Our Rapallo walking group all left this morning so we have the day on our own until it's time to meet the Art Walk members today at 4:00. It is a beautiful fresh morning after another thunder storm during the night. Coffee, breakfast, lunch packed and we are headed out along the lakefront walk. It is lined with trees, flowers and benches to sit and look out on the lake.
As we sit to sketch this unique three wheeled, Alfa Romeo "Food Wagon", the owner arrives and starts to unravel all the little doors and shelves to begin a day of selling snacks for the strollers of Bellagio.
We bypass the Villa Melci and it's gardens for the fishing village of Loppia. As we move away from the lake we have to walk along a main traffic road, hugging a stone wall as buses and cars speed by. There is a respect shown between walkers, drivers and bikes. We are encouraged regarding our safety by watching a young mother with a stroller coming down the road. At the top of the hill we then turn down a narrow cobbled road towards the village.
It is so peaceful. We do not pass anyone along the road. It is Saturday morning ...a local woman is hanging out her laundry and sweeping the porch, some older men are puttering on their boats in a small bay. We sit on a step and sketch a couple of ancient gondola barges, circa 1925. Springtime here is a little ahead of home with the blooming of flowers. The rhododendrons are almost finished, but roses are in bloom and lavender grows along almost every stone wall. We pick some and soak in the smell of it as we walk. It is a magical place.
14th century stairs up to an old church. A worthy sketch to practice perspective.
We are headed to Spiaggia Libera, meaning "free beach" where we find a small lakeside cafe. We sit at a table with a big pot of chives in purple bloom set on a purple table cloth. Cappuccinos are as much about presentation as taste. Everyone has there own swirl and decoration. I love drinking my coffee in a cup with a saucer.
Cobblestones and stairs, I am getting a lot of exercise and enjoying "almost" all of it. After a lovely afternoon we start back for the meeting with our new group of Art Walkers. We have a bit larger group this week, 3 Canadians and 11 from the US; New York, Chicago, Wisconsin, Colorado and California.
After a quick get together, meeting Jane Lafazio and each other, we walk up to the Enoteca Cava Turacciolo, the wine cave, where we have the cellar room reserved for a wine history lesson and tasting, along with a light meal of meats, cheeses, crusty bread and pickled vegetables which they call the antipasto meal. Two hundred years ago the cave was a cold storage room for the family that lived along the street. Now for the last 45 years it has been a wine cellar with whole hams hanging from the ceiling and shelf-filled walls of wine. A few bottles of wine later and the group is relaxing and getting to know each other.
A new group has melded. Tomorrow we take a ferry to the Villa Carlotta.
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