Archive | October, 2012

Postcards from the Cinque Terre

9 Oct

Time for another vacation! As we like to say, you can only have a vacation if you have a job, and we have escaped to the Cinque Terre for hiking and seaside relaxation.  Here are a few favorite shots from the past three days. We will be here until Friday, so more to come!

DOMENICA

We arrived in Manarola (town #2 as some call it) in the Cinque Terre on Sunday afternoon by train from Rome. Headed out on a familiarization walk above the town, through the vineyards and down to the sea. Here a view back toward the town and its gelato-colored buildings.

As night fell, we walked to the upper part of town and settled in at the charming Trattoria dal Billy. Too bad we ate our beautiful seafood before I thought to take a picture. The view was intoxicating! The walk up is quite a climb, but the food and service made it worth the effort.

LUNEDI

Apologies for the crap smudges on my lens. Ugh!

Monday we traveled down the Ligurian coast to Lerici on the Gulf of Poets. Byron, Shelley, and D.H. Lawrence found this little corner of Italy to their liking as well. It’s a beach resort town in summer. On an autumn day it was still warm, but quiet in a post-season way. Pictured is Lerici Castle.

We walked from one end of the gulf to the other and back: Lerici to San Terenzo (pictured). I think we were the only non-Italians in the whole area. So peaceful! There were still some late season sun worshipers on the almost-deserted beaches.

Thanks to the blog http://www.apathtolunch.com/ for the guidance!

Many of you know Ric and I usually took an autumn trip to Cannon Beach, OR. This is our replacement for that habitual break. A little different, though….

Foccacia is a Ligurian specialty. Here it is in a very thin form, with a filling of spinach and a little sausage, freshly baked for our lunch, served with tomatoes and red wine. Could not finish it!

In the evening we went to the northernmost end of the Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare, for dinner and enjoyed this sunset.

At dinner, we were delighted to meet Christine, an American woman living in Monterosso, working at Cantina di Miky, and authoress of the blog, http://lifeinliguria.blogspot.com/  which I have been reading for months. GREAT MEAL! Again, photo not taken because we were so busy consuming beautifully prepared seafood.

MARTEDI

We awoke to rain, by the time we had eaten breakfast, it had stopped and the sun was peeking out from broken clouds. Hopped a bio-diesel shuttle for transport to Il Sentiero Rosso, the red trail, high above the sea.

The land has been terraced for centuries. The path passes through vineyards, olive groves, and gardens at a dizzying height.

The town of Corniglia (pronounced cor-KNEE-lee-a), from high-above. Once we descended to Corniglia on a very challenging footpath, we still had 400 brick steps to descend to the train station.

A view over the Ligurian Sea, from high above Corniglia looking toward Monterosso.

Alas, it is almost dinner time and we are eating with “The Pirates” in Vernazza! Dobbiamo andare via!

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Our place in Rome

3 Oct

Our household goods and furniture arrived in July, 7 weeks after we did, but it took a little time to get all the pictures hung and acquire some new storage pieces to replace built-in shelves, cupboards, and closets that we have in our Portland condo.  So here, at last, is a peek at our furnished digs in Roma. The “before” pictures are with embassy-provided temporary IKEA furniture. I have to say, although the temporary furniture was spartan, it was great to move right into our apartment, and not have to spend 7 weeks in a hotel room.

Living Room “before.” IKEA temporary furniture: no TV, rugs, nor accoutrement. Bed pillows and a throw added for color. 🙂

Pictures hung, the new TV that is seldom used: it feels like “home.”

Another living room view, looking toward the hallway and kitchen, with the lovely Libby passing through.

Dining Room “before.” This was our multi-purpose eating space and office.

Dining Room “after.” Still partly used as a home office. My desk is in the corner to the right. Ric’s desk is in his train room, but he hangs out with his laptop at the table so we are together.

Kitchen “before.” This is really a nice space but we needed more storage. Note the long empty wall on the right which we filled with…

… a nice wood-topped cabinet. From IKEA, of course!

Our IKEA cabinet. IKEA wanted €200 to assemble, so we scheduled a do-it-ourselves day. It was a very satisfying project. No one was injured.

Forgot to take a “before” picture of the bedroom. It was quite spartan, to say the least. Libby makes another rare appearance and models one of her favorite locations.

We still have some things to do. Perhaps acquire some local artwork for the bedroom, and I plan to hang some draperies before cold weather sets in. But we are “at home” here in every way. So are the cats, who have traded our small garden in Portland for a window sill 4 stories above the street in Rome.

Dare-devil Janie on the (very wide) window sill. The metal braces are part of the shutter assembly. Libby watches from the cat tower. Window screens are a rarity.

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