June 23
It was 50 degrees but not raining when I walked to the bus stop at 6:15 this morning. The bus to Aosta was on time and I spent the remainder of the day taking the four trains to arrive at San Remo by late afternoon. Everything went smoothly, and as I got closer to the seashore, I was smiling.
It was a short taxi ride to Hotel Paradiso, and when I arrived, my friend Tammy was there to greet me. We had become friends when we took Italian lessons together in Florida. It was wonderful to have a friend with me to share the last part of my travels here. Tammy has been to Italy many times, and she is traveling to various European locations this time.
We set out to explore the old town and found the historic 1913 Russian Orthodox church here. It was unique because there was music playing inside, as well as a crypt to explore that had the remains of Montenegro royalty who had lived here. Perhaps this is one reason there are many Russian tourists here, and in fact some of the restaurants have menus that include the Russian language. We also passed the popular casino, but did not go inside.
We browsed through the shopping areas and an outdoor shopping market, also stopping in to see several churches.
We found our way to the high point of the centro, Piazza San Costanza, where we had views of the city and saw some very old trees that Tammy thought were fig trees.
We met a local Italian woman who proudly told us that she was 80 years old, and she looked very fit as she lugged a bag up the steep steps to her small home.
The centro was very cool and again I am aware of how difficult the lifestyle is for those living in these homes on these steep staircases.
We browsed around some more, and found our way back to the seaside. By this time we were both hungry and we found an outdoor trattoria that looked busy and I heard Italian spoken so we decided to try it. Ristorante/Pizzeria Napul’è was perfect and the food and wine were great. I had pasta although I was tempted to try the veal milanese. Since I could not understand exactly how it was prepared I decided against it, but Tammy ordered it and then I wished I had. We may have to return here!
We walked back to the hotel along the walkway that borders the ocean and it was so pleasant and the perfect temperature. There did not seem to be any humidity with breeze off the water. I am loving this.
Anonymous
I just adore the wide seaside promenades that one finds in most cities, in Liguria. Each town has such intricate, hand laid marble in various colors and shades that are used to form intricate patterns or mosaics. The simple basket inlaid pattern captured in your photo of San Remo’s walkway, is beautiful in its multicolored marble hues. The same can be said about the sidewalks under the porticoes that traverse the historic centers; one never gets wet!
imarancher.
Beautiful pictures. I am stuck on wondering who painted the road. Very nice touch to a promenade. I assume no cars are allowed but the road is fairly dirty so they might be traveled by delivery equipment. Or just well traveled by humans? What American would so decorate a road?
Living in a flat state has made me totally unprepared for uneven ground. When I was in NYC (in the 60’s), I had the hardest time figuring out how to get into the building I stayed at due to the ice on the ground. No way I could climb up the hill so I just rode the bus past the stop and utilized gravity to land me on the doorstep by grabbing the rail as I slid past and throwing myself over it onto the doorstep. If not for gravity I would have had to find a much flatter area residence. LOL I am just not designed to haul uphill over ice. Nope, I will leave it to you and your Italian friends to do the hard work. I like the sand in my shoes. Flat shoes.