Piotr Kroczak, a French-Polish national, currently lives in Poznan, Poland, where he met his partner during an Erasmus stay.
He has been a professional blogger for more than 10 years. He describes himself as a mountain and nature lover, conveying his passion for travel on his blogs and social networks.
Check out his blog: https://www.bien-voyager.com/

Jessica Schots, an art historian and writer, currently lives in Rome and writes as a freelance writer for www.ciaotutti.nl Dutch blogs on all things Italian. Jessica takes her readers to Italy every day with her blog, touching on a wide range of topics, from city walks to history, travel tips, food, and cultural events.

Luigi Chiurchi, videomaker and beatmaker is an artist par excellence, his touch can make any production unique, from a short emotional video to a documentary project. His experience spans various fields, from Tourism to fashion via music clips. He especially loves the area of responsible travel:“I care a lot about the environment, and if you think about it, we are finally living in a time when we can all make a strong commitment to the preservation of our natural and human heritage.”

Peter Ienca Gazzolo, Ph.D. in environmental, land and landscape humanities. He has loved geography and hiking since he was a child. He documents experiences with videos and photographs to share through social networks. Official Drone Pilot recognized by ENAC Italy. “If you don’t walk to where you want to go, you won’t see what you want to find.”

With Jessica, who arrives from Rome, Pietro and Luigi already in Genoa, we meet at the Genoa Principe station and travel together on the route to Ventimiglia, getting to know each other better. Once you arrive at the station in Ventimiglia, we walk to the upper part of the city to stay at the bed and breakfast Casa Fenoglio, where our new male friends were warmly welcomed by the owner Arianna and at La terrazza dei Pelargoni, where instead we, the female part of the delegation, were greeted by a very nice guy.
Piotr, arriving from Poland by plane, met us directly at the B&B.

A two-minute walk from our B&Bs we reach the first balcony: Il Funtanin as well as the name of the restaurant at which we ate, a spectacular vantage point from which we also enjoyed a wonderful sunset.

The experience from the Restaurant U- Funtanin put us immediately at ease, in a priceless “cliffside” atmosphere, with a waiter very attentive to our dietary needs (one celiac, one vegetarian and one vegan!!!! Oh my GOD), presenting us with a mostly seafood-based proposal, accompanied by excellent local wines.

Super, varied and rich breakfast served on the two respective terraces, one overlooking Garibaldi Street and the other immersed and surrounded by flowers and greenery.

Waiting for us in front of Ventimiglia’s magnificent Romanesque cathedral were our two fantastic guardian angels for the entire tour: Daniela Lantero, guide and interpreter, and Monica Ballo, local expert and bus driver. Daniela immediately took us on a lovely walk in upper Ventimiglia, dispensing valuable information and letting us discover the secrets and curiosities of this ancient town. After visiting magical places such as the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the Church of San Michele Arcangelo and getting “lost” among the various caruggi, the tour ended by returning to the balcony Il Funtanin
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We then set off with Monica in the direction of the Second Balcony, allowing ourselves a quick stop in Bordighera to enjoy a nice vantage point over the sea.

We then come to the famous Curva del Marzocco which lovers of cycling, mountain biking, rallying and hinterland will surely know. A panoramic curve from which you can enjoy a view of the city of Sanremo that is nothing short of breathtaking, with the mountains behind and the sea horizon in front, one of the most beautiful in the area.

Time to take a few photos and we headed to Trattoria da Linda in Coldirodi, where we were waiting for us. @Sabina di Mattia, flower designer ed @Alessandro Lanteri, general manager at the Floricultural District of Liguria. After a pleasant lunch Sabina and Alexander told us about the “world of flowers” that has made Sanremo world-famous, giving us an interesting and as much as ever new experience of flower arrangements with flowers from the local area (pansy, chinois carnations, diantus barbatu, Statice Limonium) and green plants (Asparagus miriocladus, Ruscus ) in which bloggers enthusiastically participated.

Ready to go, we set off again in the direction of the ancient village of Castellaro, which, although small, offers many things to see. Due to its elevated location, where precisely the third Balcony is located adjacent to the parish church of San Pietro in Vincoli. Castellaro affords a splendid view of the valley below, the Argentina Valley, which takes its name from the stream of the same name, and its historic center is full of old buildings in perfect condition that tell stories of yesteryear.

The time has come for us to go to the place where we will sleep, so we reach the Agriturismo l’Adagio in Badalucco. Owner Rossella Boeri welcomes us with a beautiful smile and, after settling us into our Suites, gives us a tour of the site. This oasis of peace complete with a spa, located in the heart of the Argentina Valley, was born out of the desire of the Roi family, oil producers since 1900, to accommodate tourists and foreign buyers.

To get to know the Frantoio Roi in depth, one must start with the museum, the ancient oil mill and the history of olive processing, and then see the evolution over the years of production, which today is carried out with innovative machinery, to say the least, always with the utmost respect for the quality of the product! How could they not taste oil, olives and… Gin?

The day ended with dinner at Umami restaurant in the former Badalucco kindergarten, recently renovated and reopened just over a month ago.
The restaurant wanted to combine the tradition of local materials and products with modern cuisine. The décor is totally inspired by the olive tree, wooden tables and old poles, while the young and enthusiastic staff allowed us to taste local specialties, presented in a totally innovative way.

Wednesday morning began with a breakfast served directly in the room, varied and wholesome, very respectful of local produce. Monica then accompanied us to the La Torretta the balcony closest to the territories of the Piedmontese partner. Along the way we stopped for an impromptu stop to pick cherries and, to everyone’s surprise, Monica treated us to the typical Sanremese focaccia: the Sardenaria!
Unfortunately, nasty threatening clouds suggested that we not stay long. Nevertheless, we still got to enjoy and capture the fascinating landscape characterized by expanses of vineyards and olive trees.

Focaccia Sardenaria recipe

Since the day had a wine theme, we stopped in Sarola for lunch at Azienda Agicola Ramoino. Waiting for us was Fabiana Ramoino, who took us to the winery and told us about their production, which we then had the pleasure of tasting during a lunch featuring genuine dishes typical of the area.

A little more “cheerful” (luckily Monica does not drink and always brings us safely!), we reached the balcony of Diano Castello surrounded by green woods and olive groves, not far from the sea. The village of Diano Castello combines its felicitous location with the charm of its historic center, where the atmosphere of the ancient fortified village is still intact, with narrow streets between houses close to each other that were an effective defensive system.

In the afternoon we reached the Poggio dei Gorleri in Diano Gorleri, from where there is a splendid open view from the top of the coast. The landlord Davide provided us with a selection from his cellar and, with the support of the legendary Sommelier Marco Rezzano, president of the Enoteca Regionale della Liguria as well as owner of AGAVE in Framura (which remains on the other side of our beautiful region), we ventured on a tasting tour of the typical wines of this area: Pigato, Vermentino, Rossese, Granaccia and more!

To end on a happy note (and how else?! ) this wonderful day, we invited some representatives of the institutional world, the President of Liguria International and the DMO of the Rivieras Chamber of Commerce and the business community, including Emanuela and Arnaldo of the WEB Agency KAMIKO which has been our point of reference for the construction of the online Balcony Road.

Monica and Daniela, despite the previous evening’s revelry, punctually at 9 a.m. picked us up to take us to visit the sixth balcony: Mount Acquarone, where we took a walk through a beautiful wide and verdant landscape.

We arrived at our last experience: the tasting of Riviera Ligure PDO extra virgin olive oil at the farm Petricor, where we were expected Federico Guadalupi, owner of the Biodiversely farm as well as a representative of the Ligurian Riviera DOP Consortium, who taught us how to distinguish the various types of EVO oil and learn more about the Ligurian Riviera DOP. Petricor’s young staff treated us to an aperitif of white wine and some of their own productions such as Taggiasca olive pâté, olives in brine and, new of the new, dried olives in brine: true delicacy!

We still lacked a Balcony, but decided to stop for lunch at some old friends, the Armato family, Oil producers and exquisite people! The Olio Armato farm is one of the few women-owned oil farms. It must be said that the “ladies of oil” constitute a pleasant and solid tradition in western Liguria. The memory goes to that matriarchal dimension, which often was and still is dominant in rural families in western Liguria.
Cristina and her husband welcomed us into their home and treated us as if we were family, each delicious dish accompanied by a story, a unique experience. Too bad they couldn’t also cook the gluten-free nettle noodles, because everything else was so delicious that I would have eaten them with great pleasure!

And here we come to the end of our journey, we go to the last striking balcony Santa Brigida, in Dolcedo.
By now our eyes are full of memories and beautiful sights and our hearts full of encounters and experiences… And that is how, with a bit of nostalgia, we say goodbye, wishing that in the future we can all take the Imperia Balcony Road together again!