La Spezia - Porto Venere,Tellaro and Lerici

Porto Venere, Tellaro and Lerici, - the La Spezia Region

The Poets Knew Best

The area on the Italian Riviera known as the Cinque Terre is one of the most visited and loved areas in a country famed for its endless coasts, its rugged coves and its cliff -hugging villages and dwellings. Two small towns near to the Cinque Terre but not actually a part of the famous five, are certainly equally deserving of a visit, equally as appealing but yet distinctively different. These are the small towns of Lerici and Porto Venere.

Lerici

Lerici is a working town and a fishing village. Here the waterfront hums with activity from dawn to dusk; the cafes open and quickly fill up for that short espresso coffee hit and a fresh pastry to start the day. Fishing boats may already be back with their catch, ready to sell to the locals and to the restaurants. At weekends the entire beach-front promenade is packed with market stalls and vendors laying out truck-loads of wears, brick-a-brack,  clothes, laces, and manchester.

The bay is thronged with boats making the most of the sheltered harbour . Pleasure boats intermingle with fishing fleet and tourist launches depart for Porto Venere. Towering over one side of the bay is an ancient castle framed against the perfectly blue sky. This bay is also known as the Gulf of Poets as it was here that Lord Byron and the Shelleys found their inspiration nearly two centuries ago.

Porto Venere

Further along the coast by boat is the enticing town of Porto Venere. This richly colourful town is crammed along the waterfront, its tall narrow apartment buildings wrapping around the edge of the water, with just enough room for the cafes on the water’s edge. Behind these apartments, ancient ruins and castle ramparts spill down the  hillside. On the headland at the entrance to this bay stands the stark Church of Saint Peter (Chiesa di San Pietro) with it’s traditional black and white banded facade -  perched on the rocks of the promontory, surrounded on three sides by the sea. 

From Portovenere the boats depart for the Cinque Terre but if you manage to find some time to spend in either of these wonderful towns you will not regret it.

Chiesa di San Pietro on the cape

La Spezia - the large industrial town between Lerici and Porto Venere
Tellaro  - A small commune close to Lerici where an excellent camping ground can be found

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The Rome That is Passed By

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The Traveller's Rome

In a city that is renowned and admired world wide for some of the most famous monuments of all time, there are also those not so famous edifices which in a lesser city would be prime attractions in themselves. But in Rome? - Barely a mention.

The mighty Emperor Hadrian left his mark on many parts of the world. There was of course, his mighty wall - the remains of which snakes its way through the English countryside even today. There was the Temple of Venus and  Roma, -  which still stands partially in tact on a hill near the Colosseum and is visited by an estimated four million sightseers a year. There is the magnificent Pantheon with its huge domed roof - two thousand years old and still the largest un-reinforced dome in the world. These are Hadrian’s most well known legacies.

But if you happen to wander through the heart of Rome along the well-tramped streets as you weave in and out of the throngs of tourists, tour guides and guided walks, and then if you divert just a little, you will find yourself at the foot of what remains of the Temple of Hadrian; - eleven giant columns in a row with a huge scarred and pitted wall behind.

The Temple of Hadrian

This is the temple’s north  wall, - the only remaining wall, - now assimilated into the facade of the Rome stock exchange. There are no hoards of tourists around this edifice, just a handful of hawkers and captured in a moment in time, a girl playing violin in homage to a forgotten wonder.

A little further on but still in the main tourist tract of the city you may wander possibly by mistake, into the astonishing Galleria Sciarra. This Galleria is an object of great beauty. It soars up on all sides, its walls covered in murals and frescoes from the nineteenth century. Above these walls sits a pyramidal glass roof .

Galleria Sciarra

The art on the walls of the Galleria is the work of of a single artist, Giuseppe Cellini, and depicts themes in reverence of the virtues of  nineteenth century womanhood;  virtues such as self - sacrifice, servitude, obedience and chastity. Well perhaps the themes are no longer so acceptable but the overall effect of these tall art-covered walls in their rich earthy tones, is dramatic. This Galleria is easily missed. It is not well marked. The entrance is humble. It is not likely to be on your walking trail. But it is a detour you will be glad you took.

The surprise finds of Rome go on and on. Above, just two of these. And then there is the open air theatre beside the River Tiber. There are the night cafes and bars along the west bank. There is the eccentric Coppedè district. And there are also the wonders that you will find on your own; -  always the best discoveries.

Movies by the Tiber

Pisa - Not Just a Tower

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Pisa and the Piazza dei Miracoli

As everyone knows, there is a strange tower leaning just a little sideways in the historic north Italian town of  Pisa. But what is perhaps not so well known, is that there is so much more to this beautiful town than one leaning tower. To begin with, the tower is just one element in a breath-taking cluster of buildings whose charms are multiple and whose decorations are as delicate as spun sugar.

The Cathedral of Pisa

These buildings stand in a vast precinct of historical buildings, its lawns clad in rich green grass.  This is the Piazza dei Miracoli.  Here you will find  Pisa's cathedral, the perfectly formed cupola of the baptistry and the oh-so-famous tower. The light coloured marble walls of these famous buildings against a perfectly green carpet of manicured grass, make them stand out in sharp relief like so many sculpted works of art.

The River Arno

This whole medieval complex, known as the Square of Miracles, is the heart of Pisa and the source of its thriving tourist trade .There is however, much more to see in Pisa. The town itself  is stretched along the banks of the wide and slow-flowing River Arno, with its colourful houses twisting along the banks on either side. The city itself is a lively and popular university town, but more than anything else it is the history which brings people to Pisa.

The wonderful Santa Maria Della Spina is perched on the left bank of the river - lifted to its higher perch from a previous position closer to the water - which can at times rise to flood level. This is a church with an intricately carved white marble facade: just a small Gothic church but so ornate with its jagged spires reaching up to create a ragged skyline.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

This church is particularly eye-catching, standing as it does among simple terraced housing. Buildings dedicated to worship are scattered unexpectedly throughout Pisa like so many architectural gems rich in their wedding cake decoration, - all deserving of time attention and admiration. There is so much more to stumble upon in Pisa than just one very beautiful tower …

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Travel in Tuscany

Stumble upon Some Etruscan History

Getting off the Beaten track:

As you drive on your leisurely way thorough the much admired countryside of Tuscany it is important that you must free up enough time to call a halt when something extra-ordinary crosses your path. As you drive from inland to the coast you may come across a town whose dramatic vista will call you to a standstill. This is the town of Pitigliano; - not a large town but a town whose austere frontage may very well take your breath away.

Pitigliano

Pitigliano perches on the very edge of a rocky cliff face, which in itself seems to rise out of nowhere - surrounded as it is, by gently rolling Tuscany countryside.  Pitigliano is a town of houses with grey stone walls, cropped from local stone and built right to the edge of those tall and imposing cliffs -  not just atop these cliffs but buried down into the actual stone of the cliff faces themselves.

The early Etruscans first settled Pitigliano and much still remains of this ancient  town. Etruscan settlements are distinguished often by their perches on high precipices, enclosed by steep city walls. Pitigliano is the very epitome of Etruscan construction techniques. The first view of a stark grey Etruscan village rising out of  lush green landscape is a moment to remember.

The province of Grosseto in central Italy holds a number of surprises such as Pitigliano for those that wander off the beaten track and take the time to explore. Also in Grosseto - not far from Pitigliano - the hot springs of Saturnia are no secret, but nor are they on the well traveled tourist path. In fact they stand virtually alone in the middle of the countryside, so it comes as something of a surprise to find that so many others travel to this out of the way spot to bathe in these hot springs, also known and used since Etruscan times.

Saturnia

Saturnia’s multi-layered waters cascade down a hill from rocky terrace to terrace, steaming hot, providing many pools to choose from. A waterfall feeds the sulphurous turquoise waters from plateau to plateau onto those taking the waters. Naked or clothed, young or old, local or from far away, all come to enjoy the curative free waters of Saturnia.

www.unusualstays.com ( A New Zealand Blog of unique places to stay)
pippy.mccurdy@gmail.com