September 20th
Today is a blue sky day and we are heading to Portovenere by car which is about 45 minutes away…. no issues en route car is parked and we stroll the promenade which is very pretty. The village is situated on the Gulf of La Spezia, more romantically known as the Gulf of Poets. It is also sometimes referred to as the 6th village of Cinque Terre…regardless it is lovely and we are here early enough to have it to “ourselves”.
A bit of an uphill trek results in an eagle eye view of the Church of San Pietro, with its stunning location and a rather austere interior…
It was a nice walk through the upper village with some nice views of the sea from the battlements…
…. and then down the Via Capellini, where most of the commerce is conducted, and out the Porta del Borgo
As it was getting on time for lunch we decided to drive back to La Spezia and find an eatery in the port area… a big mistake … we couldn’t find parking for love or money. I drove into an area where someone started shouting at me to stop and leave the area otherwise there would be, “grossi problemi”. I was either in or close to one of the dreaded ZTL’s (zones of restricted circulation, situated in Italian cities that have historic centers)…we followed his directions and left as quickly as possible ….the fines are heavy and tourists are NOT exempted, I guess we will see if get an Italian Christmas gift >.> fines apparently take some time to reach the recipient. Thoroughly chastised we returned to the apartment and ended up having an early supper.
It was a great day until we gaffed !!
We loved Portovenere. Had one of the best meals ever in Italy there by the water
It is not hard to love…btw hopefully you are not in Florida…good luck with the house if you still own it!!