group set off to go to the harbor area, I decided to stay closer to the train station, grab a Cappuccino and people watch.
A good move as it turned out since the sky turned a bit threatening and a rain squall blew over the town as I sat safe and snug beneath an umbrella watching and listening to the people around me.
Our last stop for this morning was Manarola a couple of train stops from Vernazza. While we had been warned on how challenging and demanding this day would be on us, fortunately both in the choice of the villages we visited and, in the weather, we ended up having a lovely and yet not too strenuous day.
After a delightful lunch in a trattoria, tasting the local walnut inspired sauce that was absolutely delish and a limoncello spritz, we wandered to the waterfront to admire the picturesque scene that is featured as the calling card for Cinque Terra.
I recalled our guide's warning at the start of our day that the colors of the houses are not as bright and bold as we are used to seeing in social media. I loved the pastel colors against the blue of the water and definitely wished that this was one village that we could have approached from the water for truly spectacular pictures.
Due to the choppy waters, all the boats were pulled up on land and I was amused to see this mom with her young baby using a boat to shade and change her baby.
As the day wore on, the crowds in these little villages continued to grow as did the crowds at the train station. The narrow streets were made narrower still with all the boats being pulled up along the sides of the street and the growing crowd of people walking and enjoying the afternoon.
With warnings about pickpockets ringing in our ears we made our way to the train station through the crowd keeping a hand on our bags and wallets.
Human nature is so contrary, the day before many had been unhappy with the rain and gloom, today it was hot and muggy. Nothing is perfect but we had a tiring but full and perfect day.
It was a wonderful experience navigating all these beautiful villages using public transportation though of course we had guides and whispers in our ears telling us about our approaching station.
After a brief nap back at our hotel to refresh ourselves, we decided to spend the evening on the patio of our hotel enjoying aperitivos and the sunset across the expansive beauty spread out before us.
After a fantastic couple of days here in the Ligurian Riviera we were ready for the next stage of our adventures in the foodie region of Italy.