A Day in Portovenere

Le Grazie fisherman and Dom with dump truck


Le Grazie harbor


Portovenere


San Pietro at Portovenere


Portovenere views of the sea


Portovenere wine bar


Even though it was a rainy morning it was one of our last “free” days before departing Italy. So we carried on with plans to go to the town of Portovenere, about a ninety minute drive from our house. Luckily, by the time we reached to coast the weather improved a bit. No rain just brisk winds on a gray November day.

Portovenere is located on the south end of the stretch of the Ligurian Coast that includes the Cinqueterre but we think it is much more attractive. One of its plusses is that it is easy to reach by car although from Partigliano one first heads south to Lucca, then west to Viareggio, then north past Carrara, then west to La Spezia, then south to Portovenere. The reason for the circuitous route is that one must go round the Bay of Poets. La Spezia, at its head, is one of the major ports in Italy and homeport for the Italian Navy. Thus, many of the buildings, docks and installations on the west side of the bay are devoted to the military. Although the public cannot access these facilities, it is possible to look down on them from the road that heads down the peninsula from La Spezia to Portovenere.

Along this road are a number of towns. Once fishing villages, they now exist as bedroom communities to La Spezia and cater to summer vacationers. We stopped at one of them, Le Grazie, where a number of large yachts are berthed in addition to many smaller boats. We stopped and walked around for about twenty minutes. Among the interesting things we saw was a man fishing from the seawall right beside the “no fishing” sign. Well fed cats followed us around hoping for a handout. Dom spotted a small, drivable cement mixer—about midway between the size of a portable one and a full-sized one. A number of seagulls clamored for space on a tethered dinghy located in the harbor. Right in the middle of the harbor front pea patches (garden allotments) were divvied up behind fences on what looked to be public property.

After we made our circuit of Le Grazie we continued on to Portovenere. We have been there a number of times but it had been two or three years since our last visit. Not much had changed. The number of hotels, many of them shuttered in late November, is proof that in the summer the town must be a hopping place. Once upon a time it was an important post as it guards the entrance to the Gulf of Poets. The large fort on top of the hill still looms over the town and World War II bunkers can be seen along the town streets. The latter are sometimes covered with flowering vines and seem to be incorporated into the landscaping schemes of the neighboring houses. In addition to the fortifications, it also has a harbor that is well protected by a large island. The transient moorage held a number of large sailboats so we hypothesized that a regatta might take place over the weekend.

While we were there all was very quiet. However, the brightly colored buildings seemed to glow in the dull autumn grayness. There are no cars allowed in the old part of town so it is a great place to stroll around. We had the lanes nearly to ourselves, the more so as we arrived just about at 12:30 and the stores were closing up for lunch. By the time we walked out to the gray and white striped church at the end of the promontory and came back there was no one around except for a handful of other tourists.

The little church (San Pietro, I think) is a lovely spot. It is perched right above the sea and the old walls surrounding it have a number of “windows” that frame lovely views of the coast. The wind was doing a good job of whipping up the sea so the water was crashing against the rocks and tossing spray everywhere before slithering back down. Once we visited the church just after a wedding and white flowers filled the space. This time, as we approached the open door a black and white cat sauntered out and down the steps.

None of the usual restaurants right along the water was open so we walked back from the church along the town’s “main” street which cuts right through the center of town. Nothing much was open there either so when we saw an open wine bar we went inside. It was a really cute spot—only five tables—and my salad was excellent. Dom’s sardine panino (sandwich) was also tasty. Afterwards we continued on towards the town’s main square and discovered three or four other restaurants and bars doing brisk business. Sometimes serendipity is everything. If we had seen them earlier we might never have discovered the interesting enoteca (wine bar).

It was only mid afternoon but we felt we were done for the day. We headed back to Partigliano for a quiet evening at home.