If you’re thinking about making the hike to Portofino from Santa Margherita Ligure, be advised that it’s farther than it looks on a map. It’s do-able, though. In fact, we just did it. Well, almost. We’re sitting on a bench along the trail where we can look down the hillside to see our destination. OK, let’s go. We’re thirsty!
Recap
But first, let me recap. It started as an after-lunch walk on a nice walking path along the beach in Santa Margherita Ligure. That wide walking path morphed into a narrow, road-side walkway between a rocky coastline and tree-covered hills. Then it abruptly stopped – or so we thought.
On the other side of the road, we saw a sign saying “Paraggi,” and a trail leading up a hill and into a forest. We started up the trail, which led to the tiny enclave of Paraggi. The path continued on past Paraggi. We kept going, and after hiking over a ridge or two, finally came to Portofino.
When we realized we were really going to reach Portofino, we took advantage of a bench along the trail. It felt VERY good to sit there, enjoy the view, and rest our tired feet.
Les Hikers
We hadn’t been sitting long when a group of about twenty hikers approached, coming up the trail from Portofino. These weren’t amateurs like us – these were serious hikers. Anyone would be able to tell by their hiking clothes and gear.
They wore long-brimmed, ventilated hats to deflect the sun’s rays while providing cooling air flow up top. Most of them wore multi-pocketed vests, perfectly suited for keeping all manner of snacks or emergency items. Their walking shorts were loose-fitting for comfort, with still more pockets.
They wore hiking boots that were modern-day versions of the old clunkers I used to wear in my backpacking days. I could tell that their calf-length socks were the really good kind. I’ll bet a pair of those socks cost more than my old hiking boots used to cost.
Most of them had scarves or handkerchiefs tied in various ways. They wore holsters, too. No, not for guns – for water bottles. They used walking sticks. Many of them used TWO walking sticks. This was something new to me, but it makes sense. On a long hike, you’d want everything balanced to wear evenly so you don’t get sore spots, eh?
The best-looking walking sticks appeared to be made out of aluminum, (or now that I think of it, maybe titanium). They were collapsible, tapering down to non-skid rubber tips.
Yes, these were some serious hikers. I had read about hiking being popular in this region. Hiking trails meander up and down the Ligurian coast, where there are lots of forested areas and hilly terrain. And as I found out later, the woods are full of wild boar. Who knew? Yikes!
C’est Pas Loin!
People come from all over Europe to hike the trails linking the five villages that make up Cinque Terre. I hadn’t given it a thought because as far as I knew, hiking wasn’t a serious sport back home. But after seeing this group, it’s clearly a popular pastime over here.
As the hikers walked past, heading up the hill that we’d just come down, I heard some of them speaking french. So after most of them had gone by, I said, in the best french accent I could muster, “Bon chance! C’est pas loin!” (“Good luck! It’s not far!”).
A couple of them said to each other, “Ils sont francais!” (“They’re French!”). And some others said, “Merci beaucoup!”
Then I said, “Pas plus de cent kilometers!” (“Not more than a hundred kilometers!”).
And then most of them went, “Honh honh honh honh!” (“Ha ha ha ha!”). So we all had a good laugh.
Divo Martino
OK. Rest-time was over. We left our comfortable bench and followed the trail down the hillside. It ended at the edge of town, right where a small, but elegant church had been built. A sign said “Divo Martino.” It means “Chiesa di San Martino” – the Church of Saint Martin. The front doors were wide open, so I went inside to have a look.
Inside, it was like a little jewel box. Really neat. I had read that there are churches like this up and down the coast in this area. They’re unpretentious on the outside, but when you step inside – wow! (See top of post).
They were built around 800 years ago, in Genoa’s heyday. Genoa and Venice were the main trading centers between “The East” and Western Europe. Venice was the big-shot on the east side of the boot, and Genoa was the big-shot on the west side of the boot. (I would have said “the Italian boot,” but there was no “Italy” back then).
We’re just 20 miles down the road from Genoa right now. Hey – We could HIKE there! Ha ha. Just kidding.
To be continued…
Photo of Chiesa di San Martino credit: Davide Papalini/Wikimedia Commons
