Author: sanborn

I’m sitting outside on the hotel terrace. This place is nestled among and on top of a cliff. I lay in bed listening to the sea and now I’m watching the day brighten over the coast.

My mother always refused to come here. Too touristic, too over the top. Well, now I know what she’s meant. Yes, it’s all that, but OMG it’s gorgeous!!!!

Got off the train in Vernazza and saw Mark and Jerry waiting for me. They took my bag and brought me down into town. This place is Disneyland for adults! So cute, so quaint, so colorful, so perfect. So many things to photograph.

Lots of people, lots of languages, incredible views.

We walked over to the next town for lunch. An hour’s hike, ending in rain, but we found a lovely restaurant for lunch. Took the train back.

Dinner in a small stone patio on the tip of the rock face overlooking the sea. Our waiter, Stefano, was an energetic and enthusiastic entertainer. He doled out massages and kisses to several of us. He’s from Puglia and he’ll head home in November. Wonderful guy!!

Sleep well everyone…

Rained off and on all day. Sometimes heavy, so calming and purifying, sometimes silent and light. No rain in California from April through October, so I’ve come to welcome the sound. Relaxes some tense edge deep inside me. I open the windows and doors to get all the noise and cleansing power.

After 4, it lessened and my chores lessened, and I slipped out for a quick ride. I went through the fields near my house.

As I got to the hilltop town of Pedona, I was climbing in mist, but it was fine. Tomorrow there’s a bike ride/race up this hill and others, but I can say now that I’ve been to the top of the first summit.

… Hmm, this happens often. I try to write a post and I fall asleep. I wake up later, phone in hand. Cozy, but unsettling.

Up early to get the train. A new day…

I’m back in Pietrasanta. Very peaceful. Today was full of errands, such as going to the Polizia Statale for my Permesso di Soggiorno. Should arrive in 2-3 months.Fit in my favorite bike ride later in the afternoon: over to Seravezza. Rode past a group of statues.Then past a busy marble place. Pietrasanta has marble areas everywhere, huge white blocks way to be cut down.The Valley road goes along a small river, very low at this time of year. But it had a waterfall, so it kept me cool.

We rode the last day in clear bright sunshine. A lovely day. As we approached Turin, we had mountain peaks in view.

Took a tiny road through the fields, what we call a “Woody road” in honor of our co-leader, Woody. He’s a magician with bike routes: beautiful, traffic-free, unusual, and yes, very hilly. Saw a line of what we decided were bee hives. Lovely!

Stopped for coffee in Castelborgone as we did on the first day. Different cafe, but still, great coffee. I always get a pastry…never eat enough at breakfast!

But…it was a gorgeous bright day and the coffee cups are colorful, so…

And just as a last note, here I am with my roommate Mary. We had a great time sharing the rooms across the Piedmont region. She’s from Seattle and we’ll ride together again.

Woke up this morning after the rain to discover we have snow-covered Alps around us on two sides. Cold but clear and gorgeous!

(This post is from a few days ago. We’ve had very iffy internet at these very wonderful hotels. Ah well… )

Took a rest day today. Whew. Took a nap. Wonderful. Short run. Not bad.

Yesterday ride mostly uphill. All day. Good day. On the first hill, got into a chat with a lovely Italian man as we rode up the hill (grey hair, ponytail under his helmet) who suggested Acqui Terme as a destination: Roman baths, aquaducts, hot springs. Ah well, next time.

Paused at a small chapel to regroup. Found a small tile painting of San Rocco and his dog.

…More colors…

A map of this area. Mostly vineyards. 🙂

Candies at the market.

A small town piazza in Pontenivrea, where we stopped for coffee one morning. Very low key.

More tonight…

This trip has been so visually stimulating, as well as in so many other ways…I can’t keep up. After I get home I’ll post some photos from 2-3 days ago. For now, I’ll just stay with today.

It rained today, and it’s a layover day so no need to ride much. We have been so lucky. I only rode 1.5 hours and only got a little wet. I wouldn’t have gotten wet at all if I hadn’t gone back up into town to buy pecorino (sheep) cheese at the weekly market. I bought several slabs and then had to figure out how to fit them into my pockets and rear seat bag. They only just fit! Worth it though. Very tasty.

Rode to the next village before turning back when the clouds loomed too large.

On the way back, I passed a sanctuary that had brick columns spaced out as if a fence.

Wandered through Murisengo, looking for coffee…

Un caffè: perfetto!!

Finally, as I rode up up up to the top of the hill where our hotel is (Canonica di Corteranzo), I saw a great shot of a tractor.

And finished with an irresistible shot of a barn door.

I missed telling you about the last few rides, at least some of the very cool things I’ve seen. More tomorrow!

Today we ran into a “street food fair” in Moncalvo. Had all sorts of fun foods: French fries made from chickpeas, fried rice balls with prosciutto and mozzarella inside, pastries! This one of my favorites. All layers of pastry with ricotta inside.

At our hotel last night, we had an infinity pool. Very lovely. Very chilly…nobody seems to heat the pool here. But good for my legs.

Lovely hotel.

We had some bitters. This one is very tasty: Vecchio Amaro del Capo. Also liked Monte Negro and Ramazzoti.

Yesterday, we had coffee in Santo Stefano Belbo that was the birthplace of Cesare Pavese, a major Italian poet/writer.

We passed a lovely little chapel on a hairpin bend.

As we ride, we are passed by many tractors like this one. In the foreground is my roommate, Mary.

Two days ago, we rode from the sea into the mountains. I’ll cover that in a separate post. Uhh, I’m behind…

Great wines, wine tasting class, limoncello, grappa, and digestive liqueurs. It’s a full life…

Yesterday our host showed us around his cave. He’s got 1,200 labels with 9,000 bottles. I saw 1966 champagne and lots of Barolo from the 1980s.

Then we went upstairs and Carlo told us about how the different parts of the tongue notice different tastes (sweet, salt, acid, alcohol, tannin) and he had us test it out with salt, lemon, sugar.

We tested two reds from the same farm, same grape, quite different. We watched the trails form on the side of the glass, we smelled the rich aromas, then took in tiny sips to see how it rolled around it taste buds. Very fun.

Then he talked about how wine does best when it balances out fatty food with acidic wine or olive oil with tannin. Then we ate bits of parmesan and salami and noticed how the wines interacted with them.

He also gave us the history of the region and defined the DOC and DOCG regulations that farmers must work within. For one example, all the rights for grape growing have been allocated already, so if you want to go into the winemaking business, you must buy another person’s rights. That person must then destroy their vines and you have to plant new. Ouch! The Comune tells you how many bottles you can do, when you can start harvesting, and all sorts of other aspects. Very restricted!

Last night we tried a really nice 2004 Barolo. It was deep, rich, tasty!

But we are also drinking other fun beverages. We stored one night in a small hotel in the mountains and they brought out their home made liquers: limoncello, grappa, and two others. One with elderberry and one with chamomile. All zillion proof!

And, just in case that’s not enough, I’ve gotten in the habit of going out with a small group for digestive “amaro” bitter liqueurs. No photo yet, but I’ll update soon with some shots. Great way to end a day.