For the last four years, in the spring, we have gone to the seaside towns of the Cinque Terre for a few days of hiking - always in warm sunshine. This year we changed venue and stayed on the coast south of La Spezia known as the Gulf of Poets - from its connection with Petrarch, Dante, Byron and Shelley to name a few.
This year, the sought-for weather window didn't appear, so the blue skies and sunshine were in short supply. The paths were similar to the Cinque Terre however - very well marked by the Club Alpino Italiano, but even more challenging - perhaps the hardest walks we have done anywhere in fact. Part of the problem was the cingiali (wild boar), which root up the paths leaving a stony muddy mess. Apparently, the hunters release piglets here to boost numbers - exacerbating the problem ...
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| Lerici, looking west from our balcony. Last year, we stayed in Porto Venere in the distance - just where the two little teeth enter the sea |
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| Percy and Mary Shelley stayed in the white house with arches in the centre of the photo |
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| Night falls in the narrow streets |
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| Hogwarts? Gormenghast? The Castle of Otranto? No - it's the Castello di Lerici, built in 1152 to protect the entrance to the bay of La Spezia |
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| The view of he bay from the castle |
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| Next morning the weather is looking up! |
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