Golfo dei Poeti – Off Travelling Together

Golfo dei Poeti – Lerici to Ameglia

14 May 201914 May 2019 elainehayesblog

We took the bus Zanego and found the start of the walk by a small altar.

Most of the route was through a regional park which protects the area from overdevelopment and our track started through a green valley with wild flowers and the sound of birdsong, including a cuckoo.

We got a great view across the Magra plain, with what looked like snow topped mountains to the left, the Apuan Alps in Tuscany to the right and the medieval castle of Ameglia in the foreground.

We walked down to Ameglia for a look round and to buy a couple of rolls for lunch.

The path then climbed steeply through woodland with views of the Magra estuary …

… before descending with views across to La Spezia …

… and to Portovenere and the islands.

A final descent through the village of Serra and we were back in Lerici, with one last stop … the castle. It is such a landmark from the harbour, but there isn’t much inside, except a selection of viewpoints.

Our final afternoon – gelato, a rest and then dinner … this trip has flown by and we are back to Pisa for our flight tomorrow!

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Golfo dei Poeti – Lerici to Tellaro

13 May 201914 May 2019 elainehayesblog

Today’s walk was a climb out of Lerici for views across the gulf then a descent to the picturesque fishing village of Tellaro.

We started off ok, but were not sure if we’d taken the right path … maybe all the orange tape should have told us something …

… but we managed to get over the stream so just continued …

… which was fine for a while …

… until the path deteriorated into a steep slope covered in loose rubble …

… but we saw a waymark, so kept on going …

… and the path became increasingly overgrown!

Intrepid adventurers that we are, we finally made it, reaching a main path, with a big sign … annotated by previous walkers … shame they were at the wrong end for us!

Realising we had now reached the path we should have been on, we continued the rest of the walk without drama, with a view across the bay as promised …

… ruins of a C16th deserted plague village called Portesone …

… then the descent to Tellaro.

It was a little grey, so not at its best but we took some snaps then retreated to a warm bar for coffee and bruschetta.

The bus was imminent, with a long wait for the next one, so we didn’t linger and returned to Lerici, which was pretty deserted now the weekend is over. Fortunately the gelateria was open!

Back to Mani de Fatima for dinner for another delicious dinner and tiramisu for dessert!

A quick turn round the square for the lights then off to bed.

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Golfo dei Poeti – Lerici to San Terenzo

12 May 201914 May 2019 elainehayesblog

It was a bright but blowy morning here in Lerici and we set off along the coastal promenade which runs all the way to San Terenzo.

The lidos were getting ready for their summer visitors – a snip at €36/day for 2 people with sun beds and an umbrella – but this does include the convenience of changing rooms, toilets and showers, and perfectly clean and raked sand!

One of the beaches was hosting an event on the International Beach Tennis circuit …

… and while it was too chilly for most to paddle, there were a couple of brave souls!

San Terenzo was bustling on a Sunday morning and we passed Casa Magni- the house Shelley lived in with his wife, the local church and the castle.

We took a footpath up through the back of the village … and you can guess, a mixture of mule track, earthen track and paved path and more ups and downs than we were expecting! It was all worthwhile for the views – leftwards to Lerici …

… and rightwards to San Terenzo, with Portovenere and the islands of Palmaria and Tino in the distance.

Back in Lerici, then sun had gone in and the wind had got up so we just chilled for the rest of the afternoon, then went for pizza later.

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Golfo dei Poeti – Portovenere

11 May 201913 May 2019 elainehayesblog

The natural beauty of this bay has inspired writers and artists as far back as Petrarch and Dante. Later it was popular with a number of Italian writers as well as DH Lawrence and Virginia Wolf. Shelley lived in the village of San Terenzo with his wife Mary and Byron famously swam across the bay from Portovenere to visit them. But the sea here is not always kind and tragedy struck a month before Shelley’s 30th birthday when a sudden storm in the Bay of Spezia caused him to drown during his journey back to Lerici in his sailing boat.

We are staying in Affittacamere Vittorio in Lerici, a lovely room with dark green shutters above a gelateria with a view of the square …

… and from here we will be exploring the coast around the bay. It’s another of those grey days and having travelled on two trains and a bus, we arrived at lunchtime and quickly checked in, grabbed a bite for lunch …

… walked to the pier …

… and left Lerici behind …

… as we took the boat to Portovenere, ahead with Palmaria and Tino islands to the left …

… while clouds lurked over La Spezia.

Once a fortified fishing village, Portovenere is now a popular tourist destination and we spent the afternoon exploring.

We started with the town gate and tower, leading to a narrow street filled with tourist shops selling souvenirs, snacks and local foodie specialities to take home.

We continued to the Church of San Pietro, standing here since the C12th …

… and Cave Arpaia, one of many caves in the area, but specifically the one in which Byron recited poetry, as stated on the sign!

Climbing up, we passed the ruins of two cylindrical structures which used to be both mills and guard towers …

… then on to the C12th Church of San Lorenzo, containing the White Madonna. As the story goes, in 1399 Portovenere was being devastated by a plague and when Lucciardo, a local devout man, was praying in front of an image of the Virgin Mary asking for his village to be freed from the terrible disease, suddenly, the colors of the painting lit up, gleaming and the plague disappeared.

A bit more of a climb to the Doria Castle … those Dorias get everywhere … once a defensive structure, now converted to tourist attraction, concert arena, exhibition space and wedding venue!

You might we wondering about the white flag with the red cross which has been flying from many of the buildings … it is the city flag of Genova, derived from the Cross of Ambrose adopted by Milan and popular in much of northern Italy … and also predating the Crusades, the St George’s Cross and the flag of England!

Too chilly for ice cream or aperol, we took the boat back for a nice cup of tea!