We made up for it in the afternoon though!
After lunch, we went for a walk through the village, but there were so many options for a hiking trails right from the town itself that we felt the call to go a little further into the hills.
Plus, did I mention that it was a gorgeous day?
The view from our balcony.
There is a park in town.
With a small hill that has views in all directions.
Looking back towards town.
What a beautiful spot.
Other villages in the hills.
There's a small archaeological site.
There used to be a tower on the hill.
This is all that's left of the spot where the tower was.
This guy has a nice view!
We decided on an old logging road trail that led down to an old house. I thought it was going to lead to something of interest since a "casa" (house) of some kind was mentioned on my maps.me program. But we got there, and it was an old house....but someone was obviously living in it and the trail down from that point was way overgrown. The house also had an access road on the other side of where we were. So it was pretty much a waste of time, but we did get in a 7 km (4.3 mile) hike.
Another beautiful view.
Back at the house, we relaxed for an hour and then headed over to the local shop which reopened at 5:00pm. We didn't have time to stock up on groceries before arriving here, so we had to get a few things. It's just a small country store. We got what we needed, but it's kind of pricey.
Everybody is really friendly, but we wish we could communicate with them a little better. The older lady (Maria) in the store spoke zero English, and of course our Italian is limited to only a few words. But, we still managed to get across to her that we are from Canada, and visiting for a week, and staying at Carlo's daughter Jessica's house. She seemed to understand all of that. Another lady came in the shop, and Maria proceeded to tell her about us, because we heard the word "Canada" mentioned. Word travels fast in these small towns, so we're pretty sure the whole village must know about us by now!
The town of Pieve di Zignago where we are spending a week.
Woke up this morning to heavy wet fog, but it's supposed to clear as the morning goes on. So we're not sure what's on the agenda for today. Maybe we'll go to the top of that hill on the left side behind town. There's a trail that goes up there, and some kind of building at the top. Or, maybe we'll go into the larger town of Brugnato (pop 1,270) 10 kms (6 miles) away and do some stocking up.
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Great deal on a pair of good quality binoculars...
I woukd like to know what makes you choose these towns
ReplyDeleteAre you just winging it..
We knew that we wanted to go hiking in the Cinque Terre National Park so from there Kevin would start looking at the prices of the accommodation and anything around La Spezia was pretty pricey at least for us so then he would widen the scope of his search and came up with the cute little place up in the mountains. It suits us fine and is away from all the hustle and bustle closer to the National Park and we know that from here we can do lots of hiking right from our door without having to even drive anywhere.
DeleteWhat a great idea to stay in one place for a week and get to know the area better. I love the fact that everyone knows about you.
ReplyDeleteWe like the idea too but find we don't do enough of that because we are always finding too many places to visit and want to see them all, which we know that we can't do them all. It is times like that when we realise that we need to just settle down in one place for a longer length of time and visit things near by. This is one of those times.
DeleteIn a village this small gossip travels fast! ;-)
Sound s like a nice area, we like to make our stops for about a week at a time if we can, get to enjoy and explore the area better. Keep having fun.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful area and we won't have any problems with finding lots to see and do here. In fact I don't think a week is enough time.
DeleteYour stay in Pieve di Zignato is beginning to sound like the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" with Diane Lane, who created a new life and family in a little Tuscan village.
ReplyDeleteWe are pretty sure that we saw that movie once but don't remember it. It is a place that we certainly wouldn't have a hard time living in. Gorgeous scenery and lots of hiking near by.
DeleteWant to go to Italy now. In Caceres (Spain) now on a beautiful campsite with private shower and toilets.
ReplyDeleteHope you are enjoying it there. We really loved that area. If you like hiking there are some great hikes there. Make sure you go up to the castle and watch the Griffon vultures flying around!
DeleteNothing travels faster than news gossip and tidbits from the local shopkeeper
ReplyDeleteGo there at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning should probably have coffee brewing for you
Especially in a tiny little village!
DeleteThey do make an app for your phone where you speak and it verbally translate through the speaker
ReplyDeleteYes, I think there is. We like to try and learn some of the language ourselves and by using an app it doesn't make you learn. It was funny but we could more or less understand what she said some of the time because I think knowing some Spanish helped but our problem then was not knowing how to reply back.
DeleteAh, decisions, decisions -- such are the joys of retired people! Should I do this today, stay indoors, go for a hike, or (fill in the blank). Ain't life grand? A whole week in one spot should do you very nicely.
ReplyDeleteOnly "semi-retired", lol, we do have to go back and work during the summer! Is is nice however knowing that you have months that you can travel and can change your mind about things when you like, opposed to only have 1 or 2 weeks of holiday time and trying to pack lots in.
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