Family Time around Chiavari

Because this is Italy and their castles predate their* discovery of North America, they have castles you can rent. Our two families spent the week at Mereta Castle in Leivi, a 15th century castle that had been used for defensive purposes (arrow slits in the building) as well as being the main castle for the Bagna family of Turin. It’s a gorgeous stone building filled with interesting treasures, from family heirlooms to things the current owner’s father picked up during his time as a naval officer. 

​* Genoa lays claim to being the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, and the naval museum we visited there describes their evidence (apparently there are several other places which also lay claim to being his birthplace)

Really, the only downside to the castle was the fact that it was very high up: 8 km and 200 m of altitude gain from our train stop in Chiavari. We rode hard and almost managed to beat the car ride of family arriving on the next train, and arrived to find that the castle was even more interesting than we had hoped. We walked in to see a suit of armour in the entrance hallway, and every room held more interesting things: more dining room tables, more glassware, more beautiful wardrobes. The place has a wood-fired pizza oven and an antique wine press in the downstairs kitchen!

The view from the outside hides the fact that this place sleeps ten and entertains many more.

The entrance hallway.

We started down by the sea and cycled up to where this photo was taken.

The basement entertaining area, with the largest of our three dining room tables in the background.

That evening we went out to dinner at a local place where instead of offering a menu, they give you an eleven-course meal: six appetizers, two fish dishes, two meat dishes, and a dessert. For us, the dessert was a surprise honeymoon cake arranged by the parents! We finished off the meal with limoncello and returned to sleep it off in the castle.

Chiavari and the castle are close to the UNESCO world heritage site of the Cinque Terre, or Five Lands, which are five villages on the coast of the eastern Italian Riviera. They’re famous for ekeing out their survival on impossibly steep hills by fishing and terraforming the hills for cultivating olives and grapes. One sign said that the length of the walls created to terrace the olives and grapes was equivalent to the length of the Great Wall of China! The five villages are connected by picturesque walking trails which range from “hilly” to “should have brought my rock climbing shoes”, all in all a good time.

​Monday was the best weather forecasted for the entire week, so that’s when we headed to the Cinque Terre. It turns out we were joined by what felt like the entire rest of Italy, as the Tuesday holiday (The 25 of April, or the day the Italians overthrew the Fascists at the end of WWII) meant that Monday was also a  holiday, and the second town of Vernazza was just packed with people. We had lunch there and started hiking to get away from the press of people, and the crowds did indeed thin out once we started climbing. We had a gorgeous walk to the third town of Corniglia, where we got more gelato and wandered the city with fewer crowds. Unfortunately, the trails to the fourth and fifth towns were closed due to trail damage (whether from the floods of 2011 or the hordes of walkers, we aren’t sure) so we headed home after dinner in Corniglia.

Manarola

Riomaggiore

Heather and Fran

Vernazza

The next afternoon everyone but me hiked through hills near the castle. I’m told that the views were somewhat compromised by the low clouds that they were walking through, but every now and again there was a break in the clouds and they could see all the way down to the coast.

That evening Joel and I prepared dinner, and the Armstrongs introduced the Slonetskys to the most delicious of foods: artichokes. We also showcased things we had learned from earlier in the trip and made salmon a la Gustaf and tian a la Magali.

Wednesday was fully rainy, so Joel and I spent the day at the castle catching up on things like laundry and a blog post, while others went to explore Chiavari. Joel tried his hand with the pizza oven and we ended the day with another delicious home-cooked meal (Minestrone made by our host) and played games late into the night. The next day was spent exploring the weekly market, port, and gelaterias of Rapallo, and a small group of us continued to the beautiful town of Portofino to explore its fine harbour and castle. (We skipped the designer shops.) 

Friday was our last day together, and my birthday, so we fit in as much as possible: we went by train to the other three Cinque Terre towns of Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Monterosso al Mare (and ate as much gelato as possible), then we headed back to Genoa where I was surprised by a birthday wine tasting (and more gelato) and dinner at Le Rune, an exceptional place that opened last year to rave reviews, but is still somehow reasonably priced. If you’re in Genoa, you should go there.

Birthday flowers!

Great sunglasses might be hereditary...

After dinner we said goodbye to Luke and headed back to the castle. The next morning the rest of us parted ways, but we will meet up again with our parents in Florence in just a few days’ time, just long enough for us to cycle there… onwards!

Foods of note:

• The eleven-course meal in Leivi: some favourites were the appetizers of meats and cheese, as well as the mushroom and parmesan salad. Many of us even enjoyed foods we normally pass on (shrimp for me, olives and mushrooms for some of the brothers).
• Limoncello enjoyed by all!
• Pizza made by Joel and Anne.
• Gelato: Cinque Terre honey, Cinque Terre lemon, fig and ricotta, apricot, pear, gelato served inside a brioche…
• Minestrone soup made by our host Angelica.
• Dinner at La Rune: the best octopus we’ve had yet (even the most avid seafood disliker of our group went back for a second taste!), eggplant ravioli, tiny beef ravioli, asparagus tart, the best steak Matt has ever eaten, delicate fennel and truffle steak tartar, and tender tuna.