Our story begins, not in Italy, but on Kadavu Island in Fiji in 1999.
Tired of her over-worked, stressed-out life, an adventuresome Italian theatre publicist named Marina Mantovani came to Kadavu on vacation. There she met Anthony Norris, a New Zealander who led sea-kayaking tours of the island with his company, Tamarillo Tropical Expeditions. They got on well.
Within a short time Marina and Anthony became business and life partners. Over the next few years, they traveled together to Italy several times to visit Marina's family and, while there, explored around Italy.
They discovered many places that, though beautiful, exciting, and interesting, were just a bit off the mass-tourist Italy itinerary. Or, because they approached them from a more active, outdoor perspective, they saw well-known, popular places in a slightly different way than others did.
Over time, they saw the potential of sharing what they were learning with others.
They ran a trial trip, which worked out very well. One of the guests on that trip told his aunt and uncle, who in turn invited Marina and Anthony to make a presentation in Oakland (USA). Beryl and I attended and, when we met those two and heard about the trip, were hooked.
Now, after ten days of traveling in close company with them, I am even more of a fan. It was a great trip and they are superb tour leaders and people.
Our small group met Marina and Anthony one morning in Bologna. We had made our ways there independently. Six of us were from California and were long-time friends. The seventh was a New Zealand woman, who had previously gone on a sea-kayaking trip in Fiji with Tamarillo.
Because we were just nine total, we all fit perfectly, with our luggage, into one comfortable van. Being together like that, not only while hiking but also as we traveled across the Italian countryside, gave us plenty of opportunity to share our experiences, our ideas, and our questions with one another.
The itinerary took us to five different areas, to stay a couple nights in each and to explore that area on foot. The driving times from one place to the next were never more than a couple hours.
We visited the city of Parma, the Cinque Terre coastline, the Alpi Apuane mountain range, Tuscany, and the island of Elba, enjoying almost perfect weather the entire time.
Parma
The first morning, after we had all met in Bologna, we set out for Parma, famous for some of the best cuisine in Italy. It also has a beautiful baptistery, called ‘Italy's most harmonious medieval monument’ in the Michelin guide. But back to the food, please.
As our introduction to the delights that Tamarillo had in store for us during the trip, we were treated to an extravagant luncheon at a local trattoria, ‘le Sorelle Picchi’.
We each were served platters of prosciutto and salami, two kinds of ravioli: potato and spinach, vegetables and salad, washed down with unlimited quantities (middle of the day, remember, still somewhat jet-lagged) of lambrusco, the local, slightly sweet, sparkling wine. And some sort of rich dessert, I'm sure.
Beryl and I managed to stroll around town during the rest of the afternoon (operative word – ‘stroll’).
In addition to all the fine, old buildings, we began discovering that Italians are amazing shoppers. Fashion and high design in clothes, furniture, and house wares were on display everywhere. Fortunately for me, much nicely-designed apparel had already been sold and could be seen adorning women, young and not so young, in the street.
Cinque Terre
From Parma we drove toward the Ligurian coast, where our hiking was really to begin. We didn't just walk the Cinque Terre, we hiked to the Cinque Terre.
Anthony dropped us off in the spectacular coastal town of Portovenere on the Gulf of La Spezia, a bit south of the Cinque Terre. Our hike began – bang! – with a steep climb up to 1900ft (650m). It started with several hundred steep rock stairs alongside the walls of Portovenere's 16th-century citadel.
I must say, I was impressed. Anthony and Marina were letting us know right away that the ‘hikes’ during this trip would properly deserve that word. Not excessive, but with some good challenges requiring real work. I appreciated it.
As would be true of all our later hiking days, we were not required to stick together as a group, rather could pretty much each go our own pace, with detailed route notes and maps. It also helped that many of the trails we followed were marked with red and white bars painted on trees or rocks.
The hiking was pretty challenging at times, but there were no packs to carry and every day there were shorter hiking options or other things to do that did not involve any sort of hike at all.
Our experience was that Anthony and Marina were very flexible in meeting the needs and desires of their guests.
After the climb up out of Portovenere and along the top of the ridge - spectacular views - we walked down, down and down some more, steeply through hillsides thick with terraced vineyards, to the first of the Cinque Terre villages, Riomaggiore, and then along the coast through Manarola to Corniglia.
The five small Cinque Terre seaside towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso) are connected only by walking trails (and a train that runs mostly in tunnels through the hills) and historically were isolated by steep hills from the rest of the world.
Each one of these small towns is a charming collection of colorful buildings clinging to the hillside or nestled in a ravine leading to a small, rocky, fishing port.
Our plan was to walk the length of the Cinque Terre over the course of two days.
From the southernmost town, Riomaggiore, to the northernmost, Monterosso, is a hike of six or seven hours, if you're in a hurry, but that would defeat the whole purpose, wouldn't it? If you're really in a hurry, you could take the train and do it probably in half an hour, seeing nothing.
We stayed in Corniglia, the middle town and the only one that does not run down to the sea. It sits high on a bluff a hundred feet above the shore. Because the ferries do not stop at Corniglia, it felt quieter and less commercialized than the other towns.
Beryl and I were housed in a single-room apartment down an alley and up thirty very steep steps. The roof of our apartment was a terrace with views of the town and the sea.
Late the first night, returning from dinner and a bit tipsy, we found our way to the stairs, turned on the outdoor light and began climbing. Suddenly, a window above flew open and a woman started yelling and gesticulating at us – we really didn't understand, except for the word ‘luce’ - light.
We were afraid that we had somehow gotten lost and were going somewhere we weren't supposed to. We retreated and wandered around town some more.
We had no idea where the other members of our group, or Marina and Anthony, were staying and no idea of the name of the place we were staying.
A cold, lonely night huddling in a corner loomed ahead.
But, as we perambulated, I gained confidence that we had, in fact, been in the right place. So we went back, did not turn on the light (it automatically went out after a short time) and climbed the stairs to our apartment in the dark. Big relief.
The following evening, after walking the rest of the way north to Monterosso, having a short swim in the Ligurian Sea, taking the ferry back to Manarola and walking again the short section of the Sentiero Azzurro (the ‘blue trail’ that connects the towns) from there to Corniglia, Beryl and I polished off a fine take-out pizza from the local pizzeria (la Gatta Flora - not quite like Pizza Hut) and a bottle of wine on our rooftop terrace, as the sun set over the sea. Paradise.
The Alpi Apuane mountain range
Leaving the Cinque Terre, we drove southeast into the Alpi Apuane, a small but rugged range of limestone and marble that rises west of the Appenines, Italy's backbone.
For two days, we hiked up and down these mountains, mostly through the beech and chestnut forests that cover them. While there, we stayed in the most extraordinary lodging.
In the small, hillside town of Pruno, the local community has formed a cooperative to operate an inn at, and to preserve, the old church and rectory, `La Canonica`. They also serve extraordinary dinners.
Five different antipasti, each more creative and tasty than the next, soup, (one night a silky rich and tasty bean and barley soup), salad, beautifully roasted main and several luscious dessert choices.
We were all in awe of the preparation, done by two village woman, Ilda and Vanna. I don't know if I've ever eaten better meals.
High above Pruno, at the top of 4000ft (1350m) Monte Forato, is a huge arch, a big white circle of rock visible on the ridgeline from the valley below, 85ft (30m) high by 100ft (35m) wide. Our hiking goal was to reach that arch.
Anthony drove us part way up the mountain in the van, we climbed the last 2500 ft (850m).
The way the trail goes, you climb up steeply from behind the ridge, only seeing the arch as you crest the ridge and look down right through it at Pruno and the other towns below. On a clear day, the view extends all the way west to the sea. It's pretty dramatic.
At one point on the hike up, Anthony told Beryl to just go ahead of him. She thought there were still ten or fifteen minutes of good climbing to the top. Twenty steps later, wow, there she was looking out through the hole.
The two days in the Alpi Apuane, staying at 'La Canonica', felt the most precious of the entire trip. It is definitely off the well-beaten tourist track.
The beautifully preserved old rectory and the village of Pruno around it give a real feeling of a much older time. And the setting in the valley below the rocky mountains is spectacular.
Tuscany
From Pruno, we drove up into Tuscany to the well-known hill town of San Gimignano. For good reason, it is a favored tourist destination.
Eleven medieval towers crown the old town, commanding the surrounding Tuscan countryside. I'm glad I saw it, but the main streets and piazze (squares) were very crowded with people who arrived on tour buses (like us, more or less) and were looking for things to buy to take home as gifts (not quite like us). A couple hours there was plenty.
A late afternoon hike through the forest to the wonderful ruins of a medieval fort and church (Castelvecchio), which ended in a rain shower, completed that day. And during the night, about 2 a.m., we were wakened by a loud, bright, wet and wonderful lightning and thunderstorm.
We stayed that night and the next in Volterra, another Tuscan hill town, spending a day hiking country roads and trails around the town. One of our group said that this had been her dream fantasy of the whole trip, to walk through the Tuscan countryside.
At the end of the day, Beryl and I went to Volterra's art gallery to see Rosso Fiorentino's soulful and complex 1521 altar painting, the ‘Deposition of Christ’. During our stay in Italy, we saw plenty of medieval and later paintings of religious subjects. This one by Fiorentino is the one that really impressed me.
Isola d’Elba
We left Volterra on a gray morning, headed southwest to the coast. By the time we reached the port of Piombino on the Tyrrhenian Sea, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining for our one-hour ferry ride to l'isola d'Elba, the island of Elba.
Elba, fabled as the first place of exile of Napoleon, is a beautiful, mountainous island. It's about fifteen miles long and shaped vaguely like a fish.
Our home on Elba was the lovely, little pleasure port Marciana Marina. We had a room in a hotel on the quay with a little balcony looking out on the harbor. Looking inland was the 3250-ft (1020m) Monte Capanne, the high point of the island.
Right after settling into the hotel, Beryl and I walked down the waterfront and stopped into the Bar della Piazzetta for a bite to tide us over until dinner and a macchiato to perk me up for our scheduled, late afternoon short hike up into the hills.
After a lovely, moonlit night by the sea, our big hike on Elba the next day took us over a 2000ft (700m) shoulder of Monte Capanne. It was the longest hike of our trip, about 9.5 miles (14km). We took a local bus around the island to the village of Chiessi.
By now, after a week of hiking, abetted by appropriate rest and nourished by plenty of great Italian food accompanied by glasses of vino rosso, we were all feeling strong. The climb straight up out of Chiessi to the high ridge brought out our best energy.
Much of our walking this day, as it had been in the Alpi Apuane, was over Roman era stone paths. Some still bore the track marks worn by the wheels of carts that had rolled over them during two millennia.
Near the end of the day, we reached a big rock with a commanding view of Elba, west as far as Corsica and east to the mainland. It is called ‘l’Aquila’ (‘the eagle’) and it was on this rock that Napoleon perched and planned his return to power over Europe.
That night was our last night together, the Tamarillo band. We ate our valedictory dinner at ‘l’Affrichella’, a renowned seafood restaurant just off the piazza in Marciana Marina.
We had a huge number of different, excellent preparations of langosta, crab, octopus, squid and fish, all served by Fiorella, the owner/chef's daughter. She made a strong impression, somewhere between the beauty of Sophia Loren and the soulful strength of Anna Magnani.
Speeches were made; many glasses were raised in toasts - no, not to Fiorella, rather to our wonderful experiences, our group and our leaders.
The next day, a day of simply spectacular weather, after a motoring tour of the rest of the island of Elba, we ferried back to the mainland.
Marina and Anthony drove us back north, dropping a few people in Siena and the rest of us in Bologna, before heading to Marina’s family home in Ferrara, for a few days rest before their next group.
Even though they were to be following the same itinerary, I can't imagine that they could have had a better time than we did. It was truly a magical ten days.
[end].
