A Bend in the River, Liguria

When I wander, there is oftentimes that unconscious thing going on ... where I ‘recognise’ something of other places I have loved or lived in.

This bend in the river, near Nervi, reminded me of visiting my Grandma and Grandad in their little cottage in Northeast Valley, back in Dunedin.  But it wasn’t about the house pictured, it was about the river and the wall. 

On the best visits, Grandad would dig out the old heavy wooden ladder and drop it down to the creek next to the cottage.  We 4 kids would climb down and hunt for fresh-water lobsters, occasionally surprising everyone by finding one.

My Grandad wandered the world before me.  Grandad George was the man who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey, on the Somme in France and out on Flanders Fields, with the Otago Mounted Rifles.  I have wandered in his footsteps when life, unexpectedly, took me to those places too. 

You know ... I wish everyone was still alive so we could have all these conversations I want to have with them.  Mum would have loved this life of mine and I’m sure she would have visited Italy ... would have decided to stay.  She could have had her place next to the sea here in Liguria.

Kathleen Berger, Opera Singer

Kathleen arrived on a train from Pisa yesterday ...

We introduced her to Genova and she, of course, fell in love with this exquisite Italian city.

Last night we had appertivo before eating the most fantastic pizza ... much wine and laughter.

Today it was Nervi before saying goodbye.  A lunch eaten at the edge of the Ligurian Sea ... pesto and gnocchi of course. 

And tomorrow?
Tomorrow we will race off to a place near Pisa to do this photo-shoot with the lovely opera singer we know.

A curious rock formation ...

There are so many things, here in Italy, that poke my curiousity something fierce ... this rock formation was surely one of them.

Is it volcanic?  And I liked the way the green and yellow plant kind of copies the chaos of the black and white rock spewing out of the hillside.

Here, I find I need both a geologist and a horticulturalist to walk with me.  There are plants I need to know the names of, and a pharmacist too, as I have had this explosive allergy/hayfever thing going on these last 24 hours.

Mr Squirrel and I

How could anyone resist this little bundle of fur and sweetness?

He ate one of the nuts the lovely couple in the park had shared with me and then gazed down from the branch, just out of reach ... his wee eyes filled with gratitude and love?  Or that's how I read it.

You know, the bus to Nervi and the place of the squirrels departs from the steps close by.  We can use our book of 1.10euro bus tickets to ride approximately half an hour before walking the most exquisite (no, I’m not exaggerating) coastal walkway the Pato rk of the Squirrels.  I do believe we shall be returning, with a bag of nuts and some time to stay awhile.