Sentiero degli Dei is translated ‘Walk of the Gods’ and I have read a few suggestions as to why. The most mystical being that it is the path the Greek gods took to save Ulysses from the sirens. More realistic, but far more dull, is that it was so called because of the numerous Roman temples scattered across the slopes. Either way, the names is deserved on the basis of the stunning scenery viewed from such great heights. At times my head span at the height we were at and the sheer drops to the sea with nothing to stop me from going over the edge other than my own sensibility.
You can join the path at various points along it by climbing the seemingly endless stairs from one of the towns at the bottom. Or you can cheat and get a bus. Once you reach the path it is not long before you are rewarded with incredible vistas of the Mediterranean below as well as lemon groves and tiny villages that make you think of what life could have been like had you been born in a simpler time and place.
by Simon Joshua Peel
2014
