levanto

i want to live in levanto.

this is what i came back with from our little weekend over there.

it's not the first time i was there, and every time i love it more.

alex and i stayed in a cute little agro-tourism place. the rooms were a combination of old jugendstil and new ikea.

the people were super friendly. they had tons of cats, a horse, three donkey, two bunnies, a dozen birds, a dozen chickens and three dogs, at least. they also ran a green house full of chili plants and an olive grove and grew tons of other things on the grounds. there was a rosemary plant and the scent was so strong, you just had to run your fingers over the leaves and they would smell so sweet for hours.

on friday we arrived in the afternoon after quite a long drive. alex took a nap while i took a long shower, then we strolled down to the beach and hung out there until the sun set. we people watched and looked at the landscape while lying on the sand. it was beautiful.

on saturday we went hiking from levanto to monterosso. it was a gorgeous day. the sun shining, the ocean below, the pine trees, wine groves, sea salt and cool fall air - couldn't ask for more really.

the next day we hiked from the last town before la spezzia all the way to vernazza. the routes between the towns got longer, more wild, and higher. we arrived in vernazza after sunset, around 7:30 p.m. it was such a lovely hike. not too many people were on the trails, and at one point we were quite high up the mountains, looking down on the ocean below.

we spent at least one hour on this spot by the water, taking photos and staring at the waves crashing against the rocks while eating our 'italian' lunch of dried tomatoes, olives, ham, cheese and bread.

monday it rained. alex and i had a long breakfast, played with the cats, packed. went to the greenhouse to pay for our olive oil and talked to the owner, the husband. he grows chili plants, all kinds of. black chili, orange, yellow, red, bell-pepper shaped, thai, japanese, mexican, carribean. dozens of varieties.

it was fascinating actually. he gave us one chili plant, the bird-eye, to take home, as a gift. i then thought that we should really buy a plant from him. i picked one out - it was called nippon taka. a japanese chili which originally stemmed from thailand. it was beautiful and quite tall and elegant. i asked him how much, and he just smiled and said 'pay next time.' "no, really... how much for the plant?" 'you can pay next time,' he answered. i think he was very flattered that we showed such an interest in his work. i wanted to take a photo of the father and his 'babies' but he declined.

but we did take home two pretty chili plants as souvenirs.

after the greenhouse we walked to town and bought some lunch, stopped by to look at the ocean one more time and set off for meran, where axi, alex's friend, lives.

we stopped by the side of the road for lunch one time and drove through rain - the entire 6 hours, till we got to their place at quarter to eight at night. the four of us - alex, alex, marion and i had dinner at oscar's restaurant up on the hill, chatted for a long time with the owner, finally went back home and went to bed.

we woke up shortly before eight on tuesday, and had breakfast with axi before he went to work. axi's apartment has views from all rooms - great views of apple orchards, hills, houses, churches and castles and mountains covered with fresh snow.

alex and i took a walk through the botanical gardens. on our walk we stopped by this cute restaurant up on the hill to have fresh grape juice and plum dumplings. got back to axi's around 1:30, he prepared lunch which we ate heartily. we left at 3 pm and got home before 8 at night.

i found a place for the plants - by the living room window near the door. i think one day i'm going to have to bring them back to levanto and start a little chili farm of my own. with an olive grove, lemon trees, nectarines, cherry tomatoes, and peaches. that would be nice.

well, that was our long weekend in italy. write more later.