San Bartolomeo was my first step onto Italian soil, since I didn’t leave the marina in Ventimiglia. I explored the town and went shopping, excited by the new choice of food, even if it was just a supermarket. Still, I’d never tried dried kiwi before today! I cooked up some gnocchi and camped next to my boat.

In the morning, I met Fiore and Giuseppe, champion kayaker and head coach at the TopKayakASD club. Giuseppe was full of infectious energy and enthusiasm and immediately took me to a cafe for espresso and crostata. It seems Italian bakeries can rival the French, I look forward to sampling more.

I spent the morning writing in the sun and meeting the paddlers. A group of kids arrived and it was fun paddling around with them on the lovely calm sea.

I left at around midday and spent most of the day cutting across a bay of the towns of Alassio, Albenga and Loano. I stopped at Varigotti for some pasta and sat on the beach watching a group dancing passionately to apparent silence- it was a silent disco.

As the sun started to set, a haze descended and the mountains took on a soft, dusky fuzz. I paddled around a dramatic headland, the water a deep steel blue, yet still crystal clear. Noli looked like a nice small town, so I decided to stop there.

I wandered around the tall, narrow streets, treading on pave worn smooth over hundreds of years. Warm yellow light shone from streetlamps adding to the feeling that I’d fallen back a few hundred years in time.

A castle stood above the town on the hilltop, a single window glowing golden and the silhouette of its crumbling ramparts visible against the moonlit sky. A crenellated wall ran down the wooded hill to the town. It felt mysterious and I was drawn towards it up a switchback road. The castle of Monte Ursino was originally a watchtower used to spot Saracens coming in for raids.

It was a beautiful night, the bright moon shimmering on the sea and lighting up the misty mountains. I walked down the other side of the hill towards a cemetery and the still, silent night became a little eerie. The moonlit trees rustled and shadows became alive.