Hail to the Chief

Portovenere

Today is our last full day in Italy, and our plan is to drive to Milan, which appears to be about a 3 - 4 hour journey from our B&B near Lucca.  We are trying to decide on a route, with the options including a winding tour through the hills near Garfagnana and then up the autostrade through Parma and into Milan or a trip south through Lucca then out to the coast via La Spezie, past Cinque Terra and Genoa, and then a direct shot into Milan.  In the end, we select this route, with plans to try to get to one or two of the Cinque Terra towns and do some hiking on the "Via della Amore" between the two towns.  The weather report said 50% chance of rain but things look nice at the time, so we decide to skip a stop in Lucca and head straight for Portovenere, where we could catch a boat to Viamaggiore in the Cinque Terra to begin our hike. 

La Spezie is a big port city and has an industrial look and feel to it.  As we exit the autostrade, we wonder if there is a special on donuts near the tollbooth because there are policeman everywhere, with many different kinds of uniforms (sidenote:  we were told by some Italians that if it's raining, you won't get a ticket on the roads because the police uniforms were designed by Armani and the polizia don't like to get them wet!).  Making our way through town to reach Portovenere, we see loads more police and realize many of the main roads are shut down;  the sidewalks are all barricaded with crowd control gates so we determine something big is going to happen but we have no idea what.  We are forced to take a detour (well marked, thank God!) to reach Portovenere and are happy when it appears we've passed all the hubbub. 

The castle, church, and walled city

Chessgame in progress by the harbor

Portovenere is a beautiful and picturesque town, with colorful buildings rising along the promenade that curves around the water's edge, and at the end of town, a walled city houses several churches and historic stone homes and shops.  We make our way to the ferry stop to check out the timetable, and are disappointed to learn that service is suspended due to rough seas (the narrow exit of the port has large waves rolling into it, so this seems appropriate).  There is also some other sign in Italian which we have trouble making out, which says something about the national president.  Since ferries are the only easy option to get to the towns of Cinque Terre from Portovenere, we scrap the plans for doing the hike (it is looking more like rain, anyway), and we decide to have lunch along the promenade.

Things start getting interesting right away.  Teams of  "men in black"  with dark glasses and radios are roaming around everywhere.  Out in the water, what looks like a jet-ski swat team begins circling and patrolling, and the docks are cleared of the ferries. 

At that point, we see a bridal party walking past, apparently coming from the walled city behind us, and we wonder who they are.  The group is small and doesn't appear to be interacting with the Polizia, and when they attempt to board a boat and leave the dock, they are turned away. 

We ask our waitress what is going on, and she tells us the President is coming to town for lunch and will be arriving soon.  Fun!  We finish our lunch and make our way down the the promenade to the restaurant where the President will dine.  The whole place is set up with flowers and linen tablecloths, silver buckets on each table for wine, and a buffet that looks delicious, with a large prosciutto ready for slicing, trays and bowls of fruits and salads, and some beautiful desserts.  The owners and wait staff are standing inside, talking excitedly with huge smiles on their faces.

In front of the President's lunch spot

We decide to hover and make like the papparazzi just in front of the entrance to the restaurant, and are joined by a group of preschool children and their teachers. Crowds begin to form and the secret service men and women move closer as a large yacht pulls in to the harbor.  Three women who look like tourists push their way past us and one of them stands right in front of me. I start to push her aside and tell her to get out my way when Bob stops me - she is an undercover policewomen and I now see her badge.  Oops!  Good thing this is not the US - I would probably have been in handcuffs at that point! 

The president's entourage arrives and a meet and greet ensues with local dignitaries before the group processes to the restaurant.  His aides spot the preschoolers and recognize a photo opportunity, so they approach us and begin patting the heads of the kids, who are very excited to get this attention.  We are less than a meter away and no one seems to mind that my camera (and many others) are right in the face of the president, snapping pictures fast and furiously.  Later, an Italian woman asks me why I care to take such pictures?  I try to explain that it's a unique experience, and she just laughs and walks off with her group.

Having had our excitement for the day, we make our way back to the car to drive up to Milan, putting a memorable end to an incredible vacation.