Walking through the streets of the provincial resort Italian town of Bordighera, located near the French border in Northern Italy, I always caught myself thinking: "I Wonder where all the locals have gone?"
At the end of September, it is especially quiet here. Although the sea is very warm and the beaches are not filled with tourists. We came here in 2013 to our friend Franco, who rented us a small house? lived here more than two weeks, smelling the fresh sea air and still blooming oleanders.
There is not a very large number of residents. About 30-40 000. and the boundaries of the city are quite blurred. Here you go down the street along the road, and suddenly the sign in the middle of the next house tells you that Bordighera ends and begins another "poetry". Poetry is a small Italian town. There are many of them in the district, Bordighera is not much different from them in geographical location.
Here the borders are blurred not only between cities but also between countries. The people here are quite peaceful, no one shares anything with each other. Here is the territory of Italy, and at the next stop of the train you are already in France and only a polite conductor will warn and ask the passenger a ticket.
For some reason there are no young people. Mostly old people and people in age. Bordighera is an ideal place to meet a quiet old age and live here your second half of life. And Italians live for a long time. Many are already under a hundred years old, and they all run and play dominoes or cards with friends. All young people have moved to the big cities, where large salaries, and many of the people generally go to work in France.
Franco says that today there are immigrants from the middle East. Previously, this was not, and now they have here periodically arranged tent towns in the area of the station. However, they do not stay here for a long time, because the city authorities do not have much to offer to refugees. So they migrate from here to Milan, Rome, and further abroad towards Germany.
Bordighera has very beautiful streets and houses. Here time goes slowly, not in a hurry to change the face of the city. Many villas here for a hundred or even two hundred years, and there is even a house guarding, who probably remember the era of medieval Italian kings.
Despite the end of September, it is quite warm and dry. Only once during our stay here, there was a little warm rain. From moisture, the city became even more beautiful. Walking through the streets, you unwittingly begin to understand the impressionist artists who in the old days loved to come to this place for inspiration.
I walked around a lot. When Franco was in the mood, he volunteered to be my guide, showing me the streets and places that I would never have found. He is a happy man, because he was born and lived here all his life. This is his homeland, which he loves and praises each of the visitors.
Although there are very few pedestrians on the streets, the shops are working properly. However, not like us. Usually from nine in the morning until lunch, and then a long break and they close early, about seven in the evening. The entire working day in the amount of sellers here about 4-5 hours. We would have such a life!
Transport here too regularly goes. Buses to San Remo, nice and Menton leave from the centre of Bordighera. As well as traveling by train, you can cross the border without problems. The most interesting thing is that the people in the buses are always full. We have met several Russian-speaking people here who, as it turned out, come here from the countries of the former Union and even from Russia to work.
According to the classical scheme of the device of streets of Italy, there are many cafes and restaurants. One can only wonder how they exist at all, when there are almost no passers-by. However, for some reason, the people in these institutions are always abound. Sometimes there is a feeling that local Italians only do that drink coffee outside the house. And stay there.
There are a lot of playgrounds, but there are few children. Usually the nannies take out the baby, so that those a couple of hours played by themselves or in the company of a few children. As Franco explained, it is dangerous for children to be alone on the streets, because they can be stolen. The birth rate is very low, the main population here is still old people, not children.
By the way, cars and motorcycles here too much. Especially where there are roads in the city center. For some reason, all somewhere in a hurry, in a hurry. And so at any time of the day. I even got the impression that the local youth for days on a flight rides on the vehicles here and there, and doesn't work anywhere. However, of course, I'm wrong.
I liked these little private shops that sell all kinds of hand-made products. Italians are masters of cooking or baking something. Windows in these stores are very beautiful with all sorts of candy boxes and cakes. I never realized whether they are real or skillfully made of fake materials. But the impression is cool. It is also not clear who is buying it, and how shops manage not to go bankrupt at the local low purchasing power.
There is a railway line right in the middle of the city. The trains here run along the entire coastline. While we were driving from Milan to Bordighera, we admired the beauty of the sea and the coastal cliffs. Stunning views! The road is also built through several tunnels, and in some places along the narrow bridges directly above the sea waves. With unaccustomed on the move creates a very terrible feeling that the train suddenly went off the rails and you are now banging to the bottom of the stones.
Two weeks passed very quickly. We have almost no one bothered us during this time. We found a spring of water near our house, and we went with plastic bottles there. The water here flows directly from the mountains and very clean and tasty. There are many such fountains in the city, all of them are beautifully decorated in stone, it seems, even in ancient times of Julius Caesar himself.
We went to the Department store to get food, like a small copy of the "Tape". There and products are cheaper and the choice is excellent. There was even a shop for artists in the city. That's where I bought pencils and paper, and then drew some graphic works. There, then, Franco bought a few frames for my paintings.
Bordighera is a place where you do not want to leave. It's very warm and sweet. We promised Franco that one day we would come here again. Perhaps this will happen in one of the upcoming holidays, but in another season, and then the streets of the city will not be as deserted as last time.