ABC Wednesday - L is for LERICI

My first real WOW moment when I visited Italy in 2006 was when we arrived in the town of LERICI. We stayed 5 days and nights, visiting the town and its surrounding countryside and neighbouring cities and towns, and boating across the bay to the Cinque Terre. Back in February, I wrote "C is for Cinque Terre here.

My friends in England will appreciate that English writers Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley lived some three miles north in an isolated old boathouse called Casa Magni and anchored their sailing boat in Lerici. Their closest neighbours were the villagers of the tiny hamlet of San Terenzo. Percy Bysshe Shelley was drowned on July 8, 1822 in the Bay of Spezia upon returning to Lerici from a journey to Leghorn and Pisa. His corpse eventually washed up on the beach at Viareggio, located approximately halfway between Livorno and Lerici. The popularity of Lerici with the Shelleys and with Lord Byron earned the Gulf of Lerici its nickname as the Gulf of Poets.

LERICI is one of the mariner communities which take part to the Palio del Golfo, a rowing contest held in La Spezia every first Sunday of August.

LERICI is twinned with Horsham in West Sussex, England, although Horsham no longer records this as an 'active' twinning on its official website.

This was the view that greeted me from my hotel room patio!

Roomie and I decided to take a stroll into the town center. Above the hills stood gorgeous Italian villas like the one below, surrounded by palm trees swaying in the evening breeze.

We arrived just when families were emerging with their children to take in the sunset. Children played on this merry-go-round while mothers, fathers, and grandparents lovingly watched over them.

The fountains were beautiful against the brilliant pastel colours of the ancient buildings.

Upon arriving back at our hotel, armed with a full-bodied bottle of red wine purchased at the local wine shop, Roomie and I settled down to watch the sun set over the Mediterranean.

This was our view towards the west.

The next morning we set off for the Cinque Terre and I got this shot of the castle from the vantage point of the top deck of the boat.

and finally, here are the "Lerici Ladies," as we dubbed ourselves, along with one of our guides. In this photo, we're perched on a crag overlooking the water in the town of Riomaggiore.

If you are interested in seeing a short video clip of the town of LERICI, done by our other guide Umberto, click on the youtube link below. Just watch the first 3.20 minutes because after that it's our other guide Richard showing his two houses just outside of Lerici that he rents out. Of course, feel free to watch that, too, if you're interested in seeing what it's like to live there. I hope you enjoyed this little tour of one of my favourite places in Italy. When we get to the letter "P" I'll write about that place. Stay tuned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vR1hCGOczE

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