Petit Sejour a Ventimiglia et San Remo, Italie

This weekend, Nick, Sarah and I went to Ventimiglia, Italy. We arrived on Saturday morning at our hotel, Sole Mare, where we met up with Gary, Fiona and Ellie Katzler who'd arrived the night before. The 6 of us squeezed into our Peugeot for the 18km drive east to San Remo. It was market day in San Remo and we were headed there to check out their big Italian market. We didn't realize how big a city San Remo is until we were actually driving through it. With a population nearing 60,000, this was no sleeping, coastal Italian village! There was quite a bit of traffic on the main road and we kept stopping along the way to ask pedestrians directions to the market. Finally, Nick spoke to a friendly, Italian gentleman who basically said "You're close, just park the car and walk up the hill, you'll find it". So we followed his advice and sure enough, his theory was right on. Here are some shots walking through the town to the market...










We've decided every town in Europe has a mime...





At this time of year, it's mimosa time all along the Mediterranean Coast. By the highways, in the hills and in the towns the willowy trees are in full bloom painting everything a brilliant yellow. The flower markets are full of boughs of the yellow flowers as well as many other spring flowers...



The cyclamen and primroses were gorgeous...







As it turned out, we weren't all that impressed with the San Remo market. Having quite a nice one in Aix may have spoiled us, but we felt the quality of most of the wares being offered for sale was low and the presence of many North African men selling fake designer handbags, watches and sunglasses was also a real turn off.

Not being much of a shopper anyway, it wasn't long before Nick was wondering if it was time for lunch...



He got no resistance from our crew and we walked back through the town to the waterfront and found a nice outdoor cafe, Lella's Place, where we enjoyed a yummy, relaxing lunch. Nothing like parma ham wrapped around melon, gnocchi with pesto, spaghetti alla fruite de mare, fried calamari, grilled gambas, insalata mixte and a pichet de rose to cheer up a group!



After lunch, we went for a stroll on the jetty alongside the harbor. Sarah and Ellie really enjoyed climbing on the rocks...





Back in Ventimiglia, we all took a little siesta before going out for a walk. Our cheap and cheerful hotel was located right on the beach...






A five minute walk brought us to the bridge that crosses over the Roia River to the main part of town...




We had dinner at a wonderful, family-owned and run restaurant, La Vecchia Napoli, located right at the bridge. The Katlers had eaten there the night before and liked the food and the atmosphere so much they wanted to repeat the experience with us. We were not disappointed! The owner, Senor Frederico, was the most animated, jovial restaurant owner we've ever experienced. He clearly loved everything about his job; especially mingling with the customers!




Tomorrow's destination is La Fete du Citron in Menton, France en route to visit some friends in Nice. Arrivederci!!



More info:
Hotel Sole Mare, http://www.hotelsolemare.it/
La Vecchia Napoli, Vico Passerella, 2 Ang. Via Trossarelli, 18039 Ventimiglia, Italy 0184/352471