WALK THIS WAY !
Legs scratched anddusty, sensible hat crumpled, and well-worn boots covered in mud, I must have looked a sight to the bikini-clad bathers on the shores of Camogli, a colourful little village on the Mediterranean coastline. I’d just walked close to 100 km through the countryside of Liguria, and if my knees hadn’t been shaking so much, I might have knelt down and kissed the pebbled beach. Instead, I simply stood and let the warm sea wash across the toes of my boots, an enormous smile on my face.
My travels through Italy had begun five days earlier. On the train heading south out of Milan, maize fields soon gave way to acres of rice paddies. Rice in the land of pasta? At first they caught me by surprise, until I remembered that Milan is the home of risotto.
Near the town of Pavia, famous for its medieval towers, we trundled across an old iron bridge, now officially into the the Po River. It’s easy to see why this corner of Lombardy province has been dubbed “Little Tuscany”, with vineyards giving way to orchards that blend into olive groves.
