Thursday 17 September - Andora and Around

[Photos: A Diano town, Diano valley, house for sale, discussing house, our hosts Gill and Riccardo ]

Up a little late for another day's tripping around in the Fiat. We started with a trip up the Diano valley, having a look at a number of the Diano towns from Diano Marina upwards. Didn't get to Diano San Pietro, which was the location for Annie Hawes' book Extra Virgin. This book was what set us thinking of Liguria as a possible place to buy. The towns around here have an air of affluence clearly lacking in Ceriana. They are all much more open and airy, and generally had a better central square too. It does make Ceriana look like a poor relation, and we are not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. A noticeable number of German-registered cars about – the area is known to attract the Germans. And even a snake slithering along one of the towns – about 50cm long and not looking very dangerous.

At the top of our drive came across a small town in great condition, with a couple of places for sale. The first wasn't right, but the second was on the southern (sea view) side of town. Two rooms up and down, with a big roof terrace above. Riccardo got hold of the woman owner on his cellphone, and she popped out of the house next door. Great long animated discussions about the wonderful village, how Christopher Columbus was born there, and the house. Roof was newish, but a little suspect, and the internal floors were shot, but I clambered up a coupe of ladders to see the view. What a view. Out over the valleys and down to the sea. Despite the fact that it was little more than a shell, the asking price was 140,000€ down from 170,000. Not in our league, and would be a vastly more expensive proposition for renovation than Ceriana. However, worth seeing for the comparison.

The landscape in this region is quite different. The hills are softer, with more shallow slopes, and much more terracing than around Ceriana. There are not the rough forested places, nor any chestnut trees. Most terraces are in olives, all well-tended. There is clearly a lot more money about, and as Riccardo explained, on the Riviera huge numbers of houses and apartments are only occupied a few weeks a year, so the council gets the rates, but doesn't need to provide services, thus having spare for public works.

Back late for lunch, then out around 4pm for a walk along the waterfront south of Cervo, then into Cervo village above the sea for aperitivo. When you get aperitivo, you get your drink, whatever that may be, but also a few bowls of peanuts, olives and foccaccia. We enjoyed chatting quietly, with the sun setting (noticeably earlier now) over the sea. Back for dinner of risotto and leftovers from the previous night, with lots of talk about travel – where we have been and where they have lived.

The travelling around looking at the area was very interesting, and very useful for seeing what is about, and how Ceriana shapes up in comparison. I feel that it is either Ceriana or nothing. The prices everywhere else are beyond what we are prepared to pay. We suspect that doing up a rustico would involve too much effort, expense and hassle, as there is so much to do on them, from the groundworks to septic tanks. So if we decide against the Ceriana place, it seems unlikely we will find anything else. Riccardo and Gill don't think the French are anything like as nice as the Italians, which we have to agree with even from the limited exposure we have had to them so far.  And Spain has become very Anglicised along the coasts. They feel Ceriana is excellent value, and worth trying. We just don't know.