Joanne's long walks: Sentiero Liguria 12: Loano

Perhaps I should change the name of this series of blog posts. Once again today I abandoned the Sentiero Liguria in favour of the Via della Costa. Both are long-range paths crossing the entire region of Liguria. The difference is that the Sentiero Liguria is meant to illustrate the natural and cultural beauty of the region of Liguria, and therefore touches on coastal towns, hilltop villages and spots of natural beauty in the hinterland - such as the caves of Toirano or the hot springs at Acquasanta. The Via della Costa is a pilgrimage route which crosses the region in order to connect with the pilgrimage routes to Rome (in one direction) and Santiago (in the other). People who are planning on walking that kind of distance don't want to go too far out of their way to see pretty spots along the way, and will put up with walking along the sidewalk of a busy road for a while if the alternative means going miles out of their way.

I am choosing day by day whether the follow one or the other route, or a combination of the two. Today I followed the Via della Costa (yellow arrows), and in one section, between Borghetto Santo Spirito and Ceriale, it coincided with the Sentiero Liguria.

I set off from Loano following a hearty breakfast in my little hotel (Villa Tempo d'Estate), which was at the eastern end of town, which meant I had to cross the whole length of the town I had explored yesterday afternoon again (1.5 km). From there I proceeded along the waterfront to Borghetto Santo Spirito, a town which, like many along the riviera, has a small, picturesque old centre swallowed up and totally surrounded by highrises built in the shabby style of the '60s and '70s - when beach tourism became a mass phenomenon in Italy. After crossing the old part of Borghetto the path abandons the coast, in a steep scramble through the woods up the side of the rocky promontory that separates the town from the flat agricultural plain of Ceriale and Albenga. The path widens out where it passes the ramparts of the castle atop the hill, then descends more gently to Ceriale on the other side.

I found nothing of interest in the town of Ceriale, just a vast expanse of concrete to be crossed - but I suppose it's possible that it too has a historic heart, and that I missed it for all the highrises! However the road through the flat plain between Ceriale and Albenga was more pleasant - winding between greenhouses and nursery gardens. The principal crops at the moment seem to be rosemary, red and white winter flowers (the name temporarily escapes me) and crysanthemums - the day of the dead is coming up, when they are traditionally placed on graves.

After crossing this agricultural flatland the route enters Albenga at Pontelungo - originally a Roman bridge, rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries. There is now no water flowing under it, as the course of the river has since changed, and it is half-buried, as sediment from the river has raised the level of the land. For the same reason, the ruins of the 7th century basilica of San Vittore are now below street level.

The city of Albenga is a treasure trove of Roman ruins and medieval churches. Unfortunately at lunch time all the churches were shut.... so after admiring them from the outside I proceeded on out of the city over the new bridge on the other side, past yet another ancient Roman ruin and onto a Roman road - the Via Julia Augusta, built in the year 13 B.C.

And it was here that - for the first time in 12 days - I came across another pilgrim walking the Via della Costa! And in the same direction as me! Aldo left Genova only three days ago, and walks about twice as far in a day as I do, but this evening we will stop in the same place so we can have dinner together and walk together for a while in the morning. It was nice to have company after 11 days of walking alone! Especially when, on a detour that took us high up through the woods to avoid the site of a landslide on the ancient Roman road, a large-ish animal we never had a chance to see made a racket in the trees right by the path - I probably would have had a heart attack if I'd been up there on my own!!!