I had a great time with my family and friends from Tennessee this past weekend. It was so nice to see some familiar faces and quite funny to watch them interact with the Italian culture here. I had almost forgotten how much my mom makes me laugh with her Southern phrases, accent, and charm. I love it!

Of course, the main thing that we did all weekend was eat. I mean, it's Italy! I had to make sure that they tasted all the typical dishes. Saturday (as would be our luck) just happened to be the rainiest and worst weather I think this beach has ever seen. It rained hard almost all day and night, but my parents were not discouraged. It was like a ghost town here because Italians hate bad weather. I think my parents must be used to lots of rain because it didn't phase them at all. We toured several cities along the Ligurian coast that afternoon including Noli, Varigotti, and Borgio Verezzi. Every time it started to downpour we would duck into the closest bar for a cappuccino, focaccia farcita, or crepe.

Noli is a beautifully preserved fishing village next to Spotorno. And like all villages throughout Italy, there is an old castle/fortress at the top of the hill with 12th century walls that once protected the entire town. So what did my parents want to do?? Hike up to the top of the castle, of course. Luckily during this part of the day it had briefly stopped raining, though all of the brush was still soaking wet. By the looks of things, this 'trail' hadn't been walked on in a few years. It was completely overgrown with brush, cacti, weeds, and lots of creepy crawlies along the path (luckily they weren't big enough to be squishy). Upon arrival at the top we were absolutely soaked and filthy with a few minor flesh wounds, but we had accomplished our goal. The castle remains are not really tourable, but it was still cool to see with gorgeous views of the coastline. On clear days from here you can see all the way to the Cinque Terre.


Varigotti is the next town over and though they are all very close each town has its own unique character. This was a gorgeous yet tiny little town with the feeling of a high class beach resort. It had a beautiful rocky pier out into the sea and plenty of sandy beaches running along the coast right behind a pink row of 'old town' shops and bars.  Borgio was also a lovely town worth mentioning with a cool old city set up on a hillside, but by this point we were soaked and quite tired so we only stayed long enough for a gelato. My favorite part here was the beautiful gardens along the hills growing everything you can imagine to eat. I love how fresh the food is here.

By Sunday the sun was back out along with all of the visitors geared up for the beach. However, being with my mom and Peggy we spent our morning shopping the market. We did make it to the beach with enough time for them to see Sara and the little kiddos playing in the water. My parents were so excited to meet the children! For lunch, Luca and Sara treated my family and friends to an all-out Italian feast. We had several courses including homemade salami (one of those foods that I usually don't like at home, but this stuff was delicious), homemade bruschetta, pasta with fresh clams and herbs, steamed white fish with potatoes, chocolate and pear torta, and gelato. And you can't have an Italian feast like this without wine. Since Sara's father (the winemaker) was also in town at the time, we had about 4 or 5 different bottles to try...white wine, sparkline wine, several reds, and a very rare dessert wine that is no longer in production. Luca also broke out shots of his special Dutch bourbon just for the occasion. It was all quite amusing considering neither my family nor their friends actually drink, but I had forgotten to mention this to Luca. As polite Southerners not wanting to offend Italian tradition, they partook.

Sunday night we took a trip over to the town of Albisola to check out their famous ceramics and pottery. There were very interesting displays of art throughout the town and ceramic designs covering the sidewalks. It was also one of the prettiest beaches I've seen around here if you can get past the fact that your view is of the surrounding factories. Next we ventured to Varazze to walk along the marina at sunset. This was a truly romantic setting so I will have to find someone to take me back sometime for dinner there at the harbor. ;) Gorgeous.

Sunday was a very big holiday here in Italy...Ferragosto. Because of this I expected there to be much more going on, but this didn't seem to be the case in Varazze. It just meant that all the shops were closed and everyone was eating out that night. We asked what the day celebrates, but no one really knows. Apparently that part of the tradition was lost somewhere so now it is just a big party day for people to take off and go to the beach. Italians find reasons to celebrate anything.

Now I'm back in Spotorno getting geared up for another adventure with the folks this weekend, only this time the setting is Switzerland. With this crowd there's bound to be some funny stories to come!