SWIFTS are swirling overhead as, catching my breath in the Italian heat, I reach the sanctuary of Madonna della Costa, high on a hill above Sanremo, having navigated a hotch-potch of steep lanes.
My climb is rewarded with sweeping views across the town and of the shimmering Mediterranean beyond. Just an hour and a half by train from Nice, the year-round mild climate here has, since the 1800s, made this made this a popular destination for those seeking sun, sea and exceptional Ligurian cuisine.
‘La Pigna’ is the historic heart of this Italian Riviera resort, its name coming from the concentric arrangement of streets, resembling the scales of a pine cone.
Originally built to keep the locals safe and trap any invading pirates, intruders losing their way would soon find their route blocked inside its labyrinth of lanes.
Six-storey colourful facades are connected by supporting mid-air stone arches, so the whole structure doesn’t just come tumbling down. It was built between the 14th and 17th centuries to cope with an expanding population wanting to live within the heavily defended city walls. It’s like exploring a medieval New York, and my neck aches from looking up to marvel at the ingenuity of it all.
Just a short stroll away lies Via Giacomo Matteotti, Sanremo’s lively pedestrian boulevard – the heart of everyday life here. This is the main shopping street, and it’s also home to the Ariston Theatre, which has hosted an annual Song Festival in February since 1977 (if you’re a Eurovision fan, this could be the time to go, as the winning song becomes Italy’s next entry). I step inside the historic ‘Daphne’ boutique, a Pandora’s box of floral silk scarves and botanical perfumes, famously favoured by Grace Kelly. Inquiring about price is clearly not the thing to do here.
A few streets on, I happen across a delightful square where the town’s market is in full swing and the locals are haggling over everything from antiques and leather handbags to freshly caught squid.
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La Pigna. Photo – Kay Frances
Choosing a café in front of the action, I order an espresso (having learned it’s a crime in Italy to have a cappuccino after breakfast) and try to blend in, though my shorts are giving my tourist identity away.
Watching the locals still wrapped up in their winter coats and mohair jumpers, I apply another layer of factor 50.
In Nice, where I landed a few days earlier, I blended in with the hordes of visitors; here, I’m standing out like a sore thumb – but in a good way. “The Ligurians dress for the seasons”, a friendly local tells me, not for the weather!”
I’ve come to Sanremo for a spring break to experience a taste of luxury on the Italian Riviera at the recently renovated 5-star Europa Palace Hotel – my stylish room has a balcony overlooking the Med. The building is one of Sanremo’s Belle Epoque luxury hotels from the 1800s.
Now with its contemporary spa and obligatory rooftop bar, the hotel is maxing out on its prime seafront location. The 30 million Euro renovation by the Lagorio family has kept the historic facades intact and is seen as one part of what is known as a Sanremo modern renaissance.
Now famous for its music festival and bustling flower market, the biggest in Italy, and known as ‘La Citta dei Fiori” – city of flowers – Sanremo was once the playground of the English aristocracy, Russian nobility, travelling artists, and stars of stage and screen. The city still boasts its iconic Belle Époque architecture and is now in the midst of a tourism revival, especially popular with the French who can hop over the border using the punctual (and very affordable) coastal rail line. But apart from the sea, sand, and history, it’s descriptions of the Ligurian cuisine that have lured me to this stretch of coastline.
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La Pigna. Photo – Kay Frances
After my 6pm aperitivo on the hotel’s panoramic rooftop terrace (think contemporary architecture, modern furniture and an age-old olive tree), I join friends in the Rêve Bistrot. Entertained by local jazz musicians we challenge ourselves to whittle down our antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni, and dolce to just three courses. Chef Alessandro Schiavon’s menu choice is cruelly seductive, but the wine selection made easier by our charming sommelier (who, incidentally, also imparted the crash course on which coffee to order and when). A fresh white Vermentino gets my taste buds tingling, ready for the main event. Can I manage four courses I ponder?
I plump for cuttlefish and baby octopus stew, with panissa (a delicious Ligurian fried appetiser made with chickpea flour) and Swiss chard cream, skipping the first course to leave room for the main – fried calamari and prawns with seaweed and garlic mayonnaise – before moving my belt a notch to enjoy a decadent red wine pear ‘stroscia’ cake with zabaglione (a decadent regional variation on this classic Italian pudding made with whipped custard and sweet Moscato wine). Sleep comes easily as I drift off dreaming of the next day’s menu.
As well as being perfectly placed along the train line between France and Italy, there’s a scattering of pretty towns and villages to visit in the surrounding hills. Curious to see Monet’s bridge, which he painted after declaring it to be “a jewel of lightness”, we head to the small medieval village of Dolceacqua.
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Colourful square in Sanremo. Photo by Kay Frances
Hanging onto the heels of our local guide to avoid getting lost in its maze of medieval streets, and stopping by artisan makers of organic wines, soaps and perfumes, we reach the 12th-century castle and its keep, just as church bells ring out across the lush Nervia valley below.
Back at the winding seafront in Sanremo, there’s just time to build up an appetite for dinner. Taking bicycles from the hotel, we ride along the palm fringed coastline, a dedicated cycle route offering 33km of easy riding, passing beaches and pretty seaside villages. Lying directly in front of the Europa Palace Hotel, this promenade dates to the 19th century and owes its name to Maria Alexandrovna Romanova, wife of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The story goes that during her stay in Sanremo in 1874, she was so captivated that she financed the planting of Washingtonia palms along the promenade and, in gratitude, Sanremo dedicated this stretch of coastline to the Empress.
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Sanremo beach. Image – Kay Frances
After an afternoon’s cycling, a cinnamon and ginger body scrub in the hotel’s ‘Anemoi’ spa is the perfect tonic for any aching legs. Blissfully calm, it offers a Finnish sauna, a spacious Hamman, a generous indoor pool with waterfalls and underwater jets, plus an ice waterfall for the brave and a fully equipped gym. The tempting selection of spa treatments and scents; orange blossom, cedarwood and lemon and petitgrain, makes choosing a massage essential oil almost as tricky as choosing dinner (but not quite).
As if on cue, as aperitivo hour approaches, the spa quietly empties and we squeeze in a pre-dinner Aperol spritz on the rooftop terrace, whilst soaking up the last rays of sunshine. The deep blue Mediterranean stretches out before us, and the town’s Art deco casino begins to sparkle below. As the sun slips below the horizon, I return to the happy torture of choosing my next dish. Grilled octopus with Jerusalem artichokes instead of the rabbit, perhaps? A delicious Ligurian dilemma.
Europa Palace Hotel, Sanremo – www.europapalacesanremo.com
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