Thursday, Aug 31
Friday, Sep 1
Saturday, Sep 2
Sunday, Sep 3
Monday, Sep 4
Tuesday, Sep 5
Wed, Sep 6
Thursday, Sep 7
Friday, Sep 8
Saturday, Sep 9
Sunday, Sep 10
Wednesday, Sep 6 - The Italian Riviera
Today we drove down through the coastal mountains to Savona and the Italian Riviera. The mountains and tunnels were spectacular. They placed giant metal mirrors at the mouths of the tunnels to reflect sunlight into the openings and ease the transition from bright to extreme darkness.
We ate lunch at Le Caravelle, right along the beach in Varigotti. Several women were sunbathing topless right outside our window. One was quite large and at first we thought she was male! (No, we didn't take any photos of these people.)
Then we drove farther down the coast to FinalBorgo and hiked up several thousand feet (seemed that way, anyway) to see the castle. The city of FinalBorgo was surrounded by a wall and a moat. It still looks very medieval. This city was headquarters for the marquis who built the Castello di Sinio, where we were staying. The church in FinalBorgo had a painting of the fresco that was out front of our castle.
After our long hike, we walked down along the beach. It was all pebbles, no sand. It wasn’t what I expected. I always thought the Mediterranean Riviera was this glamorous, pristine, sandy beach. Nope. Pretty narrow, pebbly, crowded, filled with restaurants and commercialism. Walking barefoot was out of the question. The water was a pleasant temperature, though and very salty. Not many waves. The Mediterranean was very sparkly, like it was last year in Sorrento. We wandered out onto a sort of “pier” made of boulders, where many people were fishing. Some old guys were in swim trunks way too small for them (!).
On the way back (the drive was 1 hour 45 minutes), we stopped and bought sandwiches and bottled water for dinner. Gas, to fill up, cost us nearly $100! We drove 115 mph at times.
Upon our return, we showered and took a bottle of wine onto the patio to have with our sandwiches. Had a very pleasant evening eating and chatting with James. He told us more of his own history as a computer hardware salesman and about Elena, their Romanian live-in waitress and hotel maid. Elena’s children were back in Romania, and she is divorced. We traded stories.
So pleasant outside at night. Full moon (luna bella!), no gnats or mosquitoes. Really a beautiful area of the world, a chunk of paradise, if you don’t mind the awful public restrooms. Gentle breezes, church bells… a castle on every hill… small towns and piazzas… a slow life…
