It always takes a few minutes to get adjusted when waking up in a new town. I crawled out of bed and opened the curtains to take a look outside. I saw palm trees, a sandy beach, and the blue water of the Mediterranean Sea. People on motor-scooters were whizzing around like they were late for work. A few big clouds were hanging around, but mostly there was sunshine. Ahhh… waking up in Santa Margherita Ligure. It’s a beautiful thing!
Yesterday was a long day, but there’s nothing like a good night’s sleep to recharge the batteries. Our only plan for today is to check out the train station and to explore our new neighborhood. But first – prima colazione. (Breakfast).
Prima Colazione
The hotel’s breakfast room was busy, but nice. I don’t know where all those guests came from. We didn’t see anyone yesterday when we arrived. There were lots of breakfast options – just about anything you could think of. Nothing like pancakes or bacon and eggs, though. They don’t do “bacon and eggs” over here.
Tourists from the United States are often disappointed with European breakfast options. Europeans just aren’t into big breakfasts. They’re into big lunches, though – two hours of eating and drinking, including wine or beer. It’s not a bad routine, once you get the hang of it.
Back in the room, we considered our options for how to spend the day. We decided to walk to the train station and get that task out of the way. We want to find the train station because tomorrow we’re going to take a train to Cinque Terre. (Pronounced “chink-weh TEH-rrrreh”).
“Cinque Terre” translates to “Five Lands”. It’s the name given collectively to five tiny fishing villages located near each other just south of here. You’ve seen pictures of them, even if you didn’t know what you were looking at. They’re so picturesque that lots of people, including us, want to go see them in person.
We’d also like to see the little town of Portofino – a playground of the rich and famous. It’s just north of here. We want to see what all the fuss is about, and to see why the hot ‘n tots like to go there so much.
Our only pre-planned activity while we’re in Santa Margherita Ligure is to have dinner at a special hillside restaurant near here. Reservations are required weeks in advance, so we booked ours on-line. We only know about it because a friend who grew up here recommended it to us.
La Stazione Ferroviaria (The Train Station)
To get to the train station, we started walking toward the center of town, away from the beach. As soon as we were off the main street, the motor scooters disappeared. We were in a quiet neighborhood. Mom-and-pop shops and businesses were getting ready to open. People who were out-and-about looked like they were walking to work.
When we reached the train station, it was eerily quiet – deserted, almost. Since we were there, we purchased tickets for Cinque Terre to use tomorrow. Okay. We completed our one-and-only chore for the day. Neat! But boy, it was really strange how that train station had been so empty.
Time to Make a Plan
Back at the hotel, we planned out the next few days. We decided to go to Portofino today. The people at the front desk told us that taking the local bus is a great way to get there. That sounded good to us.
I had read that you’re supposed to buy tickets in advance, rather than paying after boarding the bus. We walked a couple of blocks to an information office where bus tickets are sold.
A middle-aged lady sat in the information office. Her facial expression gave the impression that there was someplace she’d rather be. Anyplace, in fact. I walked up to the window and said, “buon giorno.”
She offered no reply. She just looked around in the air as if she thought the sound of my voice was a fly buzzing around. A mildly irritating fly. I continued…
“Posso comprare i biglietti per l’autobus qui?” (“Can I buy bus tickets here?”)
She replied, “No. Non vende biglietti qui.” (“Nah. We don’t sell ‘em here”).
I asked her some other questions, but to each she replied, “Io non so.” (“I don’t know.”)
I wanted to ask, “Poi perché questo si chiama un ufficio di informazioni?” (“Then why do you call this an information office?”), but I chickened out. I wasn’t happy about her being in the information office, but better inside than if she were to come out of there!
To be continued…
Feature Image: Santa Margherita Ligure Bay. Credit: Michal Osmenda/Wikimedia Commons, (cropped).
