At Finale Ligure

September 2, 2016 to September 3, 2016

We swim the beaches and explore the hills of Finale Ligure.

September 2 Friday

September 3 Saturday

12kms

We swim the beaches and explore the hills of Finale Ligure.

Finale is a smallish town bounded by rocky promontories at its western and eastern ends. The beach near the town is divided between providers of different coloured sun loungers whose patch is designated by the colour of their shade umbrellas. A small strip of beach is left for the non paying public in the middle.

Hardcore mountain bikers heading for hill trails.

We cycled to the end of town and swam off these rocky shores.

A more practical product for the beach. Ann engaged a seller in conversation and he told her he came all the way from Genoa.

Our days at Il Riparo started with Jacobo’s sumptuous breakfast- no birdseed style muesli for him. He creates the most wonderful focaccia and accompanies this with creations made from aubergine and Courgette . His fruit pies and apple cakes force one to bargain with oneself and make a promise that indulging, or more accurately, over indulging, means never eating another thing until dinner time.

With the benefit of our cycles we are able to quickly travel beyond the outskirts and enjoy swimming in the crystal clear water around the rocks on the edge of town. Following Jacobo’s directions we also spend a day walking in the hills above Finale, following the Via Julia Augusta (Roman road for obtaining salt among other products ) that eventually wends its way to Rome, as reputedly do all roads. Up in the hills we find a trattoria built over a massive cave that was once used for the preparation of cheese.

On the old Via Julia Augusta. One of five ancient bridges.

The cave beneath the trattoria. Once used for cheese making.

Netting May provide some protection to bathers from falling boulders.

We lunch under vines which blockout the heat and glare of the mid summer sun. At the table beside us a group of male locals order plates of food of indeterminate origin which leave us guessing. The temptation in these situations, and I have to admit to having done this, is to say, ‘I’ll have what he’s having.’

Our final night at Finale is made special when we attend a piano recital in the local basilica which starts at 9:30pm. One of us is a little reluctant to attend at first but as the other pointed out- ‘You always enjoy these occasions in the end.’ And indeed I do .

We cycle into the centre with our rather makeshift bike lights and join quite a large audience in the church. The recital is part of a competition and features young performers from Korea, Germany and The Ukraine, playing Hadyn, Mozart and Vecchiato, a local who has written pieces related to Romeo and Juliet. The Ukrainian performer plays an encore which seems to be a Ukrainian folk tune and, given recent events in his homeland, it is received with resounding applause.

The venue for the classical music competition. Not crowded but well attended.

An interesting aspect of our attendance at the concert is the conversation Ann strikes up with an Italian women sitting next to her- she is most engaging and friendly and when we tell her of our cycle trip she seems genuinely amazed and tells us that she has a good friend living in Wellington and she will be sure to tell her about us!

We cycled back to Il Riparo through the warm night air in a town still full of people out enjoying the evening and children raucously playing in the piazza. Relaxed in the knowledge that we have to catch the 11:00am train to Nice the following morning (late enough to do justice to Jacobo’s breakfast) we feel that this had been a most fitting finale to Finale.

Today's ride: 8 km (5 miles)
Total: 3,467 km (2,153 miles)

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