Liguria (Italia): Coast to Coast by bicycle. June 2020. Stage 4. Imperia to Pietra Ligure

I was able to sleep 40 minutes more this morning than the other night. Therefore at 5 I got up and had a thought: Why don’t I take a good shot from the window of the coming dawn and go back to bed? And so I did, I put my cell phone out the window, put it in timelapse and then went back to bed. I tossed and turned and tossed again in bed, but I couldn’t sleep. So I said to myself: “why don’t I do a good meditation?” I get into position, I begin, but my head did not allow me to concentrate. The thought went to this day: June 16, would have been 41 years of marriage. Obviously the thought goes to my past life, for the sufferings, but above all to the joys. The suffering has now been canceled…

You ask yourself so many questions, how come we were unable to live with that harmony with which I am living now, and not having been able to do it as a couple, there was something sick in us? I’ll never get answers. What is certain is that now I am living fully, with increasingly rewarding experiences which, however, it is also true, I seek deeply, I continually search in people, within my soul, believing in it with all my being. Believe in man, said Hikmet and I do it, despite the fact that there are many people who do everything to make me change my mind. The video worked very well, apart from one insignificant detail, the sun rose behind a promontory, therefore, practically, we didn’t see the sunrise, but we only saw, at a certain point, the sun coming out of this promontory. But the colors came out really cool.

At 6:20 am I go out and go for a walk on the Via degli Innamorati, thinking of finding who knows what, instead there is a small walkway that goes 200 meters, carving the rocky wall overlooking the sea. Luckily in the hotel where I slept, you could have breakfast from 7. Therefore, I was able to get ready much earlier and at 9:15 I was already on the street. First destination, at the suggestion of my cousin, the Oneglia plants of Fratelli Carli. There is also an oil museum here. I arrive in Oneglia, I look for the museum, I find it, but it is closed, like all museums in Italy, of course. On the map I had seen a road that passed all along the coast, a little below state road 1, and avoided some climbs that seemed rather steep to me. In fact, in my programming, today I had scored a total of 50 m in altitude, practically a completely flat stage. Nothing more wrong. I arrive where this road begins, and I find a gentleman on a bicycle gestures to me and tells me to stop. "Look, it’s closed, you can’t go there, everything has collapsed.It shows me an alternative route, which would have made me avoid a bit of effort, as an alternative to state 1 and obviously, with much less traffic. I trusted a local again !!! I had to climb a much higher hill than the one that went up from state 1, I went to 200 m of altitude instead of 125, and the effort was not little. I go down to Diano Marina, and arrive in Cervo, a village that was first Roman, then medieval. It is a peak practically on the seashore. The word Cervo, which would lend itself to hilarious phrases about some more or less friend, refers to the ancient name of the town, that is to say servant, in the sense that it was the service of travelers on the way to Rome. Hence the transition to the Italian language, servant became Cervo and this is the reason for the name that the town finds itself. I must say that among all the villages I have seen, this one was very beautiful, well cared for, but Dolceacqua, Apricale and Boscomare struck me more in the imagination, as they are many more genuine, much more Ligurian, less exploited even in the restoration. In villages like Cervo, you will find certain types of artists or shops, devoted to mass tourism. I take some photos, especially of the church with the curved facade, which is not something you see every day, of some Roman walls, of small ravines, of alleys. I resume the route, with the fear of having to make another detour to the top with steeply sloping roads. Convinced by passers-by, I try my luck. I pass, do not tell anyone, the blockade of the barriers. I move them and pass. A kilometer further on, I find the people who are working. I ask if I can pass. They answer me that I was already past. And so I can go on. I arrive in Laigueglia and here I prepare myself to eat a dish of first and second courses as I had had breakfast at 7, and until 12.40, I was really hungry.

Between continuous ups and downs and also passing through Albenga where in via Pontelongo I see the ruins of an old bridge, which would seem Romanesque, which instead I discover to be of the XII century. Still interesting for how it is built and I took some photos of it. Last pull to get here in Pietra Ligure. I wander around to find the hotel and I discover the reason why the town is called Pietra Ligure.A large boulder, just beyond the railway, with a castle on top, is the reason why the city is so called. This Rock, in the times of the Phoenicians and the Romans, was lapped on three sides by the sea water which is now about 150 meters away. It is said that in the 1700s there were still the attachment rings for boats on this stone. Hence the name Pietra of the Ligurians, Pietra Ligure. Now I am here on the beach and I am enjoying this sea. 52 km and 500 meters of elevation gain. bye, see you tomorrow

@AngelaViale ecco Cervo

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One more excellent post, I read it with curiosity and pleasure @plavarda .

Extremely beautiful and cozy village, the streets are reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Entwined with greenery and flowering shrubs, it seems so beautiful. What is the name of this wonderful flowering shrub? Wonderful photos, I admire the views that you captured.

Breathtaking view on the seacoast and village on the hill.

Thank you so much for sharing!

Best wishes from Russia,

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Ciao Inna @helga19

I think you are referring to the purple bougainvillea, really beautiful !!!

Hello from Italy!

Paolo

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