It seems silly now to repeat the refrain about how much I love Italy, but I can’t seem to help it. I really do… love Italy, that is.
I could find reasons not to love Italy, if I looked hard enough, In 2009, for example, our first visit to Tuscany resulted in a car accident when I got rear-ended by a teenager on a motorcycle. It took me 3 years to get reimbursed by Hertz for the accident. I really didn’t think I’d ever see the money again!
But, even so, to be back in Italy, to be sitting on a piazza, sipping wine or a cappacino, listening to the myriad languages being spoken, soaking up the warm Tuscan sun, is a treat that I have missed! Oh, and I’ll be driving again soon enough in Tuscany. I always was a glutton for punishment!
My wife, Lisa, who has a predelicition to spending hours looking for the best travel deals, found this wonderful hotel in Sestri Levante, a town that is outside of the very busy Cinque Terre, but still within easy access. It’s called the “Albergo Marina Hotel” or simply, “The Marina Hotel”. This is a smaller hotel, clean as a whistle, that gets a lot of its charm from the owners, Santo and his sister, Magda.
Santos is rather amazing! He not only manages the hotel with his sister (photos of his family, who have owned the hotel/restaurant for many years, are placed here and there), he is also the head chef! And what a chef he is! We’ve eaten at our hotel for two nights because the food is that good! Sadly, Lisa wants to eat elsewhere tomorrow night, just when Santo was going to cook octopus! I have been looking forward to a fresh octopus meal in Italy ever since we arrived! Oh well, I suspect there are many places in Italy to get fresh octopus. 🙂
We also discovered a wonderful hotel bar about 10-15 minutes from our hotel, down on the beach overlooking the Ligurian Sea.
I’ve written reviews for the hotel and restaurant bar. I always appreciate reading reviews (good or bad), so I try to pay it forward.
I thought I posted this already. I think that extra glass of chianti did me in last night!
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