LIGURIAN GHOST TOWNS PART 1

There are places in Liguria impossible to explore properly unless you have a car. So, my friends Mary and Chantal had a great idea: let's hire a small bus, get a small group together and explore the Ligurian countryside. Who knows what we may see? Armed with various guidebooks, we left Genoa early on Tuesday morning. None of us had ever been in Albenga, Cisano sul Neva, Zuccarello, or Castelveccio before. Mary had done a lot of research on the places we were expecting to visit, so we had some idea of the history and main sights. The sky was bright blue and the air crispy and cold, a perfect day to be a tourist! 

An hour and a half later we arrived to Albenga, 46 km from Savona. This town has one of the most well preserved medieval city centres in Liguria, dominated by four impressive towers. The Cathedral of Albenga, dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, has a very unassuming and modest entrance from the main street, but the interior is full of interesting art work and historical details. 

Frescoes on the wall and paintings on the ceiling of the Cathedral in Albenga - watching them was like being in a time machine, catapulted back to medieval times. It was particularly nice to see that this ancient church was by no means preserved for historical purposes only. Quite a few locals were coming in to have a quiet moment. We were definitely the only tourists. 

Very close to the Cathedral is the early Christian Baptistery (built between fifth and sixth century), said to be one of the oldest Christian monuments in Northern Italy. There is a rare mosaic of a blue, starry sky inside the Baptistery. The Museo Diocesano was just opening when we got there and even though we did not have a lot of time inside the museum, we did manage to see the copy of Caravaggio's work of John the Baptist. The original is in Kansas City. But there were many other interesting paintings too and three walls were covered in large tapestries, full of rich details. 

After this suitably large dose of art and culture, we strolled along the streets of Albenga for while. I came across this ginger cat, which definitely had seen a camera before and happily posed for photos.. 

We were soon back on the bus and continued towards Cisano sul Neva, a walled city since 13th century. The 8-seater bus was parked in a tiny piazza and we got out. An old man stopped to say hello and pointed us towards an alleyway with his walking stick (first, I thought that he was telling us not to park on the piazza, but he just wanted to make sure that we not miss the most beautiful part of this little village!!). Have to say, that it would have been a pity to miss the view from this bridge.

There was a small private garden on one side of the bridge with a persimon tree....

....and the cactus with a tiny flower looked so exquisite in the November sun.

Cisano sul Neva might be a tiny dot on the map of Liguria, but it was one of those delightful places, where you would like to photograph every inch of it. Interesting details - such as this stone bench - everywhere.

For example, this dark and mysterious alleyway (see below)would be a perfect back drop for a murder mystery or a horror story. The old wheel and all! Location scouts for Hollywood movies should not miss this place.

Eventually we had to leave and get back to the road. We stopped to view couple of pretty castles from outside and then drove on to a tiny place called Zuccarello, established in 1248, with many signs of medieval structures preserved to this day.

This lady is Ilaria Carretto. She was born here and was daughter of Carlo, 1st Marquis of Zuccarello. She married Paolo Guingi, Lord of Lucca. The wedding was a society event of the year, I guess, as it lasted 3 days and 3 nights according to the sign next to the statue. The couple had 2 sons, but tragically Ilaria died after giving birth to her second baby. She was only 19 years old. Paolo must have been beside himself with grief and he commissioned a monument in her honor. The original monument, made by Jacopo Della Quercia, was  in 1407 and can still be seen in Cathedral of Lucca. The bronze statue  in Zuccarello is a much more recent creation by Flavio Furlani (2007).

Zuccarello's streets were totally empty, but there was some signs of activity: Christmas decorations were on display on the bridge and around the piazza. Couple of workmen were putting in the final touches. Again, all shops were closed with shutters and big padlocks. What else would you expect on an ordinary Tuesday in November? I think it started to unnerve us a little bit: the fact that we did not see any people about. 

We were clearly visiting Zuccarello couple of days too early, as there is going to be a big pumpkin/harvest festival this weekend, on 1st December. 

  Zuccarello may definitely be one of those places where Italians from the big cities of Milan, Turin and Genoa come to relax during the summer months, possibly having a second home there. On this November day it looked so totally dead and deserted. But little did we know that the Zuccarello was not the only "ghost town" around this area on winter time... (to be continued tomorrow). 

THE WAITING GAME AND GETTING READY FOR WINTER

Still no buses in Genoa. The strike has been on since Tuesday this week and today is the fifth day with "no service available" signs on the bus stops. All mediation efforts have failed so far and the newspaper headlines are declaring that this is now a war on privatisation. I know too little about the politics behind this issue to comment - all we can do is to minimise the need to go to town, use local services as much as possible and wait. 

In the meanwhile, life goes on: This week we put the heating on for the first time in ages.The temperature has dropped considerably and it has rained heavily almost every day. It is pretty dark already at six o'clock in the evening. Out came the hotwater bottles (they really work) and woollen socks (equally effective), candles in the evening too. Christmas lights have gone up at least here on Nervi high street, a sure sign that winter is not far away now.
  Tonight some friends are coming for an aperitivo and no doubt the ongoing bus crisis will feature in our discussions, but it has been a busy week and it is great to have a quiet time at home.
(Just now  my phone said "ping" with a message:"I am so sooorrry, cannot come tonight because of the strike..." Aaaaargghh!!!!) 

AMT BUS STRIKE HITS GENOA TWO DAYS RUNNING

There has been no buses for two full days now. It is still possible to get to town by local train, so it is not a total disaster, but the strikes are affecting everyone who relies on public transport. Usually, a strike is announed in advance and it starts conveniently after 9 am when everyone has been transported to work. The traffic starts flowing again later in the afternoon, so that people can get back home. Not this time. 

The bus strike has not affected local trains, operated by Trenitalia, so it is possible to get to the city center.  But trains do not go as frequently as buses so for many people  that means leaving home earlier and coming back later than usual. 

 The buses have not moved from the depos at all. Yesterday I watched a very noisy and loud demonstration in the city centre of Genoa. Hundreds of people marched towards the offices of the municipality, where the decision to privatise  the public transport provider AMT was being discussed. There were loud bangs and singing, especially when the march reached a tunnel, were the sound was amplified many times over. It sounded like a gun battle - which is wasn't, of course. There is a real fear that jobs will be lost and in this time of very high unemployment, it is a depressing prospect. Hopefully, a solution will be found soon - but in the meanwhile, no bus service in the city. 

BUS STRIKE IS A SIGN OF A CITY IN CRISIS

If you don't speak Italian, but would like to know some useful words, I suggest that you add the word sciopero (a strike) into your vocabulary. Once you start noticing this word, you will realise how often it appears, especially on the noticeboards on bus stops. Today was one such day as the city wide AMT bus network stopped for 4 hours.  

   As a family, we use the buses every day to go to the centre of town and we have not even thought about getting a car as the public transport system is pretty good. Buying a car and getting it registered is not quite as straight forward as one might assume and furthermore, finding a parking space in town can be a mission too. There is also the issue of where to keep the car overnight, if you cannot park in front of your street: buying a garage space for the car can be a very serious investment indeed. 

 Bus strikes are quite frequent in general. It is not unusual having to find alternative methods of transport
 at least once a month. 

  But there are clearly tough times ahead as far as public services are concerned. Today's strike was prompted by plans to privatise the AMT. Opionions for and against are running high.

A leaflet appealing for public support informed travellers that the municipality of Genoa is planning to privatise the public transport system and that this will mean increasing the prices of tickets and cuts in service. "People will be transported like cattle in the Third World", it predicts. 

Currently, it is very cheap to use the public transport as one bus ticket costs Euro 1.50 or Euro 1.60, if combined with bus and local train travel (bought from the tabaccheria).  It is valid for 100 minutes from the time it has been stamped. Unlimited changes of buses and trains are allowed during the 100 minute period.
  Not a bad deal, but obviously ticket prices are heavily subsidised. An Italian friend also made an interesting comment about why the AMT is in constant financial difficulties: the truth is that the ticket inspectors do catch quite a lot of people travelling without a ticket. Not wanting to pay for public services is almost a national sport, my friend said. It remains to be seen what will be the future of public transport in Genoa. In the meanwhile, we are not heading to the car show rooms. Not yet, anyway. 

Perhaps a scooter or a vespa? It is pretty quick to zip through the city with one of these, but being forced to breath petrol fumes does not appeal either. 

   

  

  

   

A FAMILY FAVOURITE: ZUCCHINI CAKE

Italians are great in inventing all sorts of savoury tarts and cakes. One particular recipe has become a firm family favourite: Cake Salato alle Zucchine, which could be translated simply as a savoury zucchini cake.  I learned this from an excellent book called Lezioni di Cucina: Un Corso completo fotografato step by step. This is dead easy to make and actually tastes better the day after baking.

Don't worry if it is not perfect when you take it out of the tin. Leave the cake to cool and it will firm up so that it can be sliced nicely. 

You will need:

180 g flour
3 zucchinis
100 g pancetta or cooked ham in small cubes
150 g ricotta
50g parmigiano
1 onion
3 eggs
100 ml olive oil
100 ml milk
1 tbsp baking powder
salt, pepper, herbs

1. Cut the zucchini in small cubes and fry with onion. Add  pancetta or cooked ham cubes to the mixture. Add salt and herbs.

You can add other veggies into this mixture too - I happened to have some red pepper in the fridge, so I threw it in. 

2. Mix eggs with milk and olive oil in a separate bowl. Add flour and cheese together with the zucchini, onion and pancetta or ham and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well to incorporate all the ingredients.

3. Line a long bread tin with kitchen paper. Pour the mixture into the tin. Bake about 1 hour in 190 C. Test with a skewer before taking out from the oven, if it comes out clean the cake is ready.

This makes a great snack for a crowd - just cut in bitesized pieces and enjoy!

CHASING THE STORM

There was an almighty storm last night. So much so, that floods have been reported in some parts of Genoa.
But this morning the storm had moved on and the weather seemed to have calmed down. I decided to have a little stroll on the Passegiata Anita Garibaldi in Nervi to see what the damage was.

Only couple of months ago this beach club was full of people enjoying a very hot weather under the umbrellas. 

It turned out to be a very pleasant day, mostly sunny too, temperature around plus 18 C. The sea had a different sound though, angrier than normal. But for some people it was the perfect opportunity to try and test the elements: members of the local canoeing club were out enjoying  some white water rafting and fishermen were trying their luck, too!

Canoeing in these conditions requires a lot of skill and it is clearly a lot of fun too! 

GINGER ICE CREAM? WE GOT IT!

It may be November and the winter is approaching fast, but ice cream is still firmly on the menu for the Italians. There are numerous gelato bars in Genoa alone and come a sunny day, there might even be queues outside the best ones regardless of the time of year.

  One particularly popular ice cream shop in town, U Gelato du Caruggiu, on Via San Bernardo #91 in the centro storico, is a magnet for gelato connoisseurs looking for unusual flavours.



Moreno and Barbara make approximately 25 different ice creams  every day.

Yesterday I went together with other members of the American International Women's Club of Genoa (AIWC) to learn how the owners Moreno and Barbara, a husband and wife team, transform such humble ingredients as milk, butter and eggs into an ice cream base where different flavourings are then added afterwards. We were able observe the process through a glass window while Moreno explained the technical details. He stressed how important it is to get the balance of the ingredients right. Be aware, that if your ice cream starts melting the minute you get the cone in your hands, it has not been made correctly.

Chesnut and rosemary make an interesting change from the normal "vanilla-strawberry-chocolate" choice.



Barbara with the very delicately flavoured icecream: violet.

We were given small samples to taste of all the flavours and my absolute favourite is ginger, quite a sharp and spicy ice cream with lots of character. Regular customers are also raving about zabaglione, cinnamon, ciocco frizzy and hazelnut icecream (nocciola)....





A MOMENT OF PEACE WITH MUSIC

I recently walked in the area of Piazza Banchi in the centro storico. I have passed this place quite a few times while exploring the city, but not noticed that there is a tiny church, elevated on top of the shops. The doors were open, so I went in. It happened to be a bit of a grey autumn day, around noon.

Piazza Banchi and Chiesa di S Pietro.

As soon as I stepped inside the Chiesa di S Pietro I heard beautiful classical music and quite a familiar tune too. I have heard this piece before but could not remember the composer. It really did not matter. I soon felt totally at peace with myself and the rest of the world. Far away was the huzzle and buzzle of the street and the city.

  Curios about the history of this place, I picked up a leaflet in English at the entrance, where it was explained that the church was built during the second half of the 16th century on the ruins of another church. The original church was destroyed by fire. The architects, Taddeo Cartone and Daniello Caselle, modelled this new church on Basilica Assunta in Carignano.

There are beautiful frescoes just outside the entrance, up on the ceiling.

A REMINDER OF LAMPEDUSA

The island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Sicily, has for a long time been a gateway for people wanting to escape for a better life in Europe. The most recent boat accident, where 300 migrants - mainly from Eritrea and Somalia - lost their lives in early October, is only the latest incident and I fear, not the last. In the city centre of Genoa, on Piazza de Ferrari, there is currently a very eye catching reminder that this problem is not Italy's alone.

This banner, hanging outside Palazzo Ducale says it all: "Deaths again. Lampedusa is not the graveyard of hopes". 

Vittorio Longhi commented on the Guardian online (www.theguardian.com):

"So why do Eurocrats keep investing in security measures? Why don't they focus on a shared asylum policy, on serious multilateral agreements between transit and receiving countries, on building search-and-rescue capacity in the Mediterranean, on the full respect of the right to international protection?

Europe cannot go on sealing its borders and pretending not to see what's going on in the south, especially in still-troubled Northern Africa, and in a continent with growing poverty, along with a food and health crisis. Increasing social conflicts inevitably result in harsher repression by authoritarian regimes and therefore in further asylum-seekers, just like the Eritrean young men and women who drowned in Lampedusa."
Well said.