John’s visit…

Lou’s brother John arrived from the States for a short stay, Wednesday through the following Thursday and this gave us plenty of time show him Lucca and explore the surrounding region. And boy did we explore! We went from the hilltop town of Corsagna to the mountain ski resort of Abetone, to the island of Elba, to Cinque Terre, finishing off in Florence from where he departed. The only means of travel John did not take was by donkey as he traveled by plane, bus, bicycle, train, car, boat, and taxi during his stay here.

On our trip to Abetone, we made a stop in the small hilltop town of Corsagna. One of those picturesque hilltop villages scattered throughout Italy, accessible only by carefully negotiating the hairpin turns on the very narrow road. Unfortunately the word ‘carefully or slow’ does not compute with my husband. Lou considers these types of roads a challenge and delights in the look of terror on his passengers face as he whips around the bends. If it is a road, we have traveled more than once he tries to beat his last time as though it were a competition, anyway not to digress! Our side trip to Corsagna was to visit the uncle of a friend of John’s from Pittsburgh, Dominic Branduzzi. His father Antonio, who sadly passed away several years ago left this small village and moved to Pittsburgh years before. We visited Dominic’s uncle and aunt, who remained behind in Italy and are owners of Ristorante Branduzzi, one of the only restaurants in this village.  It was still too early for lunch [pranzo] othewise we would have stayed and sampled what no doubt would have been a memorable meal.

After chatting with the Branduzzi’s and two espressos later, we walked the narrow viccolos to the top where a tiny church sits alongside a cemetery. One can only imagine the lives that were lived here over the centuries and the stories they could tell. The view from the cemetery was spectacular and looked down upon the valley and small towns below. These Italian hilltop villages provided natural defenses for their inhabitants who were constantly threatened by surrounding villages during the middle ages and earlier. Their remoteness made them easy to defend, but no doubt made life hard for the inhabitants.

Silence or the absence of artificial ‘noise’ is something that is so rare nowadays in our modern society and yet in these villages all one hears is the wind. Or the chatter of two women gossiping while hanging their clothes to dry on a line stretched between two olive trees or the old men, playing cards outside a bar teasing each other, the way life-long friends do. It is a tonic for the soul! One can only wonder what life must be like living in these remote villages, which are sadly losing their youth, lured to the cities in search of the world we have created where nothing seems to be genuine and authentic friendships and traditions are fleeting.

 

 

After leaving Corsagna, we traveled down the corkscrew mountain, [at breakneck speed, thanks, Lou] and headed north toward Abetone. Abetone is on the border between Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany and has one of the best ski resorts in the Apennines. It is reached by miles of narrow switchbacks and the higher we went, the more winter-like and spectacular the scenery. One of the things that we love so much about this region is that within 20 minutes of Lucca we can be at the seashore and within an hour in the mountains, skiing, hiking or just enjoying nature.

I don’t think any of us knew quite what to expect when we arrived, so the magnificent scenery was such a pleasant surprise. We arrived around 2:00 which is lunchtime or pranzo in Italy and I would be remiss if I did not mention the great meal we had at La Locanda dello Yeti. Just writing about it makes me salivate thinking about the homemade pasta with a beautiful sauce or ragu made with cinghiale or wild boar and a glass of their vino della casa or homemade house wine! Afterward, we walked around, played like school kids in the snow, throwing snowballs, playing with a very happy and friendly local dog and just had a wonderful time.

 

 

 

Today instead of the mountains we decided to head south toward Livorno and the Maremma region of Tuscany. We had no real destination in mind then decided on a whim to see about perhaps taking the ferry to Elba or Isola d’Elba out of the port of Piombino , which is a port city and the jumping off point for ferries to Elba, Sardinia, and Corsica. For those of you who may not know, [and I did not either], Elba is a small island about 10 miles or so off the coast and is notable as the exiled home of Napoleon in 1814 before he returned to France and infamy.

The terminal was almost empty, and we thought we were in the wrong area but then saw a ticket window. Lou asked what the cost was, and the lady said a ferry was leaving in 10 minutes, so without a second thought, or knowing anything else about Elba, he bought three tickets, and we ran to catch the boat. We boarded the ‘fast ferry’ [the word ‘fast’ being subjective] for Elba, an approximate 20-minute ride away. As we approached the island on this chilly but sunny day, we were greeted by crystal clear water and a lush landscape with a small port. There were only about 15 or so other passengers on board and as soon as we pulled along the quay one of the stewards jumped off and began to lower a plank. John, Lou’s brother was so anxious to get off and explore he was the first to depart, As I was nearing the door, I noticed that not everyone was disembarking and I mentioned this to Lou but not wanting to get separated, we quickly walked off the boat to catch up to John. No sooner had we gotten off ferry the steward promptly removed the plank, and the boat pulled away from the dock with most of the other passengers onboard. We quickly discovered that there are two ports-of-call on Elba. The main port, Portoferraio, and Cavo which is where we were. Cavo is very small village, and not much was open in the off-season, but we found a pizzeria for lunch, which advertised itself as having the best pizza in the world, not quite but still a delicious meal sitting by the water gazing out over the port with the Italian mainland visible on the horizon. Afterward, we walked along the stony beach and up and down some of the lanes just imagining how beautiful it must be in the warm summer sun. Elba is a lovely destination, and I know we will revisit. We caught the last ferry back to the mainland, and in spite of our getting off at the wrong port, we had a memorable time.

Cinque Terre:  Part of the Italian Riviera, in the Liguria region of the country. It is composed of five, pastel hued small towns (hence the name “Cinque Terre”): from west to east, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.  The five villages of the Cinque Terre and the surrounding hillsides are all part of a National Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In 2011 a massive mudslide buried much of the town of Vernazza and caused flooding and five people lost their lives.  Read more…

We have visited this region before, but one can never get used to the endless views from the hilltops which are breathtaking.  The towns are strung along a 10-mile stretch of rugged coastline, and none is more than a two-hour walk from the other. Today one can still approach by sea but also by train and car. The drive there is not for the faint of heart or those with acrophobia as a good portion of the road is basically one lane, with no guard rail, extremely tight hairpin turns and nowhere to go but over the cliff if you lose control. Did I mention that Lou considers roads like these a challenge?

This area is a rugged coastline, and the mountainsides are littered with terraces that grow olives, grapes and chestnuts. On one side is the deep blue sea and inland are steeply terraced vineyards that are still farmed by traditional means, the only modern addition being monorails used to haul baskets of grapes up or down. These monorails plunge over the sides of the mountains, and many seemed to be homemade.

One note about Cinque Terre that sadly is true of so much of Italy today and other beautiful places in the world and that is mass tourism [and I am aware that we are tourists] is ruining the experience in so many ways. Oh sure, the landscape or architecture is the same but the genuine warmth of so many of the inhabitants that one found if you were lucky enough to travel years ago is now being lost and replaced by a jaded and forced friendliness. One shop owner in Florence we spoke with said she likes the money but dislikes the tourist who descends on her hometown like locusts. Cinque Terre is no longer the remote village with friendly people in summer but one crowded expensive tourist trap, and the 10 mile trail between the villages is now a congested throughway where many, not all, impatient and rude tourist make it impossible to enjoy the moment….Thanks Rick Steve LOL!

 

 

 

It was time for John to depart after a short but fun-filled few days and we all took the train to Florence, his point of departure and spent the night at a small hotel. Continuing on my earlier comments about mass tourism, Florence was overrun with tourist, even though it was cold and February and without question, at least two-thirds of them were Chinese, [arguably the world’s wost tourist] who due to their growing middle class have made Europe a favorite destination. They are in groups, led by a flag or an umbrella carrying tour leader and when one stops to take a photo, the entire group takes the same picture or they pull out their selfie-sticks, and do NOT try to cut across one of their lines. Oh and a sobering thought, currently only about 13% of Chinese hold a passport, it is hard to imagine what cities like Florence and Venice must be like in the height of the tourist season. Lou showed me this Bloomberg article titled, Chinese Tourist Are Taking Over The Earth, One Selfie At A Time!