Ligurian Landscape

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On the coast of Liguria in Italy the valleys run down like fingers reaching into the Mediterranean Sea.  Known as the Riviera dei Fiori all sorts of plants grow in this incredible microclimate.  Each valley is unique and this is an impression of one of them.

click on the pictures to make them larger......


Late August, cool and quiet the valley waits for the sun to rise on the eastern ridge….

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A sparrow hawk heads for the hunting ground - dry, rocky scrub land full of creatures making the most of the early hours.

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Swallows wheel and dive and the sun appears picking out the features of this beautiful, ancient Ligurian landscape:

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A medieval village

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Olive groves, producing Taggiasca olive oil

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Smallholdings

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Palm trees and pines

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A famous Barbaresque Tower (600BC)

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Warm faded colours of buildings in jostling in hamlets

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As the sun floods over the western ridge dogs bark, cockerels crow and, beyond the evergreen oak, a horse whinnies for breakfast

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a hungry cat creeps stealthily through dry grasses and broom...

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....avoiding prickly cactus heavy with fruit, treading on sweet smelling wild flowers and herbs, brushing past ripe figs to the olive trees beyond.

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The sun reaches the valley floor now:

Vespas buzz

Men work

Greenhouses full of flowers and plants

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Up and down the valley olives ripen in the intense heat of the midday sun whilst everything else stops – too hot for anything…

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but:

Lizards and dragonflies

A Praying Mantis and preying spider on the look out