Last Thursday, we decided to take a vacation from our vacation and drove to Alassio, a town on the Italian riviera. We spent a good amount of time on the autostrada, and there were tons of long long tunnels (some were 2 kilometers long). I started having a panic attack at one point and had to pull over and have j start driving. I hate the long tunnels, and I had drunk a little Coca Cola that morning, and I think the tiny bit of caffeine made me panicky.
Once we made it to Alassio, finding the hotel was difficult, and parking was pretty much non existent. Our google directions led us into a tiny, mostly pedestrian street, until we finally found the hotel. It was terrifying! I was so scared we would be arrested for driving on the wrong street! Unfortunately there was no evident place to park in front (or behind) the hotel, so we had to keep driving. As it turned out, it is actually legal to drive on that street, and it is possible to park briefly in front of the hotel. Who knew! J finally found a tiny parking lot in a sketchy part of town, and we just parked and left our luggage in the car. I was terrified we would return to find it stolen, but it ended up ok. We found a place to eat, at La Prua, which was amazing. They gave us a little amuse bouche, and then when we didn't order dessert, they still gave us each 3 bites of different desserts. Very classy, and great seafood. After lunch, we walked back to the car for the luggage. We let the kids play at this little park for a bit before walking to the hotel. The walking took forever, and the kids were complaining the whole way. S has been perfecting her whining and tantrum throwing on this trip.
Z at the park. It was really hot in the sun!
Finally, we made it. Here is s waiting as we checked in.
Z was wiped out.
We took the luggage up to the room, and then we split up. I took the kids to get gelato, and j went to find a more long term parking solution. When j returned, we got dressed for the beach. The hotel lent us beach towels, and negotiated two chairs and one umbrella on the beach (15 euro for the afternoon- normally it is 26 euro for the whole day). The kids had a lot of fun, and z especially enjoyed jumping waves and swimming in the sea with j. S & I played, but she had a healthy fear of the waves. They knocked her down a bit, so she didn't go very far in.
The kids dug a pit with a channel to the water.
Z wrote their names in the sand. The s was a bit off...
Our beach spot was to the right of the boardwalk. This is the view from our hotel room, Hotel Liguria. We had a little veranda which looked out over the boardwalk.
The boardwalk.
Z has done his best to scowl for every picture this vacation.
S is behaving. The kids both had the cutest cutlery (you can see the fork in this picture). It all stuck together, and you could stand it up on end. They looked like people. Very cute.
After dinner we explored the boardwalk. Kids + j.
Silly picture.
Z took this picture of us.
Our hotel is on the left edge of this picture.
Other side of the boardwalk.
After dinner, we walked through the streets. There are tons of shops, and they were all open well into 10pm. Hordes of people were strolling around, and there were street performers. The weather was pleasant with the sun set. We had a decent night's sleep, despite all being in the same room. The kids shared a pullout bed.
A fancy breakfast was included in the night's stay, so we atr as late as possible before checking out. The hotel allowed us to leave our luggage, and so we did a little shopping. I finally found three pairs of shoes, all at the same place. Prices were much cheaper than the few pairs I tried on at the Seravalle outlets. After shopping, we got the luggage and stopped to let the kids play before heading to the car to drive home.
Kids playing. This park was called the Charles Chaplin park.
It had several play structures with barricades. Kind of sad looking.
The drive home was uneventful. It was a fun getaway.
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