We knew yesterday we HAD to do laundry. Megan had given us a pencil map to the lavanderia in Sarzana since there isn’t one here in Lerici. The hotel can get your stuff done but it is 2 euro for just a pair of socks!
Unbelievably we found the laundromat on the first try following the little drawing. Who would have thought we would ever enjoy the clothes cleaning thing so much! There was an older couple in there, too. So I struck up a conversation with them and it was so much fun. They spoke no English so it was slow going with my Italian but we really did talk– about what? Food, of course. The woman said her husband makes the gnocchi, the ravioli and the pesto and she makes everything else. They rarely go to restaurants. He told me his secret to pesto is he uses half parmigiano and half sardo cheese. They were so nice and I really enjoyed talking to them.
Afterwards we went to Sarzana which is very pretty but was quite sleepy on a Sunday afternoon. We stopped in a bar there and Ken had a sandwhich with pesto on a nice foccacia . I tried farinata for the first time. It looks like pizza crust at first but it is made from ground chick peas. That one was quite oily but had great flavor. At 4 euros it was our cheapest meal yet, by far.
In the evening we walked a bit around Lerici and went to dinner at Il Frontoia. I had the black ravioli which filled me up after about a third of the plate. Ken had trenette with pesto. The pesto so far seems a little bland. I am thinking that with all the rain the basil may not be a flavorful this year–who knows. We also shared a really nice branzino (bass?) baked with chard and diced tomatoes and lots of fresh oregano–exactly what I felt like eating. We were saying this morning that we have had lots of wonderful dishes on this trip but have yet to have one totally fantastic meal.
This morning we woke up to rain–lots of it in the early hours. So we very slowly got ready for the breakfast. It is one of the best I’ve ever had in Italy. And they make most of the stuff here at the Doria Park. After breakfast we took a long walk to San Terenzo and back, all along the seaside walkway. There were lots of people out with children in strollers and it was gorgeous. I enjoyed watching some little boys fishing with nets. I’ll put the pictures up later or tomorrow.
We hurried back because it looked like another storm was coming but it hasn’t rained all day! The sky gets dark and threatening but no drops come down.
We had a wonderful focaccia with porcini and truffles and a beer for lunch and then “hiked” up to the Castello and went on a bit of an explore around that part of town. We are getting our exercise in today!