By the Med

I've been hanging out on the Italian and French Rivieras the past two days, and have found many different worlds only a few kilometers apart.  This is an Italian ghost town, Maberga.  Only one old woman lives here.  The town is accessible by paved road, but it is a bumpy one lane track that is extremely precipitous, and ascends well over 1000 feet in just three kilometers.  It's almost totally isolated from the modern world, which explains why it was abandoned a few decades ago.

However, there is a small church in town occasionally used for weddings.  This is the interior.

Visiting Lynn, Cindy's friend, she took us to the Chestnut Festival in Andagna, another old mountain town.  This one was much livelier, though.  There was a great band that played everything from polkas to rock.  Good food, too.

Lynn has lived in Italy for over a decade and is fluent in the language, and knows many of the locals.  She said that dance clubs are popular, and the folks in them attend festivals en masse.  Here they're getting into the music.

At the end of the day, feeling decadent and a bit weary, I retreated to San Remo, where I had booked a hotel by the sea.  Here's the view of the Mediterranean from my room.

This morning we drove to France to drop our friend Askale off at the Nice airport.  On the way back we lingered in Menton.  'Twas a gray day but the Med was calm.

This is the most remarkable display of baked goods I have ever seen!  Of course it's in France.

Back in San Remo, the sun popped out as I was hiking the hills and I caught this view of a bit of the town and some of the local dinghies.

This is old town San Remo, constructed from the 14th to 16th centuries.  The streets are staircases, winding through a warren of ancient buildings.  The only way to get around is on foot.  Many of the lanes are quite steep.  But there are many homes, shops, and even restaurants in here.  It's another world, only a few blocks from the modern centre of the city.

San Remo is known as the City of Flowers.

Typical street in Old Town San Remo.

Many of the paths are actually tunnels through the buildings.

It's pretty steep walking in Old Town, so they take precautions.

And a few minutes away, my 'hood, on the oceanfront promenade.  I could stay here awhile.