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Alan K | all galleries >> Galleries >> A Fistful Of PESOs 2016 > 160907_135550_1494 Cinque Terre In Three Easy Pieces. 2 - The Farmland (Wed 07 Sep 16 (2))
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07-Sep-2016 AKMC

160907_135550_1494 Cinque Terre In Three Easy Pieces. 2 - The Farmland (Wed 07 Sep 16 (2))

Monterosso Al Mare, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italia

In the previous shot I outlined what Cinque Terre is and where we went to. By all means feel free to read it if you're interested.

As part of our day trip package I got us a three course lunch at one of the seaside restaurants. The meal was enjoyable if unspectacular. For me, the highlight (entertainment wise) was when I decided that I wanted to buy a Coke for me and a lemonade for another one of our party from the restaurant bar. As I got there our tour guide spotted me and rushed over, quite concerned.
"Is there something wrong, can I help you with something?" She asked.
"No, it's okay; I just wanted to get some drinks.", I replied.
"I don't think they speak English here," she said, doubtfully.
To which I could only reply: "Non si parla inglese qui?? Che disastro!!! {Pause...} Oh, aspetta... forse non è un problema..."
Her face collapsed in surprise as she stammered out "You speak Italian??"
For as we know, it is not common for those from an Anglo background (or those who appear to be from an Anglo background despite my T-shirt having "SPQR" plastered across the front of it, which should have been a clue) to bother themselves with learning another language. Apparently the shock was so great that it made her forget what I had originally said and she asked me (in Italian) what had happened.
"Niente. È solo che... voglio comprare una Coke e una limonata." Which I did, successfully.

And so we went our separate ways after lunch; the two women to the beach, the two guys climbing the hills behind town with our cameras. When we got to the top we split up; he went to explore a medieval tower, I went along the cliff top track to shoot the farms inland and the beach far below. At which point I was stopped by a group of German tourists.
The lead woman asked "Do you speak any English?"
I could not resist. Could. Not. Resist. "Si, un po. Posso aiutarla? Oh, mi dispiace, I mean, can I, um, come si dice... ah, 'help', sì, can I help you?"
I'm assuming that they aren't very familiar with either Australian or Roman accents in Bavaria, so I don't think they twigged.

In any case, in the earlier photo we saw how houses have to scramble for every bit of land they can get. Here, we see the same is true of the agriculture. Olive groves and vineyards are spread across terraces cut into the land all the way along the coast, as we can see here. This is part of a vineyard and winery that runs an agriturismo business, renting out spare rooms to visitors who will doubtless eat and drink well as a result.


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Mairéad26-Nov-2016 21:29
Ah - this is a view! Una bella vista! Great story - you naughty boy!
Julie Oldfield04-Nov-2016 02:33
Great story! The steppes are very interesting to see. Great colors. V
Yvonne03-Nov-2016 10:22
Amazing to see such a variable collection of plantings in what looks a rather
dry earth.. interesting to see Alan!
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