Cindy and Mike Do the World!: Serramazzoni and Cinque Terre, Italy

After leaving Bologna, we stayed in a place I’d found on airbnb that was in an old mill…the Muzzarelli family had converted it into a suite to rent out. We ate lunch and dinner at their restaurant and spent the afternoon exploring the countryside…sounds picturesque except that the Ferrari factory is close by so it seems like people do their test driving on the back country roads quite frequently. There were also so many motorcycles (groups of them) racing along with lots of cyclists on road bikes. We have seen more cyclists here in Italy (on road bikes and in full gear) than anywhere else.

Giorgio and Ivanna Muzzarelli were really sweet and we got a tour of their vinegar factory. Giorgio knows some english and he had google translated his menu so that helped. I still don't know what courchettes are though! He left us a nice review on airbnb, part of which translates to: "...are two wonderful boys, young, cute and full of vitality." haha, very sweet.

We only stayed one night and then continued to Cinque Terre area. Cinque Terre is made up of five villages right on the coast and you can hike between them. Unfortunately, there was severe and fatal flooding due to rainstorms in 2011. Two of the villages were greatly affected, Vernazza and Monterosso, but they have managed to rebuild. There are some hiking routes closed off (I’m not sure if this is due to maintenance required before they can safely reopen them) but there are alternative paths between the towns and you can take the train as well so we had a great time exploring these places. They reminded us of the Amalfi Coast, only perhaps a little rougher (but still charming). Our favourites were Vernazza and Riomaggiore.

An aside: We were a bit confused with the spa etiquette in Italy. In the first agriturismo we stayed in, there was a steam room and sauna so we went down there in our robes (no bathing suits). Another guest was there in his swimsuit so we went running back upstairs to put our suits on, with the host calling after us ‘what’s wrong?’ Then in the next agriturismo, we went down with our bathing suits and found people walking around naked. We thought maybe you were supposed to book your time and so we also left in a hurry to ask our host if we should reserve a time. Nope! So back down we went, but kept our bathing suits on. Such Canadian prudes. ;)

Italy always gets to my heart…I love the food and wine (and it's not too expensive if you stick with pasta and house wine), the people are friendly and there are so many interesting places to explore. We will have to return.

Giorgia making irish coffee for us...quite a production but a delicious result.

Goose carpaccio

Best risotto ever...made with his balsamic vinegars

Our pad for the night

Who knew sleeping in an old mill could be so cute? Those mill workers would laugh. I wonder what we'll find cute 100 years from now.

Giorgio pointed out a trail we could take but then followed on his dirt bike to make sure we didn't get lost.

We toured a parmigiano reggiano factory. Look at those vats of yummy cheese.

After it's made, it can be stored for a while.

We wanted to try some cheese but the smallest they had was 400g...yet it was only 5 euros (this cheese is so $ at home). So we bought it and I had a big block beside me in the car throughout the day, which got considerably smaller by evening.