An outing to Portovenere

Since Jim and I are senza macchina (without car), we are trying to do local excursions on public transportation. So last weekend, we took a 20-minute ferry ride from Lerici across the Golfo dei Poeti to Portovenere. This was our second trip to Portovenere, named in honor of Venus, and I'm ready to go again.

Portovenere epitomizes the Ligurian seaside village with its pastel buildings narrowly stacked and pressed against the rocky hillside. It also epitomizes much of Europe with its layers of archaeology. The crowning feature of the village is the church of San Pietro, which was built in 1277 on top of Paleo-Christian and pagan ruins. It's not hard to imagine that over the centuries people would want to have some monument on this rocky outcrop that strategically overlooks the Mediterranean and marks the entrance into Portovenere's safe cove. As religious beliefs changed and battles were waged, temples were destroyed or dismantled and new ones were built in their place.

Since the dogs were with us, we decided to take a smaller ferry boat to Isola di Palmaria, so that we could walk them off leash on this less populated island. Unfortunately, nesting sea birds and terrain that was marked by shrub-obscured cliffs kept the dogs on the leash much of the time, but we were able to let them off-leash for a bit...a rarity these days. The walk around the island took 3 hours, including lots of stops to check out WWII gun bunkers, paleolithic cave dwellings, and stunning views of the sea.

Back in Portovenere the village was packed with tourists off of two cruise ships. We walked a little ways out of town and found a quite bar where we had sandwiches and beer. We spent the rest of our time watching people and practicing il dolce far niente...the sweetness of doing nothing.

A country home

You don't have to go too far from Lerici to get more elbow room, but if Jim was going to have a longer commute, we wanted to find someplace special. As soon as we cast the house-hunting net a little wider, we found that special place near Falcinello, a hill town outside the city of Sarzana. Like all of the hill towns in this area (and there are many), Falcinello is stunningly beautiful from a distance and quaint up close.

The drive to the house was mesmerizing. We turned off the main road onto a small side road that leads to Falcinello. Then, we turned off the side road onto what I would call "a lane" and started climbing. Fifteen minutes and 13 switchbacks later, we came to the end of the road. The owner, who was in the car with us, was slightly nauseous from the windy road, which might explain why she is renting the house. At one of the tightest switchbacks, the real estate agent had to back up half way through the switchback to make the turn. Of course, many would find this drive unthinkable on a daily basis, but Jim and I were fascinated. Just driving to and from the house would be an adventure!

At the end of the road, the house sits on the crest of a hill with distant views of the Mediterranean and expansive views of the countryside. It has pine trees on one side and olive trees on the other. We saw signs of owl and wild boar. The property was so peaceful compared to the bustle of Lerici.

And then there was the house: a turn-of-the-century stone farmhouse that has been lovingly restored by the granddaughter of the former owner. The house is just the right size (2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, living area, dining room, large kitchen, sitting room, garage, and cantina, which is a small room in the basement that seems like it should store wine). Outside there is a wide terrace that is shaded by the house from the afternoon sun. Jim and I didn't debate the house for long.

Everything about it felt right and although it was a bit remote, it was full of the Italian character that we hoped we would find. Will the reality of Casa Falcinello live up to our dreams? We'll find out after we move in July 1.

House hunting

The merits of living in town are clear: access to public transportation, restaurants, shopping, and social activities. All of these mean more opportunity for immersion in our new country; more opportunity to learn Italian. So we initially focused our search around Lerici, which is a charming seaside community where we have rented a temporary apartment. We looked at numerous places on the Internet before we came here and in person after we arrived.

Here was the list of requirements I gave to the real estate agents: Minimum 80 square meters (800 square feet); preferred 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom; garden for the dogs; view of sea or countryside; high-speed Internet capable; mostly unfurnished; and full of Italian character. I'm sure the last requirement made the agents smile.

A number of factors made it difficult to find a long-term rental in Lerici. First of all, it's summer, and locals are renting their places as vacation rentals, not as long-term rentals. Second, most properties are apartments, so it's hard to find privacy and peace. Also, properties here are typically fully furnished, which is a problem since most of our household is scheduled to arrive in Italy July 13.

Even overlooking these obstacles, there's Bella and Boomer (aka Bruno). They've adapted quite well to apartment living, probably better than Jim and I. They love to hang out on the balcony and watch whatever is going on in the street. When the neighborhood dogs start howling, Bella and Boomer join in. Bella sniffs her way through town looking for dropped bits of ice cream cone or bread, and Boomer doesn't miss an opportunity to mark a strategic building corner, garbage can, or car tire. We walk with Bella and Boomer in town two or three times a day. This is not a relaxing stroll since we're constantly on alert for approaching dogs and possible altercations. (Most dogs are not neutered or spayed.) We're pulling Boomer away from things he shouldn't pee on, like store vendors' goods that are displayed in the street, and pulling Bella away from everything that has a scent, which to Bella's nose is everything. Despite the constraints of living in Lerici, the dogs are in great spirits. However, it's exhausting for Jim and me to manage them so tightly.

A few of the places in Lerici had small gardens where the dogs could have a bit of green space, but we never found anything that we could afford and that met all of our requirements, including the requirement for "Italian character," so we decided to expand our search.

Lerici

In the garden below our apartment, jasmine vines cover the stairway railings. The sea breeze brings waves of perfume to our second floor. The entire town smells like jasmine, because walls of jasmine bloom everywhere, overloading our noses in the same way our eyes and ears are overloaded.

There are many beautiful seaside villages in Liguria, so it's hard to say this is the most beautiful. After all, the competition is stiff with the Cinque Terre just a few miles to the northwest. However, the castle that anchors Lerici at one end and the long promenade to Lerici's sister village, San Terenzo, make this place particularly scenic. The tourists flock here for the seashore, but the coastline here is rocky and only small pockets of sand allow for a few crowded beaches. In addition to the sun worshipers, the town attracts mariners.

There is a little port here that is protected by a breakwater, which I spend a lot of time on, because it is the only place where I can comfortably let Bella and Boomer off leash. The entire breakwater and all of the shoreline protection consists of piles of huge marble blocks. The world famous Carrara marble mines are just east of here and marble is used everywhere. Marble steps, marble floors, marble baseboards, marble sinks, marble tables, marble windowsills.

Saturday is market day in Lerici, and it's prime season for strawberries, asparagus, young artichokes, and small squash with blossoms. The market is small, but bustling and offers everything from regional cheeses and meats to swimsuits and perfume. Liguria is famous for seafood. Calamari, shrimp, mussels, and octopus are common ingredients. Genova, just an hour away, is the birthplace of pesto. Even though the food isn't so different from the offerings in the Pacific Northwest, I'm a little lost when I shop. I need to meet a nonna, who can share her Italian cooking secrets with me!

Primo giorno di lavoro

After a short break between jobs, Jim is back to work again. This time for NATO Underwater Research Center in La Spezia. As you can see, Jim got dressed up for the occasion.

If Jim looks Italian, it's because he is. Jim's father, Albert Osse, was born in New Jersey to Italian immigrants. His father's family came from a small village in the Dolomites in northern Italy: San Vito de Cadore. The family name was originally "Ossi" but his father changed the name in WWII, because of the unpopularity of Mussolini. Apparently, it was difficult to get a job in the states during this time if your name ended in "i." Jim is wearing a tie clip that was his father's. Al would be so proud of Jim's new job in Italy.

A Slow Week

We took life slowly last week to recover from our moving preparations and to give Jim a little downtime before he started work. We are anxious to find a place to live and a car to buy, but we have to be patient. I don't know if things happen more slowly in Italy, but I do know that we can't make assumptions about how things are done. For example, we learned that there is no real estate multiple listing in Italy. Each agency has exclusive rights to rent or sell a property. This means that to fully survey a market, you have to go to every agency in the area. We also need to learn how to buy a car. NATO personnel have certain tax priveleges, but the car must be licensed in a particular way. The person who knows how this works is on vacation for two weeks. Patience. In the meantime, we are living without a car. Jim is taking the bus to and from work, and I'm walking to the grocery. The picture to the right shows part of my route to the grocery store.

We spent the week looking around the area. Jim's job is in La Spezia, which is a military, ship building town of about 100,000 people. The town we are staying in, Lerici, is about 4 miles south of NATO. It's a seaside tourist town of perhaps 1,000 people. On the other side of La Spezia is the Cinque Terre, a famous destination for travellers to Italy. (More about that area in another post.) Inland is the town of Sarzana, which is maybe 20,000 to 30,000 people. Many NATO employees live in Lerici, but accommodations are expensive and limited, so many people choose to live in Sarzana, which has a beautiful old town with a large pedestrian-only area. The land all around here is quite steep, so there are a seemingly endless number of quaint hilltowns. Jim and I are torn between living out in the country for the tranquility and scenery versus finding a place in town that would give us good access to services and transportation. With the dogs, we are leaning toward country living. (More about apartment living with two young springer spaniels in another post.)


In addition to looking around the area, we also watched a small bit of the Giro d'Italia. The Giro is Italy's Tour de France. It is equally arduous and draws the best bicycle riders in the world, but it is not well known in the U.S. This year's route included a leg along the Cinque Terre. Without really knowing what we were going to see, we loaded up the dogs in the rental car and drove as far as we could before we had to hike to the race course finish line. We were able to see the racers come across the line as they finished their time trial (riders race against the clock and set out independently every 3 minutes). In this photo, the rider has bridged the 3-minute gap, hence his smile. We didn't stick around to see the top racers, including Lance Armstrong, because it was scorchingly hot and we had brought Bella and Boomer. But we were able to stand right along the fence at the finish line and watch a number of these tough athletes give it their all.

Buongiorno!

We're in Italy with all of our dogs and luggage and, after a few days of rest, most of our senses! We had a couple of minor hiccups in our trip (rerouted because plane from Paris to Pisa was too small for the dog crates; two pieces of lost luggage), but overall we can't complain. The dogs made the trip without any problems; no one ever bothered to look at the paperwork we had painstakingly prepared to get them through customs!


We spent our first night in a hotel in Pisa, southeast of La Spezia, and then Sunday moved into our new apartment in Lerici. Our landlords, Bruno and Nelly, are wonderful people and thankfully speak English since our Italian is crude, at best. Lerici is a picturesque seaside village that draws tons of tourists. We happen to live on one of the busiest streets in town, which prompted my first realization about Europe: a village of 1,000 people can be as densely populated and bustling as a major city in the U.S. I could be sitting in Manhattan right now for all of the noise outside our apartment!! We will look for permanent housing that is piu tranquillo, but for now this is a convenient place for us to be: 3.5 miles to Jim's work and a 2-minute walk to groceries, real estate agencies, and the waterfront.