{"id":15376,"date":"2017-12-27T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T08:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=15376"},"modified":"2018-01-02T17:48:24","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T16:48:24","slug":"from-sestri-to-punta-manara-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/from-sestri-to-punta-manara-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"From Sestri To Punta Manara – Part 1."},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s the day before Christmas Eve, and we’re in our favourite Pontremoli bar with some friends. “Allora ragazzi, cosa fate per la<\/strong> vigilia?”<\/strong> asks Claudio<\/strong>, the barman.
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Serena and I have a long standing tradition of going for a walk and having a picnic somewhere beautiful on Christmas day. But this year hanno messo brutto<\/strong>, the weather is meant to be bad on Christmas day,\u00a0 so we’ve decided to have our excursion on Christmas eve instead. We intend to head down to the Ligurian coast for a walk near the sea.<\/p>\n

Geoff, in reply to Claudio: “Pensavamo di andare gi\u00f9 al mare per una passeggiata”<\/strong>
\nClaudio: “Dove?”<\/strong>
\nGeoff: “Magari la zona di Tellaro”<\/strong>
\nClaudio: “Perch\u00e9 non andate a Sestri, Sestri \u00e8 bella!”<\/strong>
\nSerena: “Sestri Levante, verso Genova?”<\/strong>
\nClaudio: “S\u00ec, verso Genova, \u00e8 bellissimo l\u00ec”<\/strong>
\nGeoff: “Ma quanto ci vuole per arrivarci?”<\/strong>
\nClaudio: “No, non \u00e8 lontano. Il vecchio borgo \u00e8 bello, poi c’\u00e8 anche una passeggiata che potete fare sopra le scogliere”<\/strong>
\nGeoff: “Okay, grazie per il consiglio.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following day, we get up early, make ourselves some panini<\/strong>, and head down the A15 towards La Spezia. We still haven’t made up our minds exactly where we’re going, but we’ll have to decide soon because we’re coming up to the junction with the A12 that runs between Livorno to the south and Genova to the north west.<\/p>\n

Geoff: “Allora, cosa facciamo?”<\/strong>
\nSerena: “Ma in un certo senso non sarebbe male andare in un posto nuovo”<\/strong>
\nGeoff: “Per me va bene se vuoi andare a Sestri, anche a me piacerebbe esplorare un posto dove non siamo mai stati”<\/strong><\/p>\n

We reach the junction, and turn north west on the A12 towards Genova. As it’s la vigilia di Natale<\/strong> there’s hardly any traffic, and after half an hour or so we reach the exit for Sestri.<\/p>\n

Geoff: “No, non pu\u00f2 essere, qui fa proprio schifo!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rather than the pretty little port that we’d been hoping for, Sestri is an ugly sprawl of 70’s apartment blocks, shopping centres and factories. What’s more, the A12 is a very expensive autostrada<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Geoff: “Cazzo, nove euro e novanta per quel pezzetto di strada, sono proprio dei ladri!”<\/strong>
\nSerena: “Ora cosa facciamo?”<\/strong>
\nGeoff: “Non lo so, abbiamo speso dieci euro pi\u00f9 il carburante per arrivare a ‘sto posto di merda. Quando torniamo a Pontremoli ammazzo davvero quel coglione di Claudio!”<\/strong>
\nSerena: “Per\u00f2 lui ha detto che c’era il vecchio borgo. Andiamo avanti e vediamo cosa troviamo. Mica possiamo buttare via quei soldi!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we drive through the anonymous and tedious suburbs that have come to blemish so many beautiful places, I consider a slow and unpleasant death for our friend Claudio il barista<\/strong>.
\nFinding a place to park, I send Serena off to ask directions to the hoped for ‘nice bit of Sestri’ while I stay in the car and sulk …. cazzo!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Serena, returning to the car: “Dicono che se andiamo di l\u00e0 troviamo il carruggio, cio\u00e8 la strada principale del vecchio borgo. Dai proviamoci!”<\/strong>
\nGeoff: “E vabb\u00e8, ormai che ci siamo!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

And lo and behold, a miracle: hidden behind the nasty conglomeration of modern Sestri, a real little gem. The beautifully preserved colourful Ligurian town of Sestri Levante, with its horseshoe shaped Baia del Silenzio<\/strong> flanked by elegant edifices, many decorated with the ‘trompe l’oeil’ fantasies so typical of Liguria.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sestri Levante e la Baia del Silenzio. <\/em><\/span>Photo CC by Jiuguang Wang<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

What’s more, as we walk along the narrow sandy beach we spot a small bar overlooking the picturesque bay.<\/p>\n

Geoff: “Cosa dici, prendiamo un caff\u00e8?”<\/strong>
\nSerena: “Certo!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

We find a table near the French windows that face out onto the bay where Serena can daydream about living in her ideal house next to the sea. Il caff\u00e8<\/strong> performs its magic, and gloomy thoughts of ugly suburbs and rip off autostrada<\/strong> tolls dissolve, giving way to a sense of excitement at being in a new place, with the promise of good things to discover, including the famous sentiero<\/strong> up into the hills above the sea.<\/p>\n

Geoff: “Va bene, magari non ammazzo Claudio. Aveva ragione lui, qui \u00e8 proprio bello. Andiamo a scoprire questo sentiero?”<\/strong>
\nSerena: “S\u00ec, adesso chiedo direzioni a questo barista. Sai che sono bravi i baristi!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact the barman is very helpful. He accompanies us out into the street and directs us to the beginning of the footpath that leads up to Punta Manara<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And you can read all about that in Part 2<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

A presto.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

It’s the day before Christmas Eve, and we’re in our favourite Pontremoli bar with some friends. “Allora ragazzi, cosa fate per la vigilia?” asks Claudio, the barman. Serena and I have a long standing tradition of going for a walk and having a picnic somewhere beautiful on Christmas day. But this year hanno messo brutto…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":15379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[474339,474338],"class_list":["post-15376","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-liguria-tourism","tag-sestri-levante"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t