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Parchi di Nervi–Liguria

CATCH THE SPIRIT OF GUTSY, GORGEOUS Anita Garibaldi as you walk along the seaside path named in her honor. Waves crash against rugged cliffs, as you look out to stunning views of Portofino and the Cinque Terre. Flanking the other side of the Anita Garibaldi Path are three villa lawns that comprise the Parchi di Nervi. They are shaded by palm trees and pines, filled with exotic plants and Mediterranean flowers.

The Genoa elite used to come here to escape the summer heat, but now it’s the place to blend with the regular folk. Couples stroll arm in arm, kids run for the trees with bags of nuts to feed the squirrels.

The dramatic seascape and exotic nature of the gardens express the essence of Anita Garibaldi. She was Italy’s wonder-woman who fought alongside her husband Giuseppe in the nineteenth-century revolution that culminated in giving them the titles “Father and Mother of Modern Italy.”

I first encountered Anita on Rome’s Janiculum Hill, where there’s a statue of her brandishing a pistol as she rides a wild mustang, with a baby tucked under her other arm.

Anita’s life story is the stuff of a blockbuster movie. She was born in Brazil and learned horsemanship from her father, who died when she was twelve. At fourteen, she was married off to a local older man, Signor Aguiar, aka “the drunken shoemaker.”

While her husband was off at war, who should appear, but Giuseppe Garibaldi, sailing in from Italy with a passion to help Brazil fight for its independence. The moment Giuseppe set eyes on dark-haired Anita with her extraordinary almond-shaped eyes, he walked straight up to her and said, “Maiden, thou shalt be mine.” Even though she was still married, Anita took off to fight by Giuseppe’s side in Brazil and Uruguay, firing cannons, teaching him gaucho guerilla warfare, and giving birth to their first son in the midst of all that. They married two years later, after Anita’s first husband died.

In 1848, with four children in tow (between the ages of eight and two!), Anita and Giuseppe left South America to go to Italy and join the fight for unification. A year later, Anita died in Giuseppe’s arms after a battle near Ravenna. She was twenty-eight and pregnant with their fifth child.

Giuseppe kept Anita’s memory alive. When he rode in victory to the crowning of Emmanuel II as the first king of a united Italy, he wore a Brazilian poncho. And around his neck, Anita’s striped scarf.

The Anita Garibaldi Passeggiata was created by Marchese Gaetano Gropallo in 1862, just two years after Italy’s unification. It used to be a rustic path used by fisherman, but the Marchese fancied it up with lampposts and paving, so now it’s an extended terrace to not only Gropallo’s gardens, but also his neighbors, the Grimaldis and the Serras. The Villa Grimaldi rose garden is the most famous of the three and especially beautiful in spring. All are now owned by the state, house museums, and the grounds are used for outdoor ballets and theater in July.

Parco Villa Grimaldi, Via Capolungo 9, 8-dusk. www.parchidinervi.it

Golden Day: Take a train (fifteen minutes) from Genoa to Nervi, and enjoy a leisurely stroll along the path and gardens. If it’s beach season, go to Bagni Medusa Genova (Passeggiata Anita Garibaldi 27/A, 010 3728113, www.bagnimedusagenova.it) for delicious seafood or cocktail, or if you’re there in cooler weather, nearby is a great pizzeria, Halloween (Via Caboto Giovanni 16/r, 010 3726154, www.pizzeriahalloween.net), which also serves traditional Genovese focaccia, with a seaside view.