We had a free night on hotels.com from our previous stays and decided to have a weekend getaway.
San Remo was on our list of places to visit but it was sort of too close to us. Whenever we decided to go somewhere we wanted to venture further. After living here for 4 years it was finally time to check out the other side of the border.
It is just a 1,5 hour drive from us. I think we are lucky because Pixie tolerates car rides. Sometimes she plays with the toys we brought along or looks out the window, sometimes it is like she would freeze and just concentrates so deeply, but who knows what she is thinking about.
We booked a night in a small hotel in the center. Note to myself, check the size of the room better. We had to rearrange the furniture a bit to put down the travel bed. I doubt a normal size travel cot would fit in the room. Otherwise it is a very nice hotel, close to the center, very nice staff and the breakfast was perfect including some savoury options as well. Don’t forget, the typical Italian breakfast contains a few cakes and coffee, a yoghurt if you are lucky. I’m always glad if they offer ham and cheese as well.
After checking in we went straight to the center. Walked around the main streets but we prefer the old town so choose a small enough street and climbed a little hill. It gave us a nice overview to the city and we could see where are the areas we wanted to visit next.
Headed down we spotted the market and who could say no to some fresh focaccia and pizza. We sat down at a charming little square and ate our lunch. Pixie usually likes this type of food, it was a nice coincidence we stumbled upon the market.
But an Italian lunch cannot be complete without some desserts, we opted for ice cream and headed towards a previously chosen place. My husband checked out tripadvisor prior the trip and he knew where we should go. It didn’t disappoint.
Pixie was covered in chocolate she preferred my dark chocolate ice cream and refused to tase the other flavours. The place is called Lua and the big portion is truly big, we were so full by the end. It felt good to continue our walk.
As we walk up to an other hill we spotted a playground. Pixie became so happy when she realized what was coming. Pixie time! She had so much fun trying out the new place. And she loved the slide! We quickly changed her nappy in the park and we were ready to continue our sightseeing. You don’t really have to look for a proper place to change a nappy. A bench is as perfect as a baby changing room in a restaurant. (Given if you are lucky enough to find one)
We walked up to the sanctuary on top of the hill, the views down to the port were amazing. Although the city has many hills it is hard to find a nice viewpoint looking down the port.
I enjoyed our walk in the old town, after spending some time in the little streets we stopped to fill up our water bottles and a very kind old local man told us to go with him to the corner because we could see the beach from there. Why not, it is just the corner… but he continued showing us the next nice street where he and other locals are planted the flowers, the last remaining bit of the original wall that surrounded the city, the old house where one of the Popes lived, an old broken door where we could peek in to a little private chapel, a cute little church where they have built a beautiful replica of the square with figurines, it is so detail ed they even put some little clothes to the driers. We felt so lucky to see all of these, the church is never open, the replica can be seen around xmas. Our unknown stranger showed us his hometown told us so many stories. If you are wondering the streets of the old town and see a kind man in a sweatsuit, having his daily walk, feel free to stop him and ask some questions.
But our day wasn’t finished. We visited a museum and found out the elephants and rhinoceros used to live here, saw a few nice exhibitions and all of this was for free thanks to the days of patrimony.
Since I had some newfound energy after I put Pixie on my back, we decided to visit the port, we had a nice stroll among the little ships. Make sure to go out to the little light house at the end of the pier, it gives you a beautiful view on the city.
To finish our day we searched for a takeaway pizza place and sat out on the terrace of our hotel and enjoyed our dinner. Pixie still had lot’s of energy and had fun running around while we were chasing her.