Levanto

So once again we headed into San G for dinner and once again looked for parking before heading down the hill to P4 and a nice walk back up the hill to the city. At the city wall I thought, let me just go and look over the edge here and see the surrounding countryside. A little below me was a lovely little restaurant on the side of the mountain overlooking the cliff and surrounding region. We got lucky and could sit at a table for 2 along the balustrade that prevented and out view was to the horizon as the city lies quite a bit higher than the surrounding countryside. Just the 1 little spoiler though. Near us was seated a group of about 8 Dutch opinionated (kakkers) young ladies, all talking at the top of their voices and laughing and giggling just a bit to loudly. "Oh, tomorrow we are going to the beach. What about my hair?".  Thankfully they quietened down once they got their food.

I tried the wild boar stew with vegetables and Ingrid had Tuscan Vegetable Soup. Both of which i would pay for in a restaurant. I guess I did pay at the end of the day. We ambled about town a bit and found an whole second half of the town which we had not know was there. We thought that we would turn for home and made our little plan for the morrow.

Brekkie at Agro tourismo ( we nicknamed the owner as an Agro type, not that she was aggressive, but she had no joy in her heart for us), then we would hit the town for a coffee and to explore the 2nd half of the town that we had just discovered, perhaps have a bite to eat and then head for our next destination at the coast.

Up in the morning and off to brekkie. I was very proud of myself for my search and destroy mission in the middle of the night. The Kabouters had blessed us with a mini noise maker and bloodsucker. I nailed that sucker after a careful search and by morning that seemed to have been the only mozzie (mosquito) in the room. He must have snuck in under the radar when we opened the door some time in the evening. I slept a little lightly and was awake quite often listening to my wife breathe. She is such a light breather that I sometimes have to nudge her to see if she is still alive. She slept like a baby as far as I am concerned.

At brekkie this morning Agri was nowhere to be seen and we had a quick bite and a weakish coffee before packing our bags to high tail it out of Dodge. Seems like Agro was playing Dodge as we had to have helper lady go fetch her so that we could check out. We handed in the keys and said thank you and Agro said that when we were ready she would open the gate for us. Thank you from us and we headed for Ed to leave. Agro did not even wave, just pushed the remote button, turned around and disappeared. I was going to lower the window and wave, but Agro must have needed the loo or something.

Back in San G we parked down the hill once again and then made the uphill walk to the town and the gates. Once through the gates we soon settled on a place for a coffee and the just played tourist for a bit, walking from one shop to the next. Wooden salad spoons with wide ladles got purchased. We also bought some a lovely ceramic salad bowl for the Fleur special that we so enjoy. Later we bought some local wine and the lady at this shop was so proud of her product from own winery. I could have made friends with her, not for the wine, but she was a local and passionate about her product (I nearly said that she was a passionate local woman, but how would I know. heehee).

The queue at the best Ice cream of 2024 in the world was short, but I did no feel the need to have me a gelato. Next stop was the new part of the old town (the new part that we had missed). Still a little shopping to go and Ingrid bought a cotton skirt which I am sure that I will see on her in the next day to two. We ended up enjoying the other half of the town and made a decision to get into the car and drive to the next destination near the sea. It was about a two hour drive and we would have lunch there.

The drive was uneventfully and as predicted by Google we were there at the time given upon departure. What would we do without navigation? Yes I know that we would use map books and I personally would not mind going back to that system for a holiday. It made it more tactile and interactive, especially for the navigator. Never the less at destination Comune di Levanto we arrived to a sort of ghost town place. A few buildings and no one to be seen. We found reception and check in was from 10-12am and then from 5-7pm. This seemed logical once we thought about it as the owners run a restaurant next to the hotel and that would be lunch service for them. As we were walking back to Ed a guy came our way on an electric strep at speed. Yes, he was the owner and had seen our vehicle from the restaurant and as luck would have it they are closed today.

What a diffrence in check in and vibe. Welcome! (that is probably the first thing that one needs to say to ones guests) Point for Mike! He theneplained the basics, this is your room, it is over there, this is the key card and it also works the lights. Breakfast is between 8 and 10 am. He then took our a simplified map of the region and gave us a 5 minute tour. You are here, this is where you want to go, this is where you should park, you could make other parking choices here and here. You can rent a bicycle an go here or here, This is the station to go here or there. If you go here then do this, if you go there then do that. Any questions please app me on this number. Simple, accurate and guest friendly. Sorted. Magic Mike!

After unpacking the car we went down the pass to the village of Levanto which is a seaside village approx 6km from our hotel. We parked at the given spot by magic mike and walked about 1km to the sea. This landscape reminds me so much of Greece or the Iberian islands with the vegetation and rock formations. We was hungry and by this time it had just gone 3pm. Unlucky for us as all kitchens on the beachfront close at 3pm and open at 7pm. We got lucky and were able to order at one place after having been turned away at other places. 

With a fed stomach and a beer we took to a walk along the coast to the next village. The walk was along the old train track which had been tarred over and was accesible to cyclists and pedestrains. One walked along a sort of boulevard, then through a tunnel, our into the open and once again through a tunnel There were approx 6 tunnels in total and 5 gaps in which one could see the sea and the clear blue waters. At one place they had a dog beach. One could walk ones dog to this beach and then let them have a swim. The beaches are made of small pebbles and the finer pebbles look like a black sort of sand. After 3km we were at our destination for this walk. We sat on the rocks and absorbed the sun on this perfect day. Lots of sun and the temperature was agreeable. 

The return journey seemed to be shorter time wise, but that is probably not the case, one just knew where one was going and what the end goal was. Back at Levanto Ingrid said that we should probably take this exit on our journey back to the car. Bulls Eye! As we decended the steps to the city we cam across a place and decided to sit and have a beer and a wine. They brought is a platter of pizza type bites, olives and chips with our drinks. Ingrid was scanning the menu and suggested we try a veggie platter to share, have another beer and wine and then head for the hills (literally as we had a mountain pass to negotiate to get back to the hotel). We ate like kings! Grazers unite!

We are now back at the hotel and Ingrid is reading whilst I write this blog. I am sure that we will sleep peacefully once again tonight. We are off the beaten track and hear no noise pollution. Tomorrow we are taking a train trip. Exciting!