Via Dell' Amore

We arrived back in Manarola yesterday after an interesting ride on the train. We were amidst a school class of 5th and 6th graders (one of the boys reminded us of Hayden) who must have been on a field trip somewhere. We got a kick out of watching them interact with their teacher. We figured out that one of the boys was trying to talk his teacher into something, maybe no homework for the night. We wish we could have understood what these kids were saying because it made for a very interesting 5 minute ride!

Once we arrived back to our apartment, we took advantage of the lovely weather and sat on our balcony. As we have said before, most of the towns are closing up shop this time of year. We are lucky to find any restaurants open now. But it does seem like there is more construction work going on. They probably postpone it until after the tourist season. In fact as I write this post at 3:30 in the afternoon, the jackhammers are going strong and right next door to our apartment something is happening too.

The only internet point is two towns away. We just catch a train to Vernazza and use the internet there to post our blog and to catch up on our other emails. There is no laundry open in any of the 5 towns now. Like I said, most of the towns are closing up shop.

This is a most interesting area of the country. The locals are very traditional. The women all wear skirts and hose. You very rarely see an elderly woman in slacks. The younger generations of course wear pants but not the older.

We are a little unsure about this apartment. When we arrived last Saturday, we told you that our apartment was switched because they were having problems with the heater in the one we reserved. Well, we’re having problems with the heater in the apartment we’re in also. The apartments over here have radiators in them for heating. Hot water? is pumped through them to heat up the radiators, which in turn heat up the apartment. Last night is the second time that the radiators did not heat up, and the hot water was off as well. The landlord is very apologetic, but that’s not cutting it anymore. We’ll have to see what happens there. So no heat for us at night and only one person could shower this morning. Add that to the long walk to use the telephone and the train ride to use the internet and we are wondering why we selected this apartment at all.

This morning, we planned to walk the path to Riomaggiore. You have to buy a park pass to use the trails, and then you’re off. Riomaggiore is not far at all (maybe a mile) and the walk was simply beautiful. You are perched on the edge of the cliffs with a little bit of rocks plastered under you for support. The views were mostly straight down! (Think of the Pacific Highway Coast drive only with no cars and about 3 feet wide of path and that’s what this walk reminded me of). There were a few sheltered areas along the way and a few “pathways” down to the water. This path between these two towns is called the “Via dell’ Amore”—Lover’s Lane. This is the most famous of all the walks between the towns and probably the easiest too.

I am totally amazed by the rocks here. If you look at any of the pictures we’ve shown of the cliffs, you can see layers upon layers of rock. I’m sure it’s volcanic. Sometimes it looks like cloth, folded this way and that. Incredible.

We did a little looking around in Riomaggiore and then when we were ready to return to Manarola, we decided to walk back as well. It is a very easy walk without much up or down at all. It seeded like you just went around a couple corners and you were there. Just as beautiful in reverse! On our way home, it started to sprinkle a little. I think we have rain forecast for tomorrow, which is OK, since we’re planning on just staying around town here in Manarola.

One other thing we have been thinking of sharing. We noticed as soon as we got to Italy that every time we went into a place to buy anything (a cookie, groceries, a phone card, anything where money changes hands) they insist on giving you a receipt. At first we tried to wave it away but they were insistent on us taking this receipt (maybe it was for only 40 cents). We finally asked a store owner what was the deal with the receipts. She told us the story. Italy passed a law that requires shops to give receipts or if the police stop us, the consumer, and we don’t have a receipt the store can get fined heavily and shut down! We just saw a commercial that indicated that we must keep receipts for 2 years! The store owner said it was to cut down on shops not reporting income thereby paying fewer taxes. I can understand that by why does the consumer have to hold on to our receipts? We throw ours away—I hope we don’t get thrown into Italian jail! Print this post