To Menaggio

Oh, the luxury of getting up, showering and going down for breakfast, sitting looking over Lake Como with the sun glistening on the water. Linen table clothes, hot coffee, cappuccinos, eggs, fresh fruit, pastries....the list goes on and we have the breakfast of champions. We pack a crusty roll with meat and cheese, grab an apple, orange or kiwi and head for the ferry. We have an all day pass today starting with Menaggio. Carlo takes us on a walk along the lake. We are still with our walking group from Rapallo until tomorrow. It's still a little overcast but the mist and clouds on the lake are beautiful.

The sign "Cartoleria" catches our eye. We first saw it in Rapallo at the book store. We found a few art supplies but only one paint set that I recognized as a valuable asset from Sketchbook Skool. I really have enough supplies so let Lynn buy it. The owner was sorry he didn't have one for each of us so gave me a consolation gift of a pencil extender. Not recognizing some of the brands of pens and pencils I bought a few for experimenting purposes.

This old dog was howling at the ambulance that was making its way along the cobblestone road with siren blaring.
Fuel station with diesel prices of €1.73 a liter...about $2.60 a liter here. No wonder there are so many small cars and Vespas.

Love the small streets, fascinating doorways, wrought iron work.

We have wended our way through many streets looking in shops, buying a thing or two and finally find ourselves back at the main plaza by the lake. It is time for a cappuccino and a pastry and of course some sketching. The sparrows are brazen and land right on your table attacking my cake without a worry. I found it safer to put a few nuts and seeds to one side so I could finish my cake in peace.

It has been a delightful day and we head back to Bellagio and a rest in our room. I have got a cold and it is dragging me down a bit. The group is going to Baba Yagas for pizza but not til later. We decide to look for something that is open before 7:00. We find an Italian buffet called the Divina Commedia with a waiter called Dante. €12 for two plates worth of food and a glass of wine. It's all I need for dinner tonight ...more importantly I need an early night to try and fight this cold.

Down the steps to bed. A little bit of time In our rooms working on our journals and 'ephemera' and then lights out. At this stage in our lives this is a happy way to spend our evening. Grammas in Italy, lol...

 

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Train to Bellagio

All packed Thursday morning waiting for taxis to go to the train station. It's not very far but despite Carlo's suggestions to pack light everyone but Lynn and I had big suitcases. This group has two more days in Bellagio then only 4 of us stay on for the next weeks Art Walk. Today's journey takes us by taxi, a train to Milano, another train to Varenna and a ferry across Lake Como to Bellagio. It is a day like this that makes me very happy I only have a little suitcase that I am able to lift it on and off the trains and overhead compartments. Luckily for most of those with the big luggage we still had Matthew with us til Milan. He is 6'5" and did a lot of heavy lifting.

Most taxis are either BMWs or Mercedes with the odd deluxe Toyota thrown in. It all feels so elegant until you get on the trains. Then the pushing and shoving to get seats starts. Our first leg of two hours duration, we had reserved seats which was a good start to the trip. The train from Milano to Varenna was everyone for themselves.

 

Our first glimpse of Bellagio as we cross on the ferry from Varenna where left the train. Other than thunderstorms during the night this first day was the most overcast with a few light showers. It was very exciting as it looked just like the pictures.

Our hotel Metropol Bellagio was just a ways from the ferry dock. We were settled in within a few minutes. One of the benefits of travelling on a tour. All the arrangements have been made. We went to our room which turned out to be a corner suite with a separate bedroom. The bathrooms are big and roomy, including bidets, which are great for tired feet, lol.... a window that looks right up the most famous cobblestone walk in Bellagio, the Via Salita Serbelloni. It looks very narrow from this view but it is actually about 20 feet wide with shops all along from top to bottom. Even a few places to sit and have a wine or a cappuccino. We bought silk scarves, leather jewelry, gelatos and wine all on this walkway. It was a tough climb up but a fun walk down.

 

We have windows looking out in three directions. I could lay in bed at night and listen to conversations and music on the street below and watch the lightening flash across Lake Como. It was a truly magical stay.

 

 

 

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A Day in Rapallo

After breakfast we head out to explore our town of Rapallo some more. We meet Matthew along the harbour road. He has found us a book store that also has painting, journal supplies. He gives us directions and we head in search of new 'stuff'.

We follow Matthews directions up away from the water along a canal in search of pens and paints and journals, food for the soul...fresh fruit and vegetable market, an accordian player and finally the book store. A bonanza of pens, Italian leather bound journals and Moleskine books. A few Euros lighter we are back on the road in search of a lace museum in a park above town. Found the museum but it was closed until later in the afternoon.

 

A lovely park just above the harbour. Very quiet and peaceful.

A private/ pay for use beach. Cabanas, lounges and towels are provided. This was a cooler day so not a lot of beach goers. Most places are just getting ready for the summer tourist season to come.

 

With our new art supply purchases in hand we headed back to the harbour and settled in the sun with cappuccinos. I had read that in Italy it is considered rude to present your bill before you ask for it. So it is really easy to spend an hour with only a 2 euro coffee. Because servers are paid a fair wage it is not nescessary to tip but is considered acceptable to round your bill up to the next euro. For example if you bill came to €10.4 (approx $15) you could leave €11... Which would be less than a dollar tip.

So for €10, 2 Cappuccinos each, we spent almost two hours sketching, people watching and relaxing. Our view from the café was The Rapallo Castle. After walking for a couple more hours we returned to the same cafe for a late lunch. I was a little surprised that seafood wasn't a bigger menu choice being on the Mediterranean. It's a little like Mexico with a lot of variations of "whitefish" and not being sure just what that means. So I had curried prawns with pasta. Definitely not as good as our gulf prawns from Texas and Louisiana.

Shops are open til 7:00 so we shopped our way back to the hotel. I bought a pair of suede sandals and some bracelets for the girls. A bottle of wine for €4.90 and back to the hotel to work on our journals. I love having the doors and windows open listening to the sounds of the night but tonight was an especially loud night with Vespas and motorcycles racing up and down the road. Our last night in Rapallo.

 

 

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Cinque Terre

Back at the train station our group on the way to Cinque Terre. One of our group had her wallet stolen on her way to the hotel at this same station. They warn you to keep a tight control over your stuff when in the train stations because of the "Romany gypsy" pickpockets. As we were waiting for our train Pia said she thought she was seeing the same girls she felt stole her wallet. There was no police or guards around so we all just had a good look at them before we got on the train......as we left they just melted away. Good clue is they have no bags or anything that indicates they are travellers.

An underground tunnel to get into the town of Rio Maggiore. It is all covered in ceramic tiles, that with the lights on is almost psychedelic in its colours. I'm pulling up the rear of the group so I can take pictures.

A great street as soon as we get into the village. Lynn and I want to sketch first and walk second so we stop on a set of steps to capture the unique buildings with balconies, iron fences and laundry and stairs.

There is only one of the Cinque Terre village walks still open after rock and mud slides caused damage to so much of this area of small towns built on the sides of hills and small harbours. The area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. We are on the move to Vernazza, thought of as the most colourful of the 'five' towns. Unfortunately this area is now a very popular tourist area and those that want to walk the trail between the five communities are now restricted to the one part of the trail between Vernazza and Monterossa al Mare. The only section that is open at this time.
We spent the afternoon sitting in the harbour area sketching. We had a nice lunch of pasta and salad, a little glass of local wine in the sunshine. There are three shopping items in this area of Italy....leather, silk scarves and linen. We wandered thru the shops but didn't purchase anything yet. We seem to be the only ones of our group left in Vernazza as we head for the train station. It's the first time we have travelled by train without our group and all is good until we realize we are on a train that ends at Sestri Levante station, only half way back to Rapallo. As we wait for our connecting train we hear an announcement that our train is 20 minutes late. We hear this over and over again..."a nocho di retardo" translated meaning, a notice of lateness ...... It's times like this when having a sketch book handy passes the time easily. An Italian lady tries to ask ME if the train will be late. I try to explain I don't understand Italian but she keeps trying. I think she feels if she speaks to me enough I will eventually understand. Not so, and she leaves us feeling like we have been in a Monty Python skit as we start to laugh about our situation. The late train comes on it's late schedule and we are on our way home.

 

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Walking to Portofino

This portion of our journey is a walking tour, not an "art" walk. So we set out at a fairly brisk pace set by those that are here to walk the area. It is a bit strenuous for me as I didn't get a lot of walking in before I left and also didn't do as much during the winter as we were on the road so much. At Santa Margherita four of us decided to travel the rest of the way to Portofino by bus. We found a gelateria and all got limon ices while we waited for the bus. We were in Portofino before the walkers so explored the plaza, and shops. We were told that buildings are only allowed to be painted in five basic colours which is why all the little towns are a combination of yellows, reds, browns, ochers and varying shades of all.

San Martino Parish Church with its beautiful pipe organ.

My fantasy of being in Italy was to sit in outdoor cafés drinking cappuccinos and/or wine soaking in the scenery, the ambience, people watching and recording it all in my journal. My fantasy was realized. We spent the afternoon in Portofino exploring, then a pizza, prosciutto, cheese y fungi, and wine for lunch with a few from the group. Lynn and I followed the harbour away from the plaza to where local fishing boats were moored. We sat there and sketched for an hour before we took a boat back to Rapallo. The sky was getting dark and threatening but we made it back without any rain. Picked up Chinese food and took it back to our room because we had had such a busy long day. It was terrible. Will definitely stick to Italian food for this trip. Spent the evening working on our journals and gluing in bits and pieces of 'ephemera'

 

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Our First Day in Rapallo

Included in our tour is a wonderful buffet breakfast each morning. We are feeling quite elegant as we come down to breakfast. Fresh coffee with hot milk, cappuccinos, teas, eggs, bacon, ham, cold meats, fresh fruit, all kinds of pastries, breads, smoked salmon and sardines, yogurt and cereals. Delicious. As we are having breakfast we meet Carlo for the first time along with 2 other women in our group from San Diego.

 

 

After breakfast we set out to explore. Vespas, "wasp" in Italian, are everywhere. The most common mode of transportation.

Across the street from our hotel we find a Sunday market where we bought fresh prosciutto, some cheese, herb crackers and a bottle of red wine for the room.

 

Every kind of dried fruit imaginable.

Later we sat on a bench watching everyone out and about on a Sunday strolling along the promenade with the sun sparkling on the Mediterranean. We sketched and listened to the music of all the animated conversations going on around us. Old men sitting with a glass of wine, smoking, old ladies arm in arm, families with kids running and riding bikes. It was so much fun to watch it all.

At 4:00pm we meet our group in the hotel lobby.

There are 11 of us including Carlo and Matthew, who is traveling with Carlo with the plan to operate another segment of the Blue Walk Tours called the Rainbow Walk. After introducing ourselves we head out on a tour of town before we go for dinner.

Rapallo Castle. It used to be the harbour fort and now it is a museum.

Walking along the seawall

A young Italian couple that stopped to watch us sketching and ended up giving us a wonderful history lesson of the area. We were sitting in Garibaldi Plaza, named after the uniter of Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi so we are told by Jack and Sylvia.

Our hotel, which is one of about 5 or 6 old mansions that are joined together as you can see on either side. This one and the one beside it are the only ones that have been restored. The rest down the street are crumbling in disrepair. We were told that there is rumours that they have been bought with hopes of restoring them all. They are beautiful and situated facing the harbour.

 

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