CALA DI MITIGLIANO

I hadn’t walked down to the Cala di #Mitigliano since June 2010. My first disappointment along the way was the state of the ancient church of Santa Maria, now completely hidden by scaffolding and securely locked. No longer a good photo opportunity, but an eyesore. 

Once off the road, the path was in a reasonable state,  clearly signed and free of vegetation. The ceramic tile was intact and all was looking good.The wooden “hand” rails were generally rather wobbly, but actually a great help in negotiating the deeper and more irregular steps, although now and then they had given up and toppled over. It wasn’t until I came to the two steepest and most slithery stretches, (of course completely rail-less), that I contemplated turning back, worried it could degenerate and that the further I went down, the further I would have to go back up again!

However meantime one of the local hounds had decided to accompany me and his reproachful look spurred me on.
At some time over the intervening years my memory had evidently pressed its delete button since I didn’t remember it being either so far down, or so steep . But maybe I was just younger and braver.
I finally came out into a little clearing and lo and behold an open gate with cars and scooters parked the other side. Also a row of rubbish bins strategically placed at the top of another, better flight of steps. So this is where the new private access road comes out, I thought to myself.

I made my way down the remaining steps (still quite a few) to the beach. A few families were under their sun umbrellas enjoying a relaxing Sunday, watching their children splashing in the shallows.  Boats were bobbing up and down further out to sea. Capri was ghostlike, shrouded in mist on the horizon. A quick swim and time to set off again. But this time I took advantage of the private road. I enjoyed its smooth surface, its width and its gentle loops. Definitely getting old.