Italy Retreat

PHOTOS of the torquoise waters of San Fruttuoso, a short ferry ride from Portofino on the Italian Riviera and some of us on the ferry.

It's a must to include travel by ferry when you're in Liguria because the view is extraordinary--almost other wordly. You experience a perspective of the region in a more expansive way than taking the train. The striated rock formations are unique and extraordinary. What is really surprising are the conglomeration of homes perched on the edge of nowhere (much further south of the five Cinque Terre villages and San Fruttuoso. The inhabitants must have to hike in as there were no roads to some of those tiny hamlets.

San Fruttuoso is a cove of torquoise water that’s quiet and idyllic. My friend, Jan, first told me to go there as she spent an afternoon swimming there last year. The monastary here is now vacant but was inhabited by monks.

The shore is rocky so wear water shoes or flip flops. My feet are tough but it still hurt being barefoot. The hike connecting San Fruttuoso to Portofino is high and steep but you are rewarded with a birds eye view of a heavenly scene of sky and water.

Wish you were here in Italy with me! Remember to follow your dreams as they are messages from your heart.

More on the Italy Retreat in days to come. I'm in Verona, Italy studying Italian and enjoying another region of Italy-the Veneto. Any suggestions for me to discover here?!
Just leave a comment.

There is something very charming about Monterosso even though it is bombarded with tourists each year from all over the world. Out of the five Cinque Terre towns, it has the best private and public beach areas and more restaurants and hotels. Here we are at Ristorante Carugio in Monterosso.

In my opinion, 4 of the 5 town are worth visiting as they are quaint in their own way.
Except for the entertaining bus driver, Corniglia is the town that could be missed. Not much happening at all there except it is connected to the trails that link all 5 villages. Since the trail was closed due to heavy rain the night before, we rode the bus up from the train station for dinner but the few restaurants that they do have were closed from 4-7:30. Since the last bus down to the train station stopped at 7:45, we opted to go home to eat at Monterosso.

On our final day in Monterosso (Nancy and I spent 10 nights there),several of us walked straight up the very narrow Via Buranco for 30 minutes or more. We were told it was a nice before-dinner stroll! We discovered Buranco Agriturismo where they were making wine from their vineyards. When we rounded the bend as we continued our climb, we were met with another sweet fragrance of pine needles and a breathtaking view above the town and sea, before arriving at the church where the monks were chanting. We couldn't see them, but the singing was beautiful. At first, we thought it was a recording, but it wasn't. So many things in Italy seem unreal to me! In the tunnel linking the historic section of Monterosso with the new area, we would hear beautiful classic or traditional Italian music most days, and we assumed it was being piped in. But each time we're greeted with live musicians on the corner.


Photo of Nancy and I overlooking Monterosso from our hike/stroll. Nancy was my assistant really helping pull together all the details during the week, so I was more free to teach the workshop. Thank you Nancy!


Anchovy Festival:
Saturday, September 19 was the Acciuche Sagra (Anchovy Festival) in Monterosso. I’ve read online that it usually takes place on the 2nd Saturday of September, but this was the third Saturday in September.
I was expecting something bigger, but it was small and... salty. I loved watching the local men make the bread dough and fry it for the salted anchovy, pepper sandwiches with extra garlic tossed in oil. A little white wine from local grapes growing on the hillsides rounded out the festival. I don’t really like anchovies, but I must say that the anchovies prepared with lemon juice and in a variety of ways, at most of the restaurants were actually tasty.

Part of the festival included about 10 artist's booths along the promenade outside the train station above the beach, in the newer area of Monterosso. As I walked by, one man was hanging a small poster from Fellini's film, "La Dolce Vita." I figured I'd go back to buy it since it was the title of my workshop, but the women on my workshop surprised me with it at our last meeting!

Wishing all of you la dolce vita!! More about the Italian Riviera later.

PHOTO of the 6 members of our La Dolce Vita Retreat by the entrance to the Via Dell’ Amore hike from Rio Maggiore to Manarola.
The days are zooming by in Cinque Terre at my La Dolce Vita Italy Retreat.
On Tuesday, September 15, the 7 minute ferry ride to Vernazza was fun and breezy with extraordinary views of mountains and terraced grape vineyards.
One of our goals for this workshop is to do something everyday that’s out of our comfort zone or something we’re afraid of doing.
Several of us have a history of getting seasick, so we took the chance to board the ferry. Of course it was a quick ride but if the weather permits, we’ll be journeying for up to an hour on other ferries in the next few days.
We hung out in 3 towns on Tuesday.

Vernazza flowers for sale in the little town center.
In Vernazza, we enjoyed pesto pizza under colorful umbrellas on the jetty. As far as I understand, the restaurants in Cinque Terre make their pesto fresh each day. I wanted to check out the Ristorante Castello that had a view of the sea, but after climbing 75 steep steps up to it, and seeing the opaque plastic that surrounded the outdoor tables, I didn’t think it was worth the climb if we didn’t have a clear expansive view plus I did have to stop and catch my breath a couple times.
In Manarola, red and white boats were docked on the streets—parked in front of their homes, like we would park our cars. Usually about 6 fishermen and other men and women transport the boats from the high sea walls, several blocks up the street, once they are moved onto wheels. We saw the pullies on the top of the high docks that lift the boats down to the sea and then up again at the end of the day.
I thought Manarola was very sweet as there weren’t so many tourists there as there are in the other Cinque Terre villages. We had a delicious dinner outside at Ristorante Porticiolla. Several of us ate the fresh catch of the day (sea bass), served with deep fried then grilled vegetables (onion, carrot, zucchini, eggplant, red bell pepper). Dessert was nut cake with ground walnuts inside almost like pecan pie with whole walnuts on top.
Beautiful ceramic stores are found in most cities in Italy, but I really enjoyed the small one in Manarola.
It’s Thursday and we’re catching the one hour ferry ride to Portovenere, Port of Venus. Did I mention that we are constantly changing all the plans that I’ve meticulously made because we are dodging rains storms? That means that many of the trails are closed. They’ve arrived early this year and there is rain in many parts of Italy right now.
We loved the easy hike we did on Tuesday, so I’ll fill you in on the Via Dell’ Amore Trail between Rio Maggiore and Manarola in the next post. It was a breathtaking walk high above the sea.

In January 2009, I started this Italy Retreat Blog about my workshop on the Italian Riviera.
Well, I have arrived and this is my second day in paradise, staying at La Colonnina Hotel
in Monterosso. It's a wonderful hotel in the heart of the historical center of town, a 5 minute walk from (the Ligurian Sea) which is a part of the Mediterranean. Turquoise refreshingly clear water at the end of a gorgeous mountainous hike that connects to Vernazza and then the other 3 Cinque Terre towns.

The flight over on Luftansa was very smooth and enjoyable. The airline stewardesses were actually friendly, efficient, and made sure we were all comfortable, and had lots to eat and drink. The pillows were soft, not the hard rectuangular ones airlines usually provide. Even the blankets were soft and cottony, not polyester. My Asian vegetarian meal was deliciously spiced panir, curried vegetables and rice. Kudos to Luftansa Airlines!
Today Nancy and I hopped on the train to Levanto to try to find a SIM card for the Italian phone my friend gave me. No SIM cards in the 5 villages of the Cinque Terre. But with all this beauty surrounding us, who needs cell phones?! Anyway, the Telephone shop closed at 12:30 for siesta and didn’t open again until 4:30, so no phone for the week as we didn't want to wait for four hours.

The Italy Retreat begins tomorrow and there won't be time to go back to Levanto as I have a busy week planned for all the workshop participants (who just arrived this evening after a 24 hour trip from the U.S and South Africa).

Our dinner last night at Pizzeria Ely was divine. Homemade ricotta ravioli with pesto sauce, minestrone soup that was the most flavorable soup I've ever eaten. We completed our meal with panna cotta (translated: cooked cream) dessert with fresh berries. I had to suppress my loud oohs and aahs. Delizioso!

I hope will keep you updated!

PHOTOS: That's me in Monterosso, Colorful fishing boats and signature umbrellas on the Monterosso beach,the arch leading to our Hotel La Colonnina.