Well the alarm off at the set time of 0630 and after Mom prompted me; I reluctantly made my way from bed to the shower. After a breakfast of toast with jam and strawberry yogurt that we added strawberries to an’ was very tasty, we departed the apartment into the overcast morning to meet with Zio James. Zia Michela had already declined the climbing trip of Rosola, but this morning Nichola was not feeling well enough so reluctantly declined as well.
The first trial ironically was the sloping road that leads past the cimitero; next we wound a small way up the paved road that follows the coastline to Genoa; then departed for the dirt and stone pathway into and up the hills. While my eyes spent most of the time on the ground watching my footing, the further on the trail and higher we rose the views that we stopped to admire became even more spectacular. It was overcast so the beams of sunlight seemed to highlight the small hamlets that fill the valleys and ridges spreading out from Levanto on the coast and at the mouth of the river. The hamlets, each with their own churches, would be settled by a man, who as the family grew with the wives from neighbouring hamlets, the hamlets grew and in time the hamlet and surname would be the same.
Levanto and area from the side of Rosola.
View of the hills.
Zio James near the top of Rosola.
Like we had seen with the Cinque Terre hamlets, terracing marked the landscape. Some were still in use, planted with grape vines and olive trees, under which nets are spread to catch the olives when they fall from the trees at harvest. From one olive comes a single drop of oil so it is farmed communally. The terraces that were not in use had to a degree begun to blend back into the hills, overgrown with pines and other vegetation, but like the abandoned homes they can occasionally be seen along with the stone terrace walls.
Hamlet in the hills.
Detail of hamlet in the hills.
As the trail took us through the pine hills, with brambles biting at ankles and legs, part of an old marble quarry that, like the trial is part of a motocross path, emerged onto the ridge and along the opposite side for a view of Bonossola and area. All of the views were just spectacular.
Alanna with pine cones in pine forest.
Alanna making her way through biting brambles.
Mom while climbing remarked that it was a good thing she had decided to walk up the path to Rosola’s summit the day before her fiftieth birthday as tomorrow she would be “over the hill” and today she was still “climbing the hill.”
Upon cresting the first cross-marked summit, I took a celebratory photo of Mom and a film where you can hear the wind. Up there, besides the wind, the crickets, and our voices when we spoke, it was peacefully quiet. We ate our fruit and after admiring the views, Zio James urged us to the second cross-crowned summit. It was slightly less windy there, so we sat for a bit of time and I mostly enjoyed the sights while Mom and Zio James conversed. I learned that the costal hamlets and towns, like Monterosso and Levanto began as pirate hideaways and apparently, the boys still act that way, competing against each other when one group visits another settlement for a night on the town and the Monterosso boys still pierce an ear like pirates as they take pride in their origins and rivalry. That info was revealed to us shortly after we began our decent after 1030.
Mom cresting the first summit.
Zio James and cross of the first summit.
Levanto from the first summit.
While it was cool with a breeze and a touch of rain drops on the summits, with the wisps of clouds passing between and shrouding the surrounding peaks, the humidity and noise rose the further we descended into the valley. In some ways the climb down was, for the later stretch, more difficulty because it was down hill incline and the stones had a tendency to roll underfoot. Arriving back in Levanto we departed from Zio James and having decided to purchase lunch, bought pizza for €2.00 [$2.6767] a slice and ate it cold immediately when we got into our apartment and sat down at the table. Were my feet ever pleased when I removed my shoes and got off them. After lunch I showered, Mom did the same and pt the laundry in the wash and then we both headed for bed and naps.
Bonassola from Rosola.
Bonassolo from Rosola.
When we arose from our naps, as some essential groceries and a third memory card were still needed, we proceeded to go shopping but alas, during lunch and early afternoon Italiano shops are not open. So after visiting Il Porticciolo, the best gelateria in town, we consumed cones with my flavours being peach and avocado. Finishing up we wandered around a bit, relocating our grocery store for easier location again when open, and made our way back to our place. In the computer shop in the neighbouring building, we waited outside until its 1630 opening and there I finally found a memory card the right size, 4GB for €18.00 [$24.09]. Forgetfully however, I made the purchase with cash and not credit card, which I had decided to do after my last €150.00 [$200.5634] withdrawal on Thursday.
Electronic store on the corner where I bought the memory card.
Entering our apartment, we waited until 1730, Mom writing postcards and myself journaling, before going for our groceries and souvenir watercolour bookmarks that we spotted some time ago but had not yet made the time to purchase. Also down that street, they have taken down the scaffolding, which had been standing since our arrival, to reveal most of the very fine restoration painting completed. The lowest half, which is essentially the ground floor, is incomplete at the moment. So I am not sure why they removed the scaffolding.
Scaffolding down in front of building.
On thing that happened after our nap, which I am mentioning out of order, is that when hanging the laundry Mom discovered that I hadn’t quite managed to empty my pockets as in the laundry, there were pine nuts that I had collected during our climb of Rossola to take home to Dad to try and plant some Italiano pines in Saskatchewan. Plus, as I had gotten a particularly bloody bramble bite, Mom and I compared war wounds to discover her legs are worse than mine and she was the one wearing socks.
After I stored the groceries, we went looking for stake knives and while we found a set of six for €120.00 [$160.5998], but like in Venezia they only had one set. We also looked at ceramic-coated frying pans for ourselves and Kate, but no purchase were made at that time. When we returned again, I did a touch more journaling and was requested by Mom to do supper five minutes before seven o’clock, after a dialogue about what the time was as Mom is not the most fluent in the twenty-four hour clock. The meal was of meat stuffed pasta and it was then that we realised we had forgotten to buy a loaf of bread from grocer, Crai. After eating, Mom went and fetched a load and I elected to finish Strathern’s Medici.
Bertolotto Cova Apartment, Levanto 2230 EET
After finishing The Medici, which was an informative read about the Firenze family and those they impacted—Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelandelog, Dontello, Galileo, and more—we elected to got to Piazza Cavour to listen to the concert being preformed. We arrived when they were handing out awards I believe as the concert had started quite some time before we decided to attend. We only stayed for two singers, neither of which were really outstanding and the soprano would have been much better without the microphone as the sound system didn’t seem up the task. [Venezia spoiled us dreadfully.] After returning to our place, I headed to bed and Mom read some more of A People’s History of the World by Chris Harman.
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