La mia bella Italia

As many of you may know, I have a long standing love affair with Italy. In 1996, I left Australia for nine weeks to stay in Italy, further study the language, and travel. A piece of my heart has been there ever since.

The Italian Cultural Institute in Melbourne gave me a scholarship to study at the Istituto Europeo in Florence for 1 month, during which time I studied, sang, and hung out in my amazing fourth floor flat in the area surrounding the Uffizi with my gorgeous pal Michael Smallwood. What an amazing time. I got to take a voice lesson with the late Morretti-Pianti (my vocal Grandpa), work with one of the best repetiteurs the AO has ever had, and generally swan around Italy seeing ancientness at its best.

Fast forward to 2024, and I was well overdue for a visit. This time, though, I wanted to see some new places and spend some time revisiting some old haunts. Cinque Terre was calling me, and I couldn’t resist. But revisiting Venice was also a priority. After all of the latest news about it “sinking” I knew that I had to go back. So with Imogen in tow, we flew out of Stanstead (not fun) directly to Genoa/Genova which seemed the best starting point for a seamless trip by train to Manarola, our beautiful CT accommodation.

Genoa was surprisingly charming, and because it was Easter Weekend, we had a really festive experience… on many levels. Because I spent the last few months working like a madwoman preparing to leave, I have to admit I didn’t do a LOT of research about each of the places I am traveling to. I know, people, that is not really my style but this is the truth. So just before I left, and because our family LOVES games, I decided to download a kind of scavenger hunt run by a company called QUESTO. What fun!!! We solved puzzles, learned about history, and walked all around the center of Genoa having a ball. Immy and I really had fun with this app.

I found a new app online that recommends GF restaurants and we headed to a little place called Osteria Le Colonne. I am always more than a bit skeptical about whether restaurants actually do the GF things they say they are doing, but this one was a great place and I could tell that they were really committed. Upon arrival a GF focaccia order was recommended because they make it specially. Say WHAT!??! Do you know the last time I’ve had good bread? It’s been a while, let’s just say that. This is what I look like when I’m in a restaurant, on sabbatical, with my daughter, eating GF focaccia.

Thank-you Immy for this very flattering photo! Osteria La Colonne was a two visit restaurant and both nights our meals were really incredible.

Don’t you just love the Buona Pasqua (Happy Easter) touch with the beautiful hand decorated hard-boiled eggs. What a super place.

Then we were off to Manarola, and the Cinque Terre region. For those of you who don’t know this area, it is a strip of coast between Genoa and La Spezia and is made up of 5 towns that are built into the rugged coastline and all of the buildings are painted in colorful hues. You can look up Cinque Terre, and find a MILLION amazing photos. It’s super popular and each town seems to have a different personality. We arrived in our “home” town of Manarola and (yay me) we were able to wheel our bags up via Valverde without much drama. Definitely needed a pit stop on the way, which we cleverly disguised as a lemon tree fascination, and then the final schlep to the apartment where we met Donatella with keys and instructions. The next photo is the view from 20 feet from our front door.

The next three days were spent visiting all five of the towns. In retrospect, I think Manarola was my personal favorite (probably because we stayed here), but both Corniglia and Vernazza were equally enticing for very different reasons. Corniglia is officially a 382 step climb from the train station, but the hilly, quiet little town at the top is just gorgeous. I had an amazing salad on top of that hill!

Imogen enjoyed a delicious focaccia there too. I had originally booked an apartment here before realizing that lugging my suitcase up this hill would have been the end of me. Luckily, I did do some basic reading on which of the towns to stay at, and the universal favorite for our needs (not crazy busy/no need for a fancy nightlife/accessible) was unanimously Manarola. And this research definitely paid off.

Here’s a view of the steps.

I know there are a lot of photos of Immy in this post, but I just needed to document the transition of my slightly depressed San Diego baby as she blossoms like the rest of Europe as Spring emerges and the grey Winter begins to fade. So many flowers, birds, buds, blossom. It’s truly a magical time to be traveling.

Vernazza stole Imogen’s heart because the center of town is small, quaint, and on a little tiny port. This girl has clearly been missing the water. Vernazza has inspired her to save so she can some back and swim. I suspect by the end of our time together she will have identified numerous watery places to revisit for some sun. Oh dreary grey London, you may have won my daughter’s heart artistically, but she is a mermaid at heart and is clearly in need of some beach time. And for those of you considering a jaunt to the CT area (well look at me getting so familiar that I can abbreviate it) Vernazza is officially “the bomb” for those seeking some water action.

There is SO MUCH going on this photo. But you can see why Vernazza stole my kid’s heart AND brought her back to life in one afternoon. My photos are of the general area. Hers are of waves, and sea creatures, and algae. My mermaid is back!

And then we were onto Venezia! Stay tuned for my next post, as our trip to Venice needed a post of its own.