Up early , we sympathised with a man from Vienna making his way home with his poorly dog Ricky .He had taken his dog in an off road truck, big wheels, to Morrocco and Mauritania and Ricky had been bitten by a tick which was potentially life threatening , thanks to treatment as in -patient at a local vets, he had pulled through ( we see a lot of the bumper trucks at WOMAD music festival )
Poor Ricky , worried owner.
We drove along the coastal motorway around the outskirts of Genova to the Levante coastlinr and stayed at our poshest campsite yet ,€35 per night (!) in order to visit the Cinque Terre towns more easily .Camping Acqua Dolce, the campsite, very pretty , tiered terraces with olive trees , cafe/ restaurant , modern shower block ( canned soft rock musak 😣) , excellent English , helpful receptionist and Luciferano the resident ,large , imperious looking black cat .The site was well tended , a few minutes walk from Levanto, a very smart beach resort town with a long , dark grey, sandy beach, shallow waters and a 13th century old town with fortified walls and a castle ( private)
We could only stay 2 nights as Friday 1 November was All Saints Day in Italy so the campsite was full for the weekend despite the cool showery weather.
We walked to the local railway station (uphill) for 15 minutes and bought a 8€ return ticket to Monterosso beach town .
10 minutes by train
At Monterosso , we caught one of the last ferries running of the season and saw all the Cinque Terre towns in turn .We spent 90 mins in Portovenere wandering around the castle, picturesque harbour and old town and reboarded the ferry .We spent 2 hours in La Spezia , a very attractive large port town ( where all the cruise ships go ) with lots of shops , a huge harbour and an old town. Desperate for alternatives to pizza and pasta, we located a Punjabi street food restaurant and had our first blissful Indian meal for 6 weeks, spinach paneer, dhal mixed veg rice , heavenly ...
We were objects of much curiosity as an older white couple in a young fast food joint , guess they don't get many cruise ship customers calling in there .
We caught the train back from La Spezia to Levanto and had a drink in the cafe .
Got chatting to the German couple pitched next to us , also enjoying a drink in the cafe
Gerhald was a retired English and German Literature teacher and latterly headmistress at a grammar school .Her English was fluent and conversational .Tom, her partner was a classical music critic and journalist .They lived in S Germany .They had spent many summers in Cambridge with good friends , one of whom had taken on British citizenship reluctantly because of the Brexit debacle .
It was a delight to talk to this Guardian reading couple about the sorrows of Brexit of course , the failure to address anti semitism..in the Labour party by Jeremy Corbyn but also wonderful to swap recommendations of great books we had read recently.
Gerhald recommended a Norwegian book called The Lobster Life by Erik Fosnes Hansen and I recommended a Booker long list read this year called 'My sister is a serial killer'.We bonded over 'the Room' great book which didn't make it to the Booker shortlist ( the year 'the Finkhelor question' won )
I wished Tom's spoken English or my German had been better, a violin and Orchestra viola player and a renowned music critic ! Would have been great to chat to him more
They had been coming to the area for 30 years twice a year in the shoulder season and knew the owner well , praising his efforts to bring the campsite to its current standards .They thought the touristification and Disney theme park -like nature of the Cinque Terre towns had spoiled their appeal .
We were inclined to agree ..
The clock of the local church tower chimed every 15 minutes throughout the night , but it didn't disturb us.
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