Italy's Other Riviera: Riviera delle Palme
Dec 4, 2012 20:24:19 GMT
Post by frenchmystiquetour on Dec 4, 2012 20:24:19 GMT
When most people think of the Italian Riviera they usually associate it with the area east of Genoa. Cinque Terre would be considered the highlight attraction in this area followed by other well known Riviera towns such as Santa Margherita, Portofino, Sestri Levante and La Spézia among several others. I've been to all these towns and they are beautiful and worth visiting. Since these are all highly touristic towns you can be sure there'll be lots of other tourists there while you're there, and that's fine. Whenever I visit a touristy town, site or attraction I'm prepared to be a regular old tourist just like everyone else and not let it ruin my experience.
But sometimes you want to get away from the tourist crowds yet you'd like to still see something tourist worthy. The kind of place that has all the characteristics of a tourist destination without all the other tourists. If you want the Riviera experience without the tourist crowds then head west of Genoa and you'll find lots of towns and villages that have all the things you want. Places with lots windy lanes, cobbled streets, old wobbly buildings, maybe a castle and some ramparts and of course all the various stores selling local products lining the streets topped off with a beautiful seafront and rugged, mountainous landscapes stretching the expanse of the coastline. You'll still find tourists here as well but not in the numbers you'll find in those Riviera locations east of Genoa. It's a great off the beaten path destination that remains overlooked only because Italy is studded with such an abundance of famous gems like Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Amalfi Coast etc. And if you happen to be exploringing from the Italian Riviera to the French Riviera this area makes a great spot to explore on your journey.
So as you can guess I'm going to be doing a trip report about those towns on the Riviera that lie west of Genoa. The reason I'm covering this area is because I have a personal connection to it. My sister is married to an Italian guy from Genoa. They live in the foothills of the mountains just off the Riviera in a town called Varazze, which lies about midway between Genoa and Savona. They live within about a 10 minute drive from the coast. About 3 or 4 minutes of the drive is spent just driving down the windy dirt road that snakes from their isolated house on the mountain slopes to the road that runs along the valley floor. It's pretty rural. They have a large plot of land and it looks like what you'd imagine a typical Italian farm in the mountains to look like: terraced landscaping, stone walls, olive trees, gardens, goats, rabbits, chickens and the old farmhouse.
When I was backpacking through Europe in the 90's I lived on the farm for 6 months after my two month tour of the rest of Europe was complete. This was at a point in my younger days when I dropped out of life for a while and chased my dreams of travel adventure. Since I was living on their farm at the time I had to earn my keep so doing stuff that needed to get done around the farm was my job, a lot of which had to do with stone masonry and rebuilding walls on the terraces as well as the foundation of the house. But it wasn't all work and I got to explore a lot of the area during my time and also got to know all the folks in the area and had a pretty good sized group of friends. I even had a Vespa.
I'll skip all the details of that whole youthful adventure of mine and get back to the present and the point of this report. Since I live in France now and Italy isn't too far off I've made a couple of trips back to the farm and that part of Italy so I'm documenting my travels there on two separate trips, in March 2010 and March 2011. Since I'm still basically a bum and a useless mouth to feed on the farm these are also work vacations so you'll get to see all the stuff that I had to do around the farm and lots of pictures of the farm and the house. And when you're not watching me work then we'll go and visit some of those charming towns and villages that I told you about and see that spectacular rugged, mountainous coastline.
Here are some pictures of the farm that I took on my vacation to Italy in March 2010. In order to earn my keep I built a couple of stone walls during my stay. It was my brother in-law who taught me my masonry skill during my stay in the 90's.
Here's the view from the front doorstep.
And a few views of the yard.
Here's stone wall number 1 under construction.
The little building in the background of the previous photo is an outdoor brick oven that my brother in-law built. I ate some tasty treats made in that oven.
They've got a vacation rental apartment upstairs and that's where I stay. It was still being renovated during my 2010 visit but was completed for my 2011 visit.
Here's stone wall #1 almost complete. Just have to mortar down the top stones. Large stones were used on the top since these will be bench seats for people sitting on the patio, which is under construction in these photos.
But sometimes you want to get away from the tourist crowds yet you'd like to still see something tourist worthy. The kind of place that has all the characteristics of a tourist destination without all the other tourists. If you want the Riviera experience without the tourist crowds then head west of Genoa and you'll find lots of towns and villages that have all the things you want. Places with lots windy lanes, cobbled streets, old wobbly buildings, maybe a castle and some ramparts and of course all the various stores selling local products lining the streets topped off with a beautiful seafront and rugged, mountainous landscapes stretching the expanse of the coastline. You'll still find tourists here as well but not in the numbers you'll find in those Riviera locations east of Genoa. It's a great off the beaten path destination that remains overlooked only because Italy is studded with such an abundance of famous gems like Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Amalfi Coast etc. And if you happen to be exploringing from the Italian Riviera to the French Riviera this area makes a great spot to explore on your journey.
So as you can guess I'm going to be doing a trip report about those towns on the Riviera that lie west of Genoa. The reason I'm covering this area is because I have a personal connection to it. My sister is married to an Italian guy from Genoa. They live in the foothills of the mountains just off the Riviera in a town called Varazze, which lies about midway between Genoa and Savona. They live within about a 10 minute drive from the coast. About 3 or 4 minutes of the drive is spent just driving down the windy dirt road that snakes from their isolated house on the mountain slopes to the road that runs along the valley floor. It's pretty rural. They have a large plot of land and it looks like what you'd imagine a typical Italian farm in the mountains to look like: terraced landscaping, stone walls, olive trees, gardens, goats, rabbits, chickens and the old farmhouse.
When I was backpacking through Europe in the 90's I lived on the farm for 6 months after my two month tour of the rest of Europe was complete. This was at a point in my younger days when I dropped out of life for a while and chased my dreams of travel adventure. Since I was living on their farm at the time I had to earn my keep so doing stuff that needed to get done around the farm was my job, a lot of which had to do with stone masonry and rebuilding walls on the terraces as well as the foundation of the house. But it wasn't all work and I got to explore a lot of the area during my time and also got to know all the folks in the area and had a pretty good sized group of friends. I even had a Vespa.
I'll skip all the details of that whole youthful adventure of mine and get back to the present and the point of this report. Since I live in France now and Italy isn't too far off I've made a couple of trips back to the farm and that part of Italy so I'm documenting my travels there on two separate trips, in March 2010 and March 2011. Since I'm still basically a bum and a useless mouth to feed on the farm these are also work vacations so you'll get to see all the stuff that I had to do around the farm and lots of pictures of the farm and the house. And when you're not watching me work then we'll go and visit some of those charming towns and villages that I told you about and see that spectacular rugged, mountainous coastline.
Here are some pictures of the farm that I took on my vacation to Italy in March 2010. In order to earn my keep I built a couple of stone walls during my stay. It was my brother in-law who taught me my masonry skill during my stay in the 90's.
Here's the view from the front doorstep.
And a few views of the yard.
Here's stone wall number 1 under construction.
The little building in the background of the previous photo is an outdoor brick oven that my brother in-law built. I ate some tasty treats made in that oven.
They've got a vacation rental apartment upstairs and that's where I stay. It was still being renovated during my 2010 visit but was completed for my 2011 visit.
Here's stone wall #1 almost complete. Just have to mortar down the top stones. Large stones were used on the top since these will be bench seats for people sitting on the patio, which is under construction in these photos.