The long and winding road

Levanto is the next town north from the Cinque Terre and was recommended to us as a place to go and see. This journey however required Pietro to climb over some of the most mountainous terrain we have covered, yet.

Leaving La Spezia we passed through a couple of tunnels and then the curvy and narrow roads began.
I tried my best to keep to the right, miss the cliff faces and miss the oncoming traffic on the blind corners. While also keeping the speed low to ensure Pietro and I weren't the cause for some car sickness.

The first stop for the day was unplanned at Pignone or Dove in English. It is a town that the common tourist wold never stop in and really there is no reason to stop apart to have a cappuccino and wander the very picturesque streets.

Calling home

Whilst having coffee at the only bar in town I noticed the deck of cards awaiting the players. I could only imagine the conversations that have been had by the men holding these cards over the past days weeks or even months. We noticed a group of men close by on a bench in the shade, waving hands at each other in great discussion. It would be later in the day these men would hold these cards and continue these discussions. Would this generation still converse in this same way if they grew up with the answers they all have in their pockets, just a Google away on the smartphone?

Will the next generation continue these traditions, well yes they already are, but now they sit in the street with tablets and smartphones not decks of cards.

Further over the mountains and then down the road that felt like it would never end we arrived at Levanto. It is a lovely place and has a holiday charm about it, similar to Queenscliff in Victoria on a summers day. It had the facilities for tourists but was not over run by the picture snapping stop and go tours other destinations have. This is the place where people would come from Italy and Europe and stay with family for long summer breaks.

The afternoon found us in Portovenere. This was one of the towns our ferry pulled into on the first day here, but we left the little pearl for today.
It is also very colourful like the villages on the Cinque terre. The story goes that each home has a different colour so the fisherman when coming home in the dark could ensure they were entering their own house and not the neighbours.

The town has had serious parking issues in the the past as many other Italian towns have had. To resolve this they have implemented a park and ride service. At first I thought his would be an inconvenient hinderance but it is in fact very usable and much better than driving around the very small streets trying to find a place for Pietro to park. The bus from the carpark to the town only cost us 1 euro each return.

The view of Portovenere from the carpark

Dinner was had at one of the most luxurious locations we have been in for memory. It was at

Ristorante Le Bocche, basically under the Church or Saint Peter at the harbor entrance.
The cover charge (coperto) was only 3 euro each for this location.