San Remo

Today we arrived in the small Italian seaside town of San Remo where we had arranged to meet Nonno Gabrielle and Nonna Anna for the first time on our trip. Upon arrival we met up with Nonno and Nonna who were both in tears and our second cousin Andrea. 

After arriving we went to pick up our hire car which to our luck turned out to be an Audi A4 Wagon, similar to Zia Connies car (which she should’ve kept ;) ha ha ha ). Now it was Bruno’s time to step up to the challenge and drive for the first time all holiday and take us to our hotel! To be honest we made sure all the insurance was set up, as we knew we were set up for failure; however this would be far from the truth. Turns out dad drives better in small Italian roads than in Australia! His need to suddenly slam on the brakes and accelerate dramatically were the norm in Italy and therefore his bad driving habits he displays in  Australia had been masked!

On our way to our hotel it was clear San Remo was a special place, and unlike another we had previously seen. The place promoted a seaside atmosphere even though it was not summer. Palm trees scattered the town, coupled with brightly painted dwellings, shops and villas, blue skys and a comfortable temperature of 11 degrees. We all immediately fell in love with the town as it felt like an Italian Surfers Paradise, minus the gangs and shootings . 

Upon arrival at our hotel we were greeted by the owners who were very welcoming and told us we could pick all the fruit we want from the many lemon and orange trees scattered around the large villa. This was unusual for us as this was the first time all holiday we had stayed in smaller style hotel with a more personal touch.  Our room was great, and we looked right out over the town and onto the endless blue waters which was breathtaking. 

After admiring the view Nonno took us to meet his sister Rosina in the small town of Poggio a ten minute drive from San Remo. His sister was exactly like the Rosina we all know back home and even though this was our first time meeting her, we all felt like we had known her forever! She showed us around her little villa which even though was quite small, still had two kitchens! We then had afternoon tea with her, where we all tried her famous homemade apple pie which was delicious!

After visiting Zia Rosina we met up with our cousins for an 8 course Abruzzo Dinner! The food was amazing and like Zia Rosina they made me, Vince and Nick feel like we had known them for years. After dinner we played Fifa with our cousins Allesandro and Valentino in their man cave. This was literally an underground cave with rock walls ! We all enjoyed the night. 

The following day Nonno had organised a lunch with all the family at a restaurant situated in the hills of Abruzzo! This was yet another huge meal consisting of around 10 courses of typical Abruzzo delicacies including wild boar and sausage pasta. The day was great and we got to meet all of our cousins who were very nice. Nonno also showed us around the place he grew up, picked up girls and worked which was very interesting. Later on at night our cousin Andrea and his family took us to Monte Carlo for dinner . Unfortunately it was Sunday night and wasn’t the Monte Carlo you see in all the movies. We all thought Monte Carlo was like a rich San Remo with large buildings, Ferraris and massive yachts!

The following day was to be our last in San Remo. We slept in and made our way to Zia Rosina’s for lunch were we all enjoyed her homemade pasta, wine as well as baked chicken and potatoes! After lunch she showed us many photos from the generations of Reggis which we all enjoyed. It was then time to say our final goodbye which was quite sad as we knew it could possibly be the last time we saw her. 

That night we were invited to dads cousins for pizza on his wood fried oven. The dinner was very rushed as dads cousin  and his wife were expecting a grandchild to be born at any minute although much against our will wanted us to be there as this was the last chance for them to be with us. Sure enough they received the good news while we were there! 

Gabriel