Mum & Lizzie Arrive
Mum and Lizzie arrived in Genova two (three by now) Thursdays ago. A little late but were treated to a lovely European spring day when they did finally reach Genova. Vilija met them at Milano and accompanied them on the train back to Genova and their accommodation.
We had found them a lovely little bed & breakfast right in the centre of Genova called L’Albero. L’Albero is run by Adriana who, fortunately doesn’t speak much English and allowed Mum & Lizzie to put into practise their Italian that they swatted up on before coming.
As chance would have it, Michaella arrived that weekend too, so as Vilija trotted off to Milano to play with her (read all about their shenanigans here) and I took Mum & Lizzie on their first touristy activity. After a slow, grey and drizzly morning we made our way down to the train station and jumped on a train to Camogli.
Getting there we meandered our way down the hill from the train station to the waterfront where we stumbled upon a ferry that was departing for San Fruttuoso. San Fruttuoso is a tiny fishing village surrounded by step cliffs and is only accessible by boat or foot. It is also home to the San Fruttuoso Abbey that dates back to the 8th centenary. We made the snap decision to jump aboard and headed off to enjoy a relaxing lunch in the sunshine that had broken through the grey morning.
After lunch we caught the last boat out and back to Punta Chiappa (the stop between Camogli and San Fruttusoso) as I had heard about a church named San Nicolo that was located here. Warning Mum & Lizzie that there would be a bit of a climb they said that there was no problem. Well it turned out that it WAS a little problem. We took the scenic route up the side of the mountain and it definitely tested them. By the time we arrived at San Nicolo a short break was taken. I must say that San Nicolo was a LOVELY church the only downside was its location. It is not accessible by car and only by either a 20minute descent from San Rocco or 10 minute ascent from Punta Chiappa.
After the short rest we continued up the hill towards San Rocco. With lots of muttering, puffing and will power, we all made it. I did, however, at one stage revert to bribes of Gelato in order to keep morale high. We then made our way back to Camogli and then Genova where we all had dinner that was it for the day.
The next day Mum was keen to see the (in)famous Cinque Terra. It was my turn now to mutter and complain a little as I have been to the home of the “American and Australian tourists in Italia” (aka Cinque Terra) several times now. (I still stand by my previous statements that if you want to do some walking in the Riviera your better off doing the walk from Camogli to Portofino. I think it might be slightly more difficult but definitely more rewarding.) Lizzie choose to sit this one out and have a relaxing day recuperating in Genova.
Taking the train down we arrived at Montorosso to find it the busiest I have ever seen it. We took the boat from Montorosso to Vernazza for a different perspective of the coast line. Blocking out the piercing sound of Anglo/American accents, the view from the ferry was lovely.
From Vernazza we walked to Corniglia. Again, much to mum’s credit, she plugged up the stairs to the top of the track and made it past the several groups of 30+ people on the track. A gelato at Corniglia we continued onto Manarola which is a significantly easier track then the one previously completed. From Manarola we caught the ferry back to Montorosso to complete the day. When we stopped at Corniglia a crowd worthy of a Grand Final was waiting for the ferry. 10 minutes after at least half the population of New Zealand boarded, the boat was noticeably lower in the water! Mum inquired into the maximum capacity of the boat. My response was, don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to… A train ride back to Genova finished the day.
The next morning Mum and Lizzie were off to Umbria by train via Roma. They successfully managed to get to the train station on time even given the reasonably early start. How do I know this, well Mum left her glasses at our house the night before so on my way to work Monday morning, knowing what train they were on I dropped them off.
That’s is pretty much it for the first part of Mum and Lizzie’s visit.
Tags: Camogli, Cinque Terra, San Fruttuoso