Inexpensive Gavi and overpriced Porto Fino

Waking up in Gavi was the best morning so far. The shutters were open and the European windows wide open (they open like barn doors so you can have 1 or both open creating a huge opening) and the sounds of the public markets in the street below.


 Looking on the morning scene, people are chatting and going about the business of buying fruit, vegetables and so on. Above the square is the Gavi fortress impressive and begging us to explore.


Above is the cheese and part of the vegetable stands. Look at the huge chunk-o-cheese on the right. Amazing. And on the right, fresh mushrooms - there must have been 6 or 8 different types.



And the square is invariably surrounded by cafes and gelato shops. This morning was our first challenge with language as there is no English being spoken here. Jake and Steve went to the cafe first and tryed to order coffee for the 4 of us. After a couple orders that weren't quite right, they got our coffee. We ordered pizza from the place next door and sat back to enjoy. The view and sounds of the market, the warm weather, (about 30 by 10am), the fabulous cafe latte and pizza that is far and away the best I have ever tasted, combined to make this a moment I'll not soon forget. Oh yes - and the price - all this for about $10.


 Time to tackle this fortress. What a treat! It's an excellent example of Roman ingenuity, remarkably well preserved and no line-up to get in. Along with another couple we toured the old structure with an Italian tour guide. Our fellow tourist spoke enough English to translate the fascinating story of this old building.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, it traded hands over the next years until finally becoming a prison in the 18th century.





Here Brigitte looks over the wall for barbarians or folks from the credit agency. You can see the Italian countryside in the distance,. It really was a remarkable view.

The best story goes like this: The fortress has been under siege for some time and the food was all gone except for a single cow. The leader in the fortress (emperor I think) talked all the people into releasing their last cow and letting it run away. The attacking forces couldn't believe that the attackees had so much food they could afford to let the cow escape and so abandoned the siege. Smart thinking. That had to have been a tough decision by the leader - and how did he get support for that plan? Not even Obama could muster support for a move like that!






We reluctantly left Gavi and headed to the coast. We had been told that Porto Fino was worth seeing. We had wanted to g to Chinko Terra but heard it was very difficult to get to. They do not allow cars in the village so public transit is the only way to get around. So Porto Fino it was. Made famous by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and others of that era - it is without a doubt heart stopping in its beauty.

But here's the thing - the mountains meet the beach leaving very little room for parking or beach. So little that there is nowhere to park (Except scooters and there are thousands of them) and the beach areas are fenced off so that you have to pay to sit on the beach. The cost is 17 Euro or about $25 per person. Here's where it gets really crazy - when we enquired about paying and using the beach - we learned that it was a 2 days wait!!!! The beach was full and you had to pay $100 for a day and get a reservation in advance. Ok enough complaining - Check out the pictures of the beach.


We did check out the narrow alleys in search of reasonably priced food. We eventually found lasagna that was out of this world with earthly prices. Off to Pontedera which is near but Florence and Pisa