From Quarto to Recco, the first step on the Eastern Way

From the Baptist to Francis

The start, a symbolic one, was from the parish of San Giovanni Battista in Quarto, beneath the lunette bearing the face of the Forerunner. The destination was the Convent of San Francesco in Recco: on the eve of his feast day, we went to pay homage to the man who was a pilgrim of the world, first to Rome, then to Santiago and finally to the Holy Land. From the Baptist to Francis: two points of reference, one single road.

From there we all met at the Scoglio di Quarto, beneath the monument to the Thousand. The very spot from which, in 1860, an expedition set out on an undertaking that seemed impossible. We were setting out on something smaller and more stubborn: to walk the first stretch of the Eastern Way, metre by metre, and record it, because from today this is how we draw the official route of the Way: with our feet.

There were many of us: members, friends, a few new faces, and along the way the group grew even bigger. Light rucksacks, hiking shoes, sunglasses. A few words in front of the monument, a group photo with the statue behind us and the sea in front, and then off we went, eastwards.

The sea at Nervi

The first gift of the day is the Anita Garibaldi promenade. The stone wall on the left, the light-blue railing on the right, the layered rocks sloping down into the water and, far ahead, the Portofino headland that never seems to get any closer. The sea was clear right to the bottom, emerald green in the coves, dotted with swimmers who had not yet accepted that autumn had come.

You walk slowly here. Not out of tiredness: because every bend opens up a new view and someone always stops to look.

The creuze of Bogliasco

Leaving the sea behind, the Way climbs. This is the Liguria of the creuze: brick-and-cobble stairways squeezed between two walls, winding up among vegetable plots and gardens. We walked beneath cascades of purple bougainvillea, under lemon trees heavy with still-green fruit, past red and ochre houses with their shutters closed against the early afternoon, and by the little pink church of Sant'Ilario, its bell tower peeking out through the trees. In the olive groves the yellow nets were already spread beneath the trees: in a few weeks it will be harvest time.

Then the descent to Bogliasco, the break, catching our breath.

Pieve Alta and Sori, among the olive trees

The afternoon took us up again, to Pieve Alta and then onto the mule tracks above Sori: dry-stone walls, terraced olive groves, the Saracen Tower guarding the coast, and the sea always there below us, with Portofino finally seeming within reach. On the viewpoint at Pieve Alta, overlooking the gulf, we all gathered for the group photo, tired and happy, before the last stretch.

Recco, at the finish

We reached Recco in the low evening light, at the day's destination: the Convent of San Francesco. Waiting to welcome us were Father Emilio Ratti and the silence of the cloister: arches, columns banded in black and white, a few potted olive trees. The right place to arrive.

On the steps of its church we all sat down for the last photo: some forty pilgrims, a few children and a dog that earned itself a place in the front row. Then, under the vaults of one of its halls, we switched on the projector and told the story of the Via di Giovanni Battista: why it was born, where it goes, what it wants to be. And a chat with Father Emilio Ratti, Franciscan friar and doctor: for decades he has divided his life between the convent and the Congo, where he brought to life a hospital with an eye-surgery theatre that gives sight back to people who have nothing, and he is one of the masters of iridology in Italy. At the end of this long day, a fine toast and the excellent filled focaccias that our friend Dario, owner of Borgo Croccante in Boccadasse, in Piazza Nettuno, offered us from the heart, wanting nothing in return. Thank you, Dario: this too is how a Way becomes hospitality. The best way to end the first day on the Way is to start thinking about the next one already.

Eighteen kilometres, recorded step by step. On the site's map this stretch is now in colour: it is the first piece of the Way to become official. Many more are still missing, and we will walk them like this, together.

If you'd like to walk with us next time, become a member or support the waymarking.

Ultreya et Suseya.