Club Alpino Italiano (environment protection)

www.cai.it

Our day begins at 8.15am at the IIT main entrance.

Pietro Guglieri, nickname Pitter, is a member of the CAI (Italian Alpine Club) of Bolzaneto and he is waiting for us. He will explain the program and the activities of the day to us.

After a few minutes we leave: we are going to San Geminiano, in the of Genoa Bolzaneto mountains. To our great surprise, when we arrive, we are welcomed with flat bread and white wine by a big group of CAI members... and it is still only 8.45!!!
After copious refreshment, we are all given equipment for the mission of the day, described as a pleasant cultural and naturalistic excursion.

Finally, determined and light-hearted (... and a bit merry, if truth be told!) we leave. Because we are a bit unfit, what was meant to be a rural trip actually results in quite a hard day’s work.

In the first few kilometres the guide shows us the trail signs and explains their technical and historical importance to us. As we reach the crest, we come face to face with our “enemy”: weeds and briars overrun the routes and force visitors to blaze alternative trails. Some of us dig dykes with picks, others uproot briars and trim the vegetation with shears.

We get to Fort Begato, called the “younger brother”, for lunch. The view is amazing: on the one side, Fort Diamante, with Fort Sperone behind it. On the other side,... the IIT buildings, which overlook the Polcevera Valley. Pitter, who has lived in these places for a long time, talks enthusiastically of their deeds and misdeeds. He gives them a fascinating out-of-time feeling.

It takes us one hour to go down to the valley after lunch. We are exhausted but satisfied with the overwhelming experience of the day. The satisfaction seems to be mutual. Our guides ask us to deepen the relationship between our Institute and the CAI centre in Bolzaneto. They also ask us to plan another meeting at their headquarters in order to explain their full range of activities, and to keep in touch generally.

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Participants: Andrea D’Aiello, Humberto Calderon, Arjan Gijsberts, Fernando Brandi, Luciana Beneventano, Marco Randazzo, Niranjan Patra, JeanChristophe Palyart Lamarche, Phil Hudson, Yoanne Clovis.