Johnblog

We had a lovely evening at Steve and Ginny’s local folk club in Baston Village Hall. We took our own food – ham rolls – and beer and wine. Steve did an excellent job of looking after us drinkwise – a selection of the finest continental lagers for me.

Afterwards, I persuaded Steve to show us his operation scar.

I think he’s actually a zombie now, you can tell by the shiny eyes! I should have checked for a pulse.

With Ginny and Steve at the marvellous Mill House in West Deeping. It is damp and foggy, but quite mild as they say in these parts. Steve is in good nick after his heart bypass operation and is walking miles every day. We say hello to Ginny and the horses.

We head off for a walk with Steve and Ginny and stomp along soggy fields through green countryside turning russet and gold as the leaves fall. In the evening we have a drink in the famous George Hotel (first recorded in 947) then head to the newer Tobie Norris pub (the building dates from 1280), for some good food.

Autum walks – russet, gold and cold!

Thursday, another walk, this time two hours struggling to keep up with Steve marching ahead at 3.5 miles an hour (he’s measured it!) in my borrowed boots kept on with the help of three pairs of socks. There’s a lot of mud, but Jan and Steve seem to be having a great time, so I daren’t complain or I’ll be branded a wimp. Sigh! Maybe I need a heart op?

Lunch in Stamford and some shopping. Folk club tonight. My legs hurt.

Thursday. Lovely weather, sunny, 22 degrees. We head off for Bocca De Magra to visit Restaurant Ciccio Capannina Ciccio, owned and run by the Guelfi family since 1951. It is well known for its delicious Ligurian cuisine and beautiful surroundings, it says on the website.

My friend and former Sydney Morning Herald colleague David Dale has written a book called Soffritto – A Delicious Ligurian Memoir (Lucio Galletto and David Dale). I was coming to Italy and asked David for recommendations and of course he gave me a copy of his book, which I found fascinating. So when we came to Liguria with Bob and Julie, we had to visit the restaurant. It lived up to its reputation with fabulous views and service, but most importantly fabulous food. We had mixed antipasto which included prawns on fagiola beans, mussels, baby octopus, puffy fish balls and some incredible tuna carpaccio. I had Bavettine pasta with gurnard fish sauce. Bob’s main came with amazing chips, salty, crunchy.

The view is across the river mouth to the stark beauty of the mountains beyond Carrara. The tops are white, but not with snow. The white is where the marble shows. After lunch we drive through Carrarra to the quarries (caves) at Fantiscritti where they slice the marble from the mountains. We are the only ones there and we pay 10 euros each for a Land Rover drive to the top of the mountain – 1000 metres asl and a commentary from a nice lad. See their website here and a video here.

The drive is scary, tight winding bends climbing higher and higher, then we go from tarmac to just a broken marble dirt road. Our guide explains the machinery used to cut the marble from the mountain. No explosives (too much waste material), instead they use drills and diamond-covered wires to cut the blocks into precise blocks. The more white the marble, the more valuable it is. The marble companies pay tax per tonne when the blocks are weighed. Trucks take 32 tonnes at a time down the mountain. They used to cut marble in underground caves, but no longer as it is not considered safe. Back down and on to Lerici, beer, castle, sunset.

Friday. Train to Corniglia , minibus to the top, bypassing the fabled 365 steps. Lovely little town, another fabulous lunch. Retrace steps by train to Monterosso, catch ferry to Riomagiorre (8 euros each) fantastic views of the villages from the sea. More beer, then train back to Levanto and home. Birreria in the evening.

Sat. We head into town to post some cards and wander. Lovely and warm. Head back with our bathers and have a dip in the Mediterranean. Water lovely and warm. Dark pebbly beach. Small bar on stilts over the beach – beer and snacks. La loggia restaurant in the evening. Loggia was great, Julie had minestrone, great big bowlful. We had some brescaiola and steaks, I had.

Monday, we head for home. I drive the autostrada from Levanto to Monaco – about three hours. The GPS proves completely useless in Monaco as most of the roads are in tunnels. It is a complete maze! We find a car park ( first hour free, then about 15 euros for four hours) but when we grab a free map, we find we are nowhere near where we want to be. We recalculate, head out of the park and drive through another maze and find another car park. We eventually work out that we are in the tunnel by the harbour where the Grand Prix cars whizz through. We walk up towards the casino and grab a beer. We spot the tourist open- top bus and decide to take the trip, despite it being 18 euros each. We can hop off, and we do at the old town, near the Prince’s palace. Lunch is pizza and salad, then a wander through the cathedral where the royal weddings and funerals take place. The streets are littered with flash cars – Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens and Porsches are a dime a dozen. we even see a new gull-wing Mercedes. The harbour is littered with super- yachts, massive gin palaces filled with uniformed flunkies. We take a wander into the casino which is wonderfully ornate inside but has the usual crop of sad gamblers at the tables. All the superstars and James Bond types must be in the private salons. We sit in The Cafe de Paris on the square and watch the rich people have their flash cars parked outside the front of the casino, surrounded by camera-wielding tourists. Three coffees and one tea is €23 but well worth it for the people-watching possie. Escaping Monaco is difficult, we re- enter the maze of tunnels and head for Nice Airport on the autoroute. then it is just the usual boring airport stuff until we arrive in rainy, foggy England. Rainy foggy drive at midnight back to Northamptonshire.