Road to Home 2023 Day 92: Riva Trigoso - Chiavari

La vita ti porta in luoghi inaspettati; l'amore ti porta a casa

(Life takes you to unexpected places; love brings you home)

- written on the wall back in Filetto

(saved it for today 😁!) 

I began the last day of my Long Walk home in the village of Trigoso. It seemed a more dignified starting point than the railway station squeezed between the highway and the steel mill down below! And though Trigoso is, well, less than a day's walk from where I live, I had only been there once, a long time ago, and then only in the dark, for a Christmas concert!

I started out from the churchyard, following a red brick lane among the pink and yellow houses of the village down to the highway,  which I followed only briefly before turning off onto the Via Antica Romana, the ancient road to/from Rome. This took me all the way into Sestri Levante, avoiding the touristy town centre on the peninsula between the two seas and crossing the medieval stone bridge, heading in the direction of home.

The Via Antica Romana brought me to the chapel of the Madonna della Grappa, where mass was underway. I entered and joined in the service, then asked a lady who looked like she might be in charge if I could get a stamp for my pilgrim credential. She was familiar with this type of request, as the church has accommodations for pilgrims walking the Via della Costa towards either Rome or Santiago de Compostela. She took me through the church cloister and a beautiful garden to a desk where there was a man with a stamp. I told them both the story of my Walk, in brief, and they invited me for coffee, but having obtained my stamp I was anxious to get back on the road!

I left the streets of Sestri Levante to climb up above the tunnel to the Rocche di Sant'Anna, the ruins of a 15th-century chapel that stood at the top of the cliff, beside what used to be the only road between Sestri Levante and Chiavari before the construction of the road and railway tunnels below.

Leaving the ruined chapel behind, I turned a corner and saw my hometown appear before me!

This short and scenic trail is a popular day hike, and I met several people, so it was easy to ask someone to take my picture 😁. I also met one long-distance walker, who was doing just a few days on the Via della Costa but had done several long-distance walks before. We had a brief chat before going our opposite ways. This trail is marked as Via della Costa, Sentiero Liguria, and a newly waymarked trail I plan to walk to at the outset of my next Long Walk: the Via dei Celti e dei Liguri, joining Sestri Levante with Milan!

The double-headed arrow of the Via della Costa

New trail! Must try it next!!

Looking back toward Sestri Levante

Looking forward toward Lavagna and Chiavari 

The trail brought me down to Cavi Borgo, where I bought some lunch from a deli for a picnic on the beach. 

Autumn weather approaching...
Time to go home!

I had thought of taking the scenic route via the church of Santa Giulia, 300 metres above sea level, a walk I often take when at home, but there didn't seem much point to going up there today. Suddenly weary of walking, I decided to follow the beach, and the waterfront promenade, instead.

Santa Giulia at the top of the hill - not going up there today!!

Beach establishments now closed for the season

Walking on the sand and pebbles was hard going, but still easier than climbing up to 300 metres! In some places public access to the seafront walkway is blocked by bars, restaurants and beach clubs, but after a certain point there is a seafront promenade that made for easier walking.

But before leaving the beach, I had one more thing to do: leave a seashell I carried all the way from Wissant,  on the English Channel in northern France, to Italy! 

I waited until the Mediterranean waves came up and took this Atlantic seashell before leaving the beach to walk the rest of the way home along the seafront promenade and through the harbour.

Last end-of-stage beer

The yacht harbour

The shipyards

The Sentiero Liguria takes me all the way home

Crossing the bridge to Chiavari 

No fanfare... no Compostela... no Testimonium...

Just Home!

(and cake! 😋)

Riva Trigoso - Chiavari 12.5 km

Total from Aosta to Chiavari: 628.5 km

Grand total from Leeds, England to Chiavari: 2696 kilometres 

122 days