Tuesday 1 September - To Ceriana

The grind up the hill with our gear was not so bad. We even did it all in one go, rather than the two we had expected. Mind you, we had been able to eat and drink our way through a fair bit of weight so we didn't need to carry it up! We managed to leave the carpark at Riomaggiore before 9am, which was good. Also carrying the gear up in the cool was vital, as we were dripping as it was.

Set the GPS on "no toll roads" again, so we could see some more small towns along the coast, otherwise you don't see much, as there are so many tunnels, and between the tunnels are viaducts with high sides so you can't see out from them either. Took a fair bit longer than the train on the way above Cinque Terre as the road is very winding, and pretty narrow too. As before, remarkably little traffic. Stopped for the view a couple of times, once beside a wee cog monorail. These run up, down and along the hillsides all along the coast. They have a rail at least 50cm above the ground, but often much higher, and teeth on the underside. There is a wee petrol motor on the front, a gearbox and a cog meshing with the rail teeth. The driver faces uphill with a decent back on his seat (he'd fall off otherwise as the monorails go down at 45 degrees or more at times). Behind the driver are a couple of little wagons onto which get strapped the wood, grapes, cement or whatever. We watched one across the hillside chugging up with a couple of rolls of chopped wood on board.

Karen had received the remaining bulk of her book from Hannah, and needed to print it out to be able to do the necessary checks. We had been keeping our eye out for a suitable graphics shop to do this, and found ourselves stuck in traffic in a small town right outside one, so did a 180 around a roundabout, and back to a close carpark. Printing worked out fine, although rather expensive at 0.20€ per b&w sheet. Good to have that sorted.

We weren't going to go to Portofino, but found ourselves only 7km away, so thought we might as well head in. Very glad we did. The hillsides in this area are covered with beautiful mansions and holiday homes, mostly with plenty of trees around them. It really is very beautiful, but no doubt extremely expensive to buy into. Many big cars on the roads – Mercs, BMWs and others. A fearsomely narrow road going in, then had to park at 5€/hour in a council parking building.

Out into the town square, which has buildings on three sides, the other being the marina. Extremely attractive. Full of the well-to-do in their smart clothes, and Americans blabbing on cellphones. The marina had many many flash boats, but there were three monsters. One was 92' long, and the next one, from London, even longer. The 92' one had a huge sundeck on the back, basically a platform of mattresses, covered with big cushions, and neatly folded towels no doubt put there by crew.

I was able to recognise the location of a recent rerun Top gear episode, where Hamster took off in a Ferrari, and James had a superfast speedboat. They don't allow cars where Hammond's was!

It must be a lovely location to stay in, as everything is on good order, clean and very attractive. It must also be very pricey too. We bought some lunch on the way out – a mini pizza each and a pastry – paying 16€ which was getting on for double what we would have paid in Riomaggiore. When we thought about it though, we would have paid the same in NZ anyway.

After Portofino, I had had enough of the winding roads and the concentration required. You can't relax for a moment as there is always another bend, or a car coming, and there is so little leeway each side that you'd be losing mirrors all the time. Also, it is disconcerting having a drop on one side, and a solid stone or rock wall on the other. So, set the GPS for toll roads, and headed for Savona, where our book said there was an Art Nouveau street. Seemed as good a reason to stop as any.

Had a bit of fun getting onto the toll system. First booth we rolled up at turned out to be for some special card holders, got no response from the Help button, so put on the hazard lights and backed out, then into another lane. Picked up our start ticket and away we went. Not easy driving. It still feels odd to be on the left of the car (but feels OK to be on the right of the road). Constantly changing lanes to pass slow cars and trucks, then back again to let big Mercs by. Also takes more concentration to stay in the right place on the lane, as I am not in the normal NZ position. No doubt we will get more used to it over time. I've been travelling at 90-115km/h, although the limit does rise to 130 at times. I guess we passed about as many as passed us.

Off at Savona, paid our 4.30€ by feeding in a 5€ note into the auto machine. Easily found a carpark. Parking hasn't really been an issue so far, though having to have times to get back to the car is annoying. Used the GPS to find our Art Nouveau street; very attractive and consistent 5 storey buildings but with the exception of one, hardly Art Nouveau. The one exception was rather lovely though, and had been nicely looked after. Expensive brand-name shops each side under a big loggia on each side; it works very well in this summer climate. We had passed a good fruiterer and a supermarket on our walk, so stocked up on our way back. Cheapest veges yet, e.g. nectarines down to 0.59€/kg.

I had a decent stress headache by now from the driving, so decided to take the autostrada again to save time (the GPS thought it was 1 hour vs. 2+ by standard roads). Glad I did so, as I was feeling pretty knackered by the time we turned off the autostrada for Ceriana. It was 12km inland up another narrow road, with some of the narrowest stretches of road yet. An amazing hilltop town on our right, which we thought might be Ceriana, but turned out not to be. Finally onto Ceriana, also a hilltop town. Into town, and the GPS had us turning up a tiny kinked alleyway, but I didn't like the look of it – would be OK in a Smart car but looked a tad too tight for us. So sent Karen on by foot while I started down it, then chickened out. Backed out and headed down another road a bit further on. Chanced on a carpark we thought might be near our accommodation. Karen and I set off on foot to see if we could find where we were going. In and out of alleyways, up and down steps. This town is severely medieval.

Stumbled onto Piazza Sant'Andrea where our rooms are. A whole group of signorini yakking away, so asked if one was Eusebia, our local contact and up she jumped. Supposed to be 80, but doesn't look or act it. Let us in, and we spent some time trying to get the power on. Some man turned up to help and between us we got things going. They had no English whatsoever, but we managed a half-decent conversation. Back down to the car by a different route, which turned out to be a bit easier. Had only an idea where the car might be, so we were lucky finding it again. We have no map of here yet, and nothing helpful has been left in our accommodation

Decided to take two trips for our gear, as we had so many groceries. Rooms are as follows. Long entry to the front door, then straight into the kitchen, which has a table for four. Upstairs to a living room with fireplace and a bedroom, plus a bathroom. Upstairs to an attic bedroom and another smaller bathroom. Sally is taking the top room, as nowhere near my head height, we are on the middle level. All very nicely restored, modern fixtures and fittings, including new double-glazed windows. It will be a nice base for the next fortnight.

I went wandering to ease my aching brain while the others made dinner, and found a big poster advertising the events of the next couple of weeks. We have missed a recent shared community pranzo (lunch) which is a pity, but in a few days there is a night-time flame-lit religious procession, followed by several nights of music performances, so our timing is good for once.