canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Forra della Lavandaia

One of the most special, beautiful and panoramic places of Catena Costiera Range is surely Guardia Piemontese. Its history is special: the village was fouded in XIII century by Waldensians settlers coming from Val Pellice, looking for a quiet place to live and profess their religious faith. They lived in peace for a couple of centuries, till they were massacred by the Spanish of Kingdom of Naples, by mandate of the Church of Rome. Centuries have passed, there had been the unification of Italy, emigration, schooling, but even today the dialect that is spoken in Guardia is Occitan ...

The geography of Guardia is also special. The village rises on a hill overlooking Tyrrhenian Sea almost like an airplane. Down, on northern side, the majestic rocky peaks of Torrente Bagni gorge (no canyoning interest) mark the place where thermal waters come out from the volcanic depths of earth. Where they reach the sea, the stack known as "Scoglio della Regina" soars over the blue clear water. High up the mountain is covered with lush forests, seemingly impenetrable, of secular trees.

And among these wonderful natural beauties there is also a gorge, narrow, beautiful, technically simple: the Lavandaia narrows.

I remember ...

My friend Piero, who works as a physical education teacher, carries the spirit of his profession even in recreational activities, explaining the ways and the places in which they take place, with the engaging enthusiasm of a full time educator.

I too was a school teacher for 20 years, but I did the opposite. After having spent a week illustrating, explaining and involving pupils, some motivated, some not, I wanted to relax by doing the opposite: not explaining anything, not involving, perhaps learning. And if there was something to explain I was willing to do so only with absolutely motivated "students", truly hungry for knowledge.

The difference probably depends on the character: mine is founded on individuality, Piero's is based on society. But it could also depend, at least in part, on the fact that teaching a tricky subject like mathematics in a high school is more tiring than teaching a subject more joyful and surely engaging like physical education in a middle school ...

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