Pitelli, La Spezia (October 2022)
La Spezia
One of those places I had never heard of before. My colleague Zoe had found it while travelling around Italy. She found an amazing AirBnB in the area and decided to stay for 2 months!
I met up with Zoe in Roma for our company retreat. Zoe suggested I come and visit her in Pitelli, she even has a spare room I can stay in.
Thurday, 6th October 2022
I left Roma on the train, travelling north for a few hours to the city of La Spezia. Upon arrival, I had to catch a bus to Pitelli.
How to catch a bus in La Spezia.
- Figure out which bus stop you need (Google Maps is good for this).
- On your way thre, stop by a Tabaccheria (little store)
- Purchase a bus ticket to your destination (note: some stores may only accept cash, so be prepared -- it's probably around €2)
- Wait for the bus to arrive, signal the driver to stop
- Jump on the bus, it doesn't matter which door you enter
- Validate your ticket by inserting into the yellow box. If the device is working, it will stamp the date/time on your ticket. A few buses I found that the device wasn't working, just watch what other passengers are doing and follow their lead.
- Ride bus as normal to your destination.
Legend has it there is a bus that goes directly from La Spezia to Pitelli. It's a rare beast, often only glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. Your best bet is instead to catch one of the many “L” or "S" line buses towards Lerici.
Anyway, I'm sitting in the backseat of this bus, trying to keep my large backpack out of the way of other passengers. The back of my head hot with the heat from the midday sun.
I jumped off at San Terenzo. A small town nestled in the shoulder of the hills, curved around a picturesque beach. Zoe was out swimming when I arrived, so I waited at a beachside caffe, sipping an espresso and cooling off in the sea breeze.
San Terenzo is one of my favourite spots from this trip. We would often return to the beach to swim and relax in the sun. The alleys are filled with restaurants and shops, winding their way up to the hills above.
The walk from San Terenzo to Pitelli is 3km, uphill all the way. It takes about 40 minutes. The last half is on a narrow winding road with no footpath, it's fairly safe but you do have to be mindful of passing cars. The walk is enjoyable with Zoe, the time passing quickly by as we chat. By myself the pilgramage takes forever, and I often question if I’ve gone the right way.
Pitelli is a small village (“frazione”) perched on a hill overlooking San Terenzo. The population is probably in the hundreds. There is a store, a supermarket and a bakery. The streets are quiet, the locals sit and chat in the sun. Small cats and dogs run around.
La Bottega
SupermarketI love visiting here in the morning. It's run by a lovely old italian man who greets everyone with a warm "Buorngiorno!".
It's not a very big supermarket, but they have all the essentials.
I recommend picking up a pub of the homemade pesto from the deli.
Greta's Store
TabbacheriaThe Italian Tabbacheria does a lot more than just cell cigarettes. You can pick up
La Fontana
8nights
NZD 135per night
Description
Zoe is staying in a apartment on the top floor, with a private terrace that has gorgeous views of the area.
The spare room I am staying in is actually it's own tiny apartment, complete with ensuite and stunning view. The bed is high off the ground, with a rickety wooden stepladder. On my first night I accidentally knocked my phone off the side and completely smashed the screen. After getting it repaired I never risked taking my phone up again.
Right next to the apartment is the Parrocchia di San Bartolomeo, the village church. Sitting on the terrace we were frequently deafened by the ringing of the church bells.
San Terenzo
100 years ago, on the 28th Sepember 1922, there was a terrible tragedy in San Terenzo.
On September 28, 1922 at three in the morning, the powder magazine of the Royal Army that stood on the heights of Lerici, containing over 1,500 tons of explosives, exploded for causes that have never been ascertained.
The town below, San Terenzo, was hit by a shower of debris and boulders of all sizes: about two hundred people lost their lives, a thousand were injured and over fifty children were orphaned. All the houses in the town were destroyed or uncovered, the olive groves demolished.
While we were visiting, there were many photos displayed on bilboards along the coast showing photos of the destruction caused by the explosion.
Lerici
One of the first things you'll see in Lerici is the massive castle looming over the town.
The castle used to be a Paleontology museum. You can still visit it, it costs €5 to walk around, but there isn't much to see inside, just the empty remains of display cases. The best bit is getting to the roof and enjoying the view of the area.
Tellaro
For some reason I always forget the name of this place, often calling it to "Torello".
Recommended as a must-see to Zoe by her AirBnB Host, Tellaro is also described on Wikipedia as one of "the most beautiful villages in Italy". We had to see this place!
On Saturday we decided to walk from Pitelli to Tellaro. A 16km along walk meandaring through several villages, with great views over the gulf. Along the way I snagged a couple of fresh oranges from an over hanging branch.
Our favourite view was over Eco del Mare, unfortunately a privately owned beachclub, closed at the time. I would love to return with a kayak and visit the beach.
It was a great walk, again, mostly on the road, but not many cars so it was fine. We passed a lot of people walking as well, it was a great atmosphere, especially with the lush trees shading us from the sun.
We weren’t particularly impressed upon our arrival in Tellaro. It’s a neat little village, but we preferred the sandy beaches of San Terenzo to the rocky harbour.
We cooled off after our walk with a dip in the sea. While there is no sand, the water is incredibly clear.
Having a cocktail in the sun. (Note to self: a Negroni doesn’t taste as good as it sounds, try something else next time).
We were hoping to take the evening ferry back and enjoy the sunset from the water. To our dismay, we learned the ferry is no longer running. We decided to take the bus back to Lerici instead.
I did enjoy the octopus story:
Our village is Tellaro. It grows sheer out of the rocks of the sea, a sea-robber’s nest of 200 souls. The church is over the water. There is a tale that once in the night the church bell rang – and rang again. The people got up in terror — the bell rang mysteriously. Then it was found that the bell rope had fallen over the edge of the cliff m among the rocks, and an octopus had got hold of the end, and was drawing it. It is quite possible.
The men go fishing for the octopus with a white bait and a long spear. They get quite big ones, six or seven pounds in weight sometimes — and you never saw anything so fiendishly ugly. But they are good to eat.
