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Our trip in general was great, but maybe the highlight was the week we spent in Sestri Levante, in Liguria (Italian Riviera). This is the place where I spent most of my summers growing up, so it still has a very special place in my heart. What made the trip even more special was that we got to spend lots of time as a family: nonni, Keegan, the cousins, Matt and I and on the weekends my sister and Sandro. To sat this was a rare event is the understatement of the century. (-:

We also got to stay at a beautiful hotel, Vis A Vis, perched on top of Sestri’s main promontory, giving us incredible views of both coves, Baia Del Silenzio and Baia Delle Favole. My parents are returning customers, as they spent many summers with my sister’s kids there.

this was the actual view from our room

We drove in nonno’s car, and made it in a couple of hours. The cousins arrived a little later: what a great surprise for Keegan, when he got up from his nap. Of course the first thing they all did was jumping in the pool, which was beautiful, nestled among olive trees and heated.

Keegan was fearless and spent most of the time jumping from the diving board…while we spent most of the following week trying to get him to lower the volume of his voice. It was fun watching him, though.

After we all got changed, we headed down for dinner, to have a belated birthday celebration for my dad. The hotel restaurant was great too, with an incredible view and great food. Keegan was really struggling through dinner, though: we had a very late start and between the excitement, the tiredness, and the restaurant environment it was hard to keep him in his seat. We did have a delicious dinner and even got a cake to celebrate the big day.

We finally made it through dinner, and went to bed. We were all pretty tired, so we crashed early. Keegan slept with us the first night, so we all needed as much sleep as possible.

The following days we started our routine: morning at the beach, afternoon at the pool. The beach is the same beach establishment I went as a child…it is always weird going back as an adult, and even weirder seeing some of the same people still there. One of these people was my first “boyfriend” when I was a toddler, Leo, now married with two kids. I did see a couple of other old friend, which was very nice.

Keegan adjusted immediately, even if the beach in Sestri is definitely different, and more crowded than here in San Diego.

We even convinced him to get in the water, and we all swam to the sunbathing platform, that Keegan (as all other kids) used as a diving board.

Keegan’s biggest love, though,was the hotel’s pool. Playing with his cousins Naraiana and Samuele was absolutely the best thing he could ever ask for. On some occasion, large floaties were in the pool to play.

Mom and dad loved the longing chairs!

After the weekend, my sister and her husband had to leave to go back to work, so Keegan moved in his cousin’s room, and OUR real vacation started. While we spent lots of time together, we also had much time alone. Yeah! Often time we stayed at the beach past lunch, swimming or just relaxing. It was also nice to sleep alone. After dinner, Matt and I often went for a walk up and down the boardwalk, “facevamo  le vasche”: it literally means: we were doing “bathtubs”, but it refers to going up and down the boardwalk, with no destination. This was just what I used to do as a teenager, walking up and down…before sitting on railings and checking out the other people walking. Of course our walk was not complete without some delicious gelato, which was incredible, no matter where we bought it from.

One morning, we rented a pedal boat, and pushed it away from shore and had fun jumping and diving. The slide was fun…too bad it was built for kids and I barely fit, but this not stopped me from trying.

Guess who is having the most fun?

One other morning, we went swimming in the calm, transparent water of the Baia Del Silenzio (Bay of Silence). Keegan was very brave and climbed on rocks, even if initially he was scared and there were sea urchins around.

I even had the chance to see an high school friend, who was coincidentally there over the weekend. We had a nice walk down memory lane, especially when her husband, also an high school friend, joined us one evening.

My parents also had some visitors: a couple they frequent often in Milano was vacationing in the next town, and came to visit. We all had a delicious lunch together.

It was great spending a week at the beach, like the old days: we could sleep in most days, swim in the sea, sunbathe, play in the pool, have relaxing dinners and romantic walks. In fact this was on the few real vacations I took with Matt. And what to say about the food? Beside the daily dose of focaccia bread, we started the day with a breakfast buffet on the outside patio of the hotel, which provided a beautiful and delicious spread. A daily, at least, gelato was helping us to cool off. Keegan loved the flower-shaped cones. And at night, we dined in the hotel restaurant, with huge windows overlooking the sea and sunset, and outstanding food.

Unfortunately, the week came to an end too quickly. My sister and her husband arrived to spend the last weekend together, and despite a quick storm on Saturday morning, we were able to enjoy the last few hours.

On the last afternoon, we engaged in a furious touch football water game, boys vs girls.

Even if we were clearly outnumbered, we held our own. We all felt like kids again…except the price we paid the following day:lots of aches and pains. Despite the pain, however, the boys kept their exercise routine.

As we were leaving the pool for the last time we took one last look (and some photos) at the wonderful view.

The last dinner was outside, on the covered patio, and the food buffet style; the theme: Mediterranean Cruise. It was fun: they had live music and we all enjoyed some weird dancing.

It was time to say goodbye, not only to Sestri, but also to Keegan’s cousins, who were headed to another vacation town. The kids scribbled their goodbyes on the wall of the hotel tunnel, moist with condensation, and among many tears, we left for Milano.

it reads: ciao Sestri, Keegan

The week flew by, but it left with us beautiful memories, that will keep us company in San Diego. Keegan fell in love with Sestri, even if I suspect he mainly fell in love with spending time with his cousins. It is wonderful to see them getting along so well, despite the large age difference. Spending so much time together also made Keegan more likely to be speaking in Italian, and his
language skills definitely improved.

So, arrivederci e a presto Sestri.

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