Last week, we told you about hikes – easy ones and not so easy ones – in the rugged Regional Nature Reserve between Camogli and Portofino.
Today, we will stay in the Riviera di Levante (the coast east of Genoa), but for a much more civilized contrast programme. You can bring your lazy old dog, small children, even wheel out granny, because we are not intending to break sweat while enjoying the Mediterranean sunshine and glorious views over parkland and the sea.
The walk on Passegiata Anita Garibaldi, after all, allows us to do that: this is a lazy stroll, even by easy hiking standards.
The 2 km long walk between the Genoese suburbs of Capolungo and Nervi was one of the first purpose-built, Mediterranean-themed leisure walks.
It was laid out in 1863 as a scenery for the passeggiata, Italian institution of seen-and-be-seen street theatre …
… by Gaetano Gropallo, scion of an ancient Patrician family (featuring a long roll call of Genoese admirals, senators and diplomats) which had owned the adjacent land since the 13th century.
Gropallo had originally named his walk after the Princess of Piedmont (the title given to the wife of the king of Sardinia), but this name was – when the tide turned in Italian politics – deemed insufficiently Republican in spirit.
It was finally Mussolini who changed the name – in honour of the Tenth Navy Infantry Division, the Pretorian Guard of his last fascist government (the Republic of Salò).
So following the defeat of the axis powers in WWII, Genoa’s municipal government (the new owner of the land) obviously had to come up with something else.
Searching for something non-controversial, they named the walk after the wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of the Italian unification movement.
Anita may have been a non-controversial choice, but you should not mistake her for your average politician’s wife who is happy to assume the patronage of hospitals and children’s homes.
Before Anita came to Italy, she had already fought, guns ablaze, for her native Brazil’s independence (the country of her birth still celebrates her as a national heroine in her own right).
By all accounts, she was as fierce and tough as she was ravishingly beautiful. In the 1952 Garibaldi biopic The Red Shirts she is portrayed by the formidable Anna Magnani.
The Anita Garibaldi statue in Rome depicts the Italian Revolution’s first lady astride a rearing horse, holding her baby son close in her left while brandishing a pistol in her right as she leads her husband’s army to victory. Huzzah!
A Sedate Walk on Passegiata Anita Garibaldi
In comparison with that, the walk on Passegiata Anita Garibaldi is a fairly sedate affair. We start at the small Capolungo harbour (one block down from Via Aurelia, the busy high street).
The Passegiata Anita Garibaldi is not a rough, natural coastal path across rocks and sand but asphalted throughout …
… which allows you to concentrate on the sights rather than on keeping your foothold and your balance. Looking back, you can see the Portofino peninsula that we visited last week …
… and to your left, there are scenic images of the Mediterranean.
Some of the architecture along the way also deserves your attention: there is the 16th century Torre Gropallo, also known as the Torre del Fieno after the wet hay that was burned on top – as a warning signal – when pirates approached …
… and there is the Marinella, a 1930s style hotel restaurant, formerly a landmark but currently in a sad state of neglect, having been shut down several years ago.
There is, however, a scheme under way to restore it to its former glory. € 2 million have been raised by a consortium of investors, permissions have been procured, and the Marinella looks set to be fully operational in the spring of 2019.
There are also several reminders of famous people who have passed this way: spot the plaques that were attached to the walls in the memory of Marshall Pilsudski, Poland’s military strongman in the years between WWI and WWII, and of the writer known as Shalom Aleichem on whose stories the musical Fiddler on the Roof was based.
Unless you spend too much time in one of the many cafes and ice cream stands that line the path even outside of the high season (the walk is first and foremost there for the raison d’être of the Passegiata – that is part of its charm), you should arrive at Nervi harbour within the hour.
The harbour is small, not more than one block deep behind the marina, but take the time to look around …
… and perhaps have a bite in one of the picturesque tavernas. (But make sure you arrive in time for lunch, however. Italian restaurants have very precise ideas of when it is the right time for you to eat.)
From here, you can take the bus to Genoa town centre (there is a frequent and regular service from Via Aurelia) or, if you still have the time in your schedule for another short walk, join us next week to find out how to spend the rest of the afternoon in Nervi. See you then!
True to our aim, we are always finding hiking and walking possibilities in the Riviera for us and for you.
