Day 2 - Santa Margherita Ligure

Getting Settled

Today was my first holiday day. I kept having to remind myself that I’m on holiday; old habits are dying hard.

After a good long sleep, I rose to solve the problem of the water. I looked around the whole apartment again and this time discovered a service panel beside a heater in the kitchen that I had not seen before. Opening it revealed the water and gas stop cocks. I turned them both on and suddenly, I had water (and gas). What I didn’t have (or thought I didn’t have) was *hot* water. I fiddled around with the hot water system but couldn’t make it start heating the water. Frustrated, I left it to heat the tank in its own time and went about my day not yet showered.

I got dressed into my ‘classic Aussie tourist’ gear and wandered down Corso Matteotti towards the centre of town. I have discovered that my multi-option power point converter can’t do the three vertical pins needed for Italian power points. Not good when all my major devices need re-charging. I’d looked up on Google Maps local electrical stores to buy a relevant converter. None of them opened before 9:30am (more on opening hours below). So, I headed down to the closest one and sought out a cafe (virtually next door to the electrical shop) to have a light breakfast.

My view into the piazza at breakfast

This cafe (and I think most here) didn’t really have a concept of a sit-down breakfast like I’m accustomed to in Australia. So, I ordered a toasted foccacia (which was actually a normal toastie when it arrived) and a cappucino (it was morning, so that was OK 😉) and sat in the little gazebo they had out front. Turned out really pleasantly.

In due course, the electrical store opened and I found out that they didn’t have converter plugs (I don’t have a name for these things, which doesn’t help me explain in English to Italian service folks, who are very patient with me). They pointed me to a store 25m up the road which looked like a hardware store. This guy (who had no English) helped me out perfectly! Interestingly, the hardware store didn’t permit its customers to enter. Everyone is served by the proprietor at a table positioned at the front door. I’m thinking its a security thing to stop shoplifters. The store was an Aladdin’s cave of high shelves with every conceivable widget or tool.

On the walk back home, I stopped into the local Coop (supermarket) and collected some necessaries for my stay. When I got home, I plugged in my devices through my new adaptor and wrote yesterday’s blog. That took more time than I’d expected because I had to re-learn the skills I’d last used 18 months ago. (I’m still relearning them.)

I decided that the hot water must have had time to heat the water for a long-overdue shower. I turned the shower on with the mixer handle all the way to one end, discovered that was the cold end, moved it to the other end and watched as the *instant hot water* system started heating the water! I’m going to go with jet lag here, however, just being a dumb-arse is also a strong contender for explaining why I didn’t work this out immediately. Damn good shower though!

All fresh, I resumed my disguise as an Aussie tourist, though I toned it down a bit this time, having seen a few tourist groups wandering around the town on my morning expedition. Off down Corso Matteotti again right down to the bottom of the pedestrian piazza area, heading for the harbour. While walking down the corso again, I realised that many shops were shut. I checked the signs on doors and it appears that a lot of stores have opening hours something like 9:00–12:00; 15:00–19:00 (or similar). I suddenly realised that my plans for lunch (it was about 13:00) might be foiled by the Mediterranean siesta. However, as I got to the central piazza I realised that the restaurants were all trading (and quite busy). I had lunch immediately to ensure that I didn’t miss the trading hours (perhaps restaurants have their siesta from 14:00’16:00, IDK).

The default minimum serve at this restaurant
(I’d ordered the drinks)

I’m having to learn the customs here for what to order. The menus look exactly like Australian Italian restaurant menus (for this discussion) but the portion sizes are different and there’s not necessarily a sequence of dishes. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’m just acclimatising to the customs. One custom I did like was that the restaurant brought me a small bowl of olives and a small bowl of peanuts, and a small bowl of potato chips (like Smith’s chips), as a default. If I’d known that was coming, I’d have ordered one less dish!

After lunch, I kept heading for the harbour, walking through built-up (4-5 floors) housing and buildings. I turned a corner and was suddenly there! The harbour is delightful. All of Santa Margherita Ligure is delightful, actually. The harbour is a postcard Italian coastal harbour, with steep-sided bounding headlands, gravel beaches, and lots of boats (mostly yachts that I saw). The buildings in SML appear to all be between 3 and 7 stories tall and really lovely. The streets are clean, though pretty busy during the day. The weather at the moment is showing off the town beautifully. Really, you couldn’t hope for a more tranquil, idyllic spot to land in Italy!

SML harbour beach

SML marina

Buildings overlooking the SML harbour

I wandered around more of SML, enjoying the charm and peace of the place. I deliberately took a winding way home to see more of the back roads of the town (down on the flat part; the climb looks challenging, so I’ll leave that for later). I eventually stopped for a coffee and gelato across the road from home and eyed up the trattoria next door for dinner.

Street scene in SML	Street scene of SML	Street scene of SML
Statue of Christopher Columbus	Another important local historical figure	Another important dignitary

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading, as you do on holiday!

I had dinner in the trattoria across the road. It was lovely, but did contribute to the journey of knowing how much to order. It was very quiet when I arrived but was very busy by the time I left. The guy who served me reminded me so much of Manuel from Fawlty Towers. Not for incompetence but physically and his harried, almost over-burdened approach to rushing around the restaurant.

Tomorrow, I’ll be trying to resolve some of the odd-jobs I’ve been tasked with and packing for the first ‘tour’: T-I-M-m.

Daily facts: Location: Santa Margherita Temp: 21C Weather: Clear skies.