Staying in the cute little town of Spoltore, in the province of Pescara, Italy, a few days before and after Serena and Marco’s wedding was such a great experience. It was an area of Italy I hadn’t explored before and as I mentioned in Serena and Marco’s wedding blog post, their friends and family were so amazing in immediately embracing me as a new friend and showing me their beautiful province of Pescara. My time here was definitely one of the highlights of the year for me.

 

The man in the photo below was so friendly to me and even brought me inside his home to proudly show me the historic exposed beams in his ceiling (it was too dark to get a shot unfortunately). Before leaving, I took his photo and he gave me a huge hug and kiss on each cheek.While in Spoltore, I stayed at the charming Ottocento B&B. The light was so beautiful in my room and I loved the arched brick ceilings. It had been beautifully restored. The B&B was made up of 4 levels, with a room and little living room area and bathroom on each floor for each guest. It felt like having my own little apartment in Italy since the owner didn’t live at the B&B. I loved it!This was the actual key for my room at Ottocento. Le sigh. : )One day, Serena’s good friend Ambra’s boyfriend, Riccardo used his day off work to show me some towns in the area. Such a fun guy and a great day. Driving with Riccardo is like a ride at a carnival. haha. He drives super fast along swerving country roads with his knees while using his hands for his phone or to change a CD, etc. I found myself clutching the door a few times. haha. He is a good driver though – I don’t know how he does it!

First, Riccardo took me to the beautiful fishing village of Ortona. This area is famous for trabocchi, which are extremely cool fishing contraptions on stilts. I found them really fascinating.Such a cool, barnacle-covered anchor!Many of the trabocchi have restaurants right on board so you can eat the freshest of fish. Too bad I don’t like seafood. I’m sure I missed out.More trabocchi lined up along the coast.A collection of treasures, fished out of the sea.Forgotten nets and used nets.

Riccardo stopped so we could take a closer look at a vineyard (and steal a bunch of grapes!). I noticed most of the vineyards in this area of Italy grow their grapes in a tented fashion. It would be fun to have a picnic underneath the shade of a row.Next, Riccardo took me to the town, Lanciano.Another night in Spoltore, Serena and Marco’s awesome friends, Luigi and Daniela, took me for dinner at Pizzeria da Osvaldo. I got a margherita pizza and oh my goodness it was amazing. The owner, Osvaldo (seen below) is 88 years old and apparently still goes to work every night in an I Love New York T-shirt. Adorable- I love this man. Buonissimo pizza Osvaldo!After dinner, Luigi and Daniela took me to this amazing gelateria, L’altro Gelato in the city Pescara. It was voted one of the 10 best gelaterias in Italy! I believe it. I tried a mojito-flavoured sorbet that tasted spot-on and the 3 ice cream flavours I had were so creamy and delicious. Italians are amazing hosts. I had tried to pay for dinner at the pizzeria and Luigi and Daniela wouldn’t let me, so I ran to the till at the gelateria to pay and the girl working knew them and said, “I’m sorry, but they will kill me if I let you pay,” drawing a finger across her throat for emphasis. Too funny.Daniela (left) and Luigi (right) with L’altro Gelato owner, Livio (middle).I know I could have gotten a way better shot of this ice cream but I was much too eager to eat it.

Portofino, Italy was another one of my awesome day trips I did while staying in Cinque Terre. Portofino is an adorable tiny town on the coast of Liguria. The bus ride to Portofino is an experience in itself. It was super busy and I had to stand in the aisle… or should I say, “surf” the aisle because I felt like I was navigating a surfboard the whole ride with all the twists and turns on the skinny roads that hugged the sea. Every time we took a turn, it looked like we were going to fly into the water. haha. We tourists stood out as we clung a little more tightly to railings while locals looked totally at ease. One little kid played video games on a gameboy and looked as sturdy as if he was standing on firm, unmoving ground. haha. I thought the ride was really fun but it was amusing watching the reactions of the other travelers on the bus and hearing muffled yelps and squeals.

When we reached our destination, I jumped off the bus and made my way to the nearest bakery to get a slice of margherita pizza into my grumbling tummy. I then made my way to the bustling pier and munched away while I took in all the sites of fisherman, colourful curving buildings and interesting tourists and locals.

After finishing my pizza I climbed up to Castello Brown, a castle perched high on a hill, overlooking the town and surrounding sea. I had a funny experience when I got distracted taking photos on the way back down and took a wrong turn, reaching a private beach. I had to climb allll the way back up to the castle and down again the right way. hahaha. Good times. A similar thing happened to me on the Amalfi coast but I’ll wait till that post to share it.

Portofino oozes charm and captivates the eye! I had such a happy afternoon meandering around this gem. I even found the cool little public beach/cove that you see in the second photo below. Prime swim spot. Keep your eyes pealed on the bus drive in and you’ll spot this treasure yourself. ; )

How to get to Portofino: To reach Portofino, you catch the train to Santa Margherita and then take bus 82 to Portofino (the stop is just to the right as you walk out of the Santa Margherita station – it says BUS in yellow on the pavement).

Follow the links to check out my posts on nearby Cinque Terre and Levanto or immerse yourself in my posts on all my Italy adventures here. : )

 

 

My Dad and I stayed in the beautiful Ligurian coastal town of Levanto for the last leg of our father/daughter Italy trip while we explored Cinque Terre. Levanto has a convenient spot right next to the last town of Cinque Terre, Monterosso and is even included in the Cinque Terre train day passes. We stayed at the cute Oasi Hotel which has a great location halfway between the train station and the beach (a 4 minute walk to each). We really loved having Levanto as our home base. The town has lots of character (I love how the streets are riddled with old bicycles) and great food! My Dad and I were pretty smitten with the focaccia pizza that was sold in several focaccerias throughout the town. We enjoyed ambling along the pier, swimming in the sea and searching for cool rocks and beach glass.  My Dad had a few days with me in the area and then left home for Canada while I stayed in Levanto for another week. In my week alone, I did day trips to Lucca, Portofino and spent the rest of my time relaxing and drinking in Cinque Terre.

Follow the links to check out my posts on nearby Cinque Terre, and Portofino or immerse yourself in my posts on all my Italy adventures here. : )