Ventimiglia, Italy

We had one more full day on the Riviera, and decided to visit Italy, only 19 miles away. Kathleen, Amy and I boarded the eastbound train in the late morning, traveled from France to Monaco, back into France and then to Italy. We stopped in Ventimiglia, a Riviera town just four miles across the border in the Liguria region of Northern Italy at the mouth of the Roia River. The city’s name is derived from Album Intimilium, which was the capital of the Intimilii, an ancient Ligurian tribe, although it is commonly thought to mean “twenty miles,” which coincidentally is “venti miglia” in Italian. Remains of Roman structures dating back to the early second century are still visible here and the historic old town, called Ventimiglia Alta, was built during the Middle Ages on a hilltop to best protect it from frequent medieval raiders. Map link: Ventimiglia, Italy

We went up the hill (by elevator, to save wear and tear on my bad hip), enjoyed the amazing views of the town, and walked through the winding cobblestone streets to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption). The current sandstone building was constructed during the 11th and 12th centuries on the site of a previous cathedral from the 6th century, which replaced a Roman Pagan temple to the goddess Juno. We took our time taking in the architecture and aura of the ancient church and underground crypt and baptistery.

Bonus Question: We all hate CAPTCHAs, those annoying online “I’m not a robot gatekeepers that verify we’re human. What does CAPTCHA stand for? (answer at end of post). 

It was a hot and humid day, we were done wandering, and descended back down to sea level and found an outdoor table in the shade at Pasta & Basta, an Italian restaurant near the shore. We ate a leisurely lunch, taking our time in the European fashion—something we’ve admired in our travels but have found surprisingly difficult to emulate. After our meal, we visited the beach and marina across the street, then walked back to the train station, where me met Amy’s classmate Gabriela and her Columbian parents, who were switching trains on their way to Milan. After they left, we headed back to Nice, and Kathleen and I ate our leftovers from lunch and Amy met friends in nearby Antibes. 

An accidental pic of the sun through the
inside of my pants pocket. I really like the color!

Bonus Question Answer: Invented in 1997, the Completely Automated Public Turing test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) was designed to prevent spam and bot attacks. Ironically, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have made it easier for many computers to solve these challenges faster than humans. To keep up, developers have modified CAPTCHAs to be fuzzier, more squiggly and harder to read, making them more frustrating than ever.