Gotz comes to Italy #2: hurricane season on the Riviera???

The day after our late night swim we had a bit of a late start because of the fun we had the night before. After showering and checking out of the hotel, we had to get back to the car. What I didn’t mention in the last post is that we had to hike downhill about one kilometer from the car to the hotel in Vernazza... This meant that we were going uphill on the way back to the car… with all of our luggage… It was quite a workout! There’s nothing like sweating right after you take a shower! It was so humid! 

we found some wild berries while taking pictures- this was us trying them...

the view after the hurricane...

After reaching the car (thank God!), we were in air conditioning and loving it! The day was pretty hazy due to the humidity, but we thought it would be fun to drive to Monterosso before heading back to Milano. So, we made our way to the northern most city in the Cinque Terre. As we were arriving, it started to rain, so we were ready to grab our rain gear and hit the town. Josh dropped off Chris and I, and he went to park. As Chris and I entered the city, everyone was bringing tables/chairs inside their restaurants because of the rain and there was one man trying to take down one of those monster patio umbrellas. As he did this, a HUGE wind gust came through and almost took him and the umbrella with it! At the same time, the skies unleashed and there was a torrential downpour at this point. We might have been better to be standing under a waterfall! Gotz and I were entirely soaked from the waist down at this point, so we weren’t really worried about the rain anymore. At the same time, Josh had just left the car and became completely soaked- head to toe! Extremely upset with the elements, Josh decided that we were going to find a restaurant and wait out the rain. Gotz was pretty happy about that because he was able to eat more pesto pasta (he would eat that with every meal if he could), and I was happy because I could finally have a coffeeJ At that point it was about 12:30 and we hadn’t had breakfast or coffee. It was due! Again… hunger monsters were starting to come out!

Once we were finished with lunch, the rain stopped and there was a blue sky waiting for us. We went back into town and found beautiful views where previously all we could see was rain. The rain cleared the haziness and we could see what we thought was Corsica in the distance. The views at that point were breathtaking! 

the hikers drying their clothes

We found Monterosso to be divided into two sides, the old town and the newer part of town. The beaches were not all public, most of the beaches were owned by hotels and were for guests only. This is still strange to me, but it’s the norm here in Italy. As we walked along the beach, we saw a group of hikers that were caught out in the hurricane (well... it seems like one) and they had all of their gear sprawled on the tiny piece of beach that is the “public” beach. Most of them were in their underwear because that’s all they had that was dry. It’s very strange; here in Italy I’m realizing that “Anything Goes” should be the motto. Women were so hot that weekend they were just walking around in bras (on the streets, hiking trails and the beach). Apparently it was too hot for a tank top? We really enjoyed the people watching on this beach! There was an older woman that was in a swimsuit that looked like it was about five sizes too small… and she had some major plumber’s crack!! There was also a woman changing and didn’t think twice about showing all the goods! Her towel dropped and we got the full frontal… Only on the Riviera!

time for a bigger swim suit!!

an interesting church we saw with a skull and
 crossbones on the outside

skull and crossbones inside the church too...

outside the church, apparently peaches and a cigarette are a good combo?

After enjoying our walk down the coast, and some gelato, we headed back to the car for the drive back to Milano. It was a fun day and a half in Cinque Terre and we didn’t want to go back to the city. But, all good things must come to an end. Although, we did bring Gotz to Pizzeria Spontini and he got to experience the Pizza Nazi! The Pizza Nazi knows us now and he was actually really nice to us this time, but… no sooner had I finished my beer and he was at our table saying “Bye! Bye!” He showed us out of there just like everyone else! I asked if we could purchase one of the beer mugs with the Pizzeria Spontini logo, and he just gave us one. I think we’re turning him around!  After that experience Gotz said he hadn’t eaten pizza that fast before in his life! He definitely felt the pressure of the Pizza Nazi J

this cat crawled out from a crack under the door,
he was pretty sleepy

Spontini pizza!!

Santa Margherita Ligure



the beach we laid out on, Santa Margherita



About a month ago, Josh's co-worker Jamie was in Italy for a wedding, and stayed with us for a few days. We visited Lake Como (my "where's George?" posting), and then dropped her off in Santa Margherita. This is a small town down on the Mediterranean coast, just north of Cinque Terre near Portofino. This city is a beautiful and relaxing place to visit! Unfortunately we only had a couple of hours there, so we decided to lay on the beach and get some sun.



This area of the Italian Riviera is well known for its scuba diving, yachting and ritzy seaside resorts. Santa Margherita is expensive to stay in, but not nearly as expensive as Portofino. Portofino is a getaway for the extremely wealthy (and famous). Santa Margherita is a great alternative to staying in Portofino if you want that experience, but not the pricing. This town is also well known to the Milanese; everyone knows the town and thinks it’s a beautiful vacation spot.


Portofino



San Fruttuoso



Christ of the Abyss (Il Christo degli Abissi)



Since I have been teaching English courses in Milan, I have learned about some places to visit from the locals. When they heard I was visiting Santa Margherita, they said I had to see "Christ of the Abyss". I had no idea what this was, so they explained that it is a statue of Christ under water, about 20 meters down in a town called San Fruttuoso (near Santa Margherita). One of the guys in my class even had a picture of the statue on his cell phone. He said it was off the coast from a church, and many couples get married there underwater. After doing a little research, this statue was placed there as a gift from Genoa as a thank you for naval assistance. There are also underwater replicas of this famous statue in other parts of the world including Grenada, and Key Largo. We weren't able to visit the statue on this short, one day trip. Maybe next time!