Up in time to pack,  tidy up and have coffee with the 2 nonnas at the bar near the Castillo. Over the last few days they have come to expect to see us each day for a cool drink after our walk up hill. Today it’s arrivederci as we struggle down with our bags.

Got Lericis best taxi driver. He chatted to us all the way to Sarzanna -in Italian ( and a little English)
He was so nice and so loves this area. Told us all the things we should be staying on to see and do. Yes it is a beautiful area and not  over run with tourists. Almost everyone on holidays are  from areas north of here -including Milan.

Got the train -no problems and are now in a lovely apartment just across the road from Luccas famous Guinigi Tower.
More later as I should sleep because tonight is white night -where everything goes all night!

Oh what a night!

Ieri sera
_last night we went to a Sagra -a kind if food festival in a little village . This one was in a town I had visited before when staying with my niece Berti two years ago. It was a snail Sagra! Each village has one in summer and choose one type of food The Sagra lasts 3 days.
We arrived late after Prosecco in Lerici. At about 9pm we joined the queue to buy tickets  . Met a lovely German girl who told us a few things about the Sagra. Then the fun started. We found a table of people to sit with -in the middle of a long table and it wasn’t long before we got talking to the couple around us including a lovely couple from Milano and a funny couple from nearby San Terenzo.
Imagine
Ragaazzi  swaggering, lights in trees twinkling, music blaring, young lovers kissing, people slurping snails, and seafood, mopping up the  juices with slabs of  bread. Young waiters in blue helping  out. Drinks flowing, cigarette smoke twirling and people young and old heading onto the dance floor including ME!
At midnight Pat  ( and I guessI) had worn ourselves out and didn’t know if we could get a bus or taxi back to Lerici several miles away. I tried to hitch a lift with Franco but his wife wasn’t keen and he only had a bike! Then we met a lovely young woman and when we asked her to phone a taxi for us she said she was going to Lerici. So lucky us-it all turned out ok!

We got back to our village and the film festival was in full swing so we joined all the crowds eating gelato and had one before our 80 step climb home to bed!

Little sleep in before our morning swim. Quiet lunch in our apartment sleep then more Prosecco
dinner and then we went to the outdoor cinema.
Imagine:
Lots of people walking along the sea front, children squealing on the carousel, rows of white chairs facing the large outdoor screen with the twinkling lights of the Golf de Poeti in the background.
Short films ( some with subtitles) some good some silly, one scary. 80 steps home to bed. We leave this lovely place tomorrow morning. Saturday.