Were awakened about 2:30 by a big thunderstorm. Lots of booming and pouring rain. We lost power in our little apartment. There are a couple of steps up from the bedroom and since we closed all of the shutters it was dark dark dark. A trip to the loo was dangerous!! We went down to find Marco, our very helpful host, who told us so much about the town, that we have forgotten so much already. He wasn’t at his desk yet. We entered our lobby again, and I tried the light switch there and it worked!! Soooo, we went back up to investigate the breaker box in the flat. Tried one and voila!! Let there be coffee!! 🙂
We decided that we will walk up to the Castle today. It is a bit of a trek and the road is definitely not a straight one!! We wiggle our way through the little streets until we get to the Castle Malaspina.
The views from the castle are spectacular. Rain however is threatening. We get some great photos none the less.
The rain slows down and we head down with the idea to head towards a street that we could see from the castle. It looks like lots of awnings and umbrellas. We think is may be a street with many restaurants and cafes.
We do manage to find the street and discover that it is a very large street market. Selling anything that you can imagine. Clothing, cheeses, shoes, umbrellas, deli meats.
Just after we pass through the market street the skies opened up and just poured. We found a bit of shelter and stood there waiting for the rain to stop.
After the rain we try to find a pizza restaurant that our host Marco told us about. We find it. Stu goes in and orders our pizza and a couple of beers. I go outside and grab a table and wait for him to bring the pizza. As I sit a man comes and asks if I would like to order drinks. I tell him that my husband is waiting for pizza and has ordered beer. He tells me with his hands that (pointing to the pizza place) is pizza and that (pointing to the shop next door and the tables that I am sitting at) is drinks. Ah Yes!! It comes back to me now. Marco did tell us the story. Da Giovanni’s (the pizza place) has been operating for over 30 years in this location. They didn’t have any seating, but have an overwhelming business with the pizza. (they do sell beer, but mostly as a takeout item). So a couple of bars decided to set up next door, put out tables for the pizza people to sit and eat and to buy their beverages from the bar guys!! OK OK I get it now, so I also order beer from the bar/table guy. Stu, from inside the pizza place waiting for our order sees me at the table with 2 beers and is now very confused. I run in to explain the “system” and find that a German fellow is also explaining the “system”!! So it is a 2 beer and pizza lunch for us!! We put the first 2 empties in by satchel bag so the bar/table guy doesn’t think we bought both from him 🙂 By the time Stu comes out with the pizza and other beers, there is a big line up to order pizza. They are only open between 12 and 2pm for lunch, later for dinner. This lunch cost us 4.80 Euros for 2 pieces of pizza, 3 Euros for the pizza guy beer and 4 Euros for the bar/table guy beer. This is what all the fuss is about. It is a folded pizza. Depending on the filling it runs from 1.80 to 4.00 per very generous piece.
Here are a few more random shots of our day. We walked to the Marina area and have logged 16km on our little feet.
