Ventimiglia

My visit to Ventimiglia started with the first ever photo of me in all my gear, and ended with a new understanding of my family and our history.

Arriving on the train from Nice (I haven’t written anything about my time in Nice mainly coz I don’t have time) I stepped onto the platform to be welcomed by my Granddad, Toto and my Mum. From that moment each day was a lesson in eating, meeting members of the family and struggling with Italian.

Much of my mum’s side of the family lives in this area of Liguria, which is only 7km’s from the French/Italian border. The City contains around 30,000 people, split down the middle by a river and is very popular with tourists wandering along the French riveria.

The city very beautiful. Portions are very old, and worked into the hills and cliffsides while modern buildings appear occasionally. Being reasonably small and dense the city retains a bit of a small town feel with everyone knowing each other and walking through the streets you can hear shouts of Ciao between the inhabitants constantly.

Moving out of the city center you can find beautiful old suburbs such as where some of my relatives lived, perched high in the mountains that surround the town.

The appearance of three intruders from Australia was quite an event. Every meal we were offered were huge and every minute of my 2 and half weeks in Ventimiglia was planned and crafted to meet someone or see something new. I ventured into mountain towns, scootered to hidden beaches, ate dinner and swam perched in a mountain cottage. I wandered markets and watched the sunset across the pebbly shore. I made new friends and loved every minute of my time in this small town. It was the true Italy, and I can’t wait to go back.

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