Advertisement
Published: October 22nd 2017
Edit Blog Post
San Bartolomeo 70s style
From the days when David and his family spent holidays there. Geo: 44.1843, 8.35322
Wednesday morning, we took the free shuttle transport from the site to Finale Ligure to explore a little, which is clearly geared up for the 'seaside', tourist market, complete with the occasional beggar to prick the conscience and North African 'lucky, lucky' men selling fake handbags, sunglasses and what seems to be the latest kids craze, a splat ball.
The tourist info office supplied us with some excellent brochures in English on things to see and do, but their recommendation for a fish restaurant was useless since it was closed on Wednesdays! We opted for (you guessed it) pasta, but with house white this time to go with David's seafood sauce.
We strolled the streets and along the pretty beachside promenade for a couple of hours before catching the transport back to the site.
Yesterday (Thursday), we were up, breakfasted and dressed by 8.30 and once on our bikes turned left out of the gates into the hills. We soon left the noise and hustle of the coastal fringe behind taking the climb up towards Montone. There were some pretty steep inclines en route which were a bit too much for me at the moment so I did get off and
walk a bit on two or three occasions, but David assures me that my stamina will improve. (LOL.). The route towards the villages of San Georgio and San Filippo flattened off so that I could recover a bit, admiring the stunning scenery as I went. Then it was time for the reward - the descent - which was even steeper than the upwards route at times, with the remains of a recent landslide to negotiate at one point.
After lunch, we took the coast road westwards through the merging resorts of Albenga, Alassio, Cervo, then our intended destination, San Bartolomeo, the reason being that when growing up, David and his family took camping holidays there over several years. Now, we must be talking the 60-70s here, pre-Internet, sat nav, extensive road network, in an Austin Cambridge with Mum, Dad and five children, plus all the kit to go with such a holiday - no mean feat. They were clearly happy days because they returned to the same spot over several years, making lasting friendships with families of several nationalities. (Some Italians came to our wedding and David occasionally hears via email from Tiziana, though her parents, aunt and uncle have now passed away.)
David knew that the beachside campsite had long gone to be replaced by apartment blocks, but the promenade, children's play park and stony breakwater remain though updated somewhat. We even filled up with fuel at the garage across the road which they must have used all those years ago, noting that they still sell a wide range of air horns, so the establishment more than likely has the same owner or descendants.
We took the motorway rather than coast road back 'home', where the entertainments team were preparing for 'Hawaiian Night'! It was good to see families having fun, just what David had experienced all those years ago but in a more modern setting. Indeed, a pitch a few along from us occupied by a group of Swiss people have been coming here for eight years and have already booked for next! History repeating itself.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.045s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0213s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb