Allison's Wonderland

Thanks to La Befana, Jess and I were able to get off the mountain for a couple days. Her family lent her the Zom Mobile, as she calls it, and we drove down to Mondovi Friday morning to head for the seaside. I was able to go because Mattia's Nonne were in town and Simona graciously allowed me to go. We thought we'd get up early to catch the market, but half way down the mountain we realized its Friday and they only have the market on Saturdays. We felt like idiots. So instead of waiting in the sketchy train station we decided to get a brioche and coffee. SOO good. I got a cream brioche which was out of this world. We caught our 11:15 train and headed to Sestri Levante. During the year, Jess's family lives in this quaint little seaside town, and fortunately for us, they let us use their place to crash for the night. This was also my first time riding a European train. Actually any kind of train for that matter. I have ridden subways, but never a passenger train. It cost us 10.40 Euro each which wasn't too bad. You definitely couldn't drive on the Autostrada and pay gas for that cheap. We switched trains in Savona and from Savona onward we paralleled the coastline. It was absolutely beautiful. All of the colorful houses were on the left and then the Mediterranean on the right. I couldn't help but stare out the window. I put the theme song to “Chariots of Fire” on my iPod and felt like I was in a movie. It was pretty sweet.

We pulled into Sestri around 3:15 and headed straight for the bay. Of course before getting there we had to stop and get some Foccacia. If you don't know what Foccacia is, it's probably one of the best things you'll ever taste. Supposedly it started in Genova so we were right in its birth place. I got two pieces of it which were tomato and onion. YUM! Jess and I sat on the beach and ate to our hearts delight. Now this gets me to the bay. There are not enough words to describe this place. The colorful buildings, the picturesque water and the Italian lifestyle were all around. It was perfection. While we ate our little treat this random Italian man in his whitey tighties just starts swimming in the sea. Weird. After we finished, Jess and I walked up to the top of the hill and went in the courtyard of this church where we had the best view. It was breathtaking. I seriously felt like there could not be a more beautiful place on this earth. Then the wind started. In Prato Nevoso the wind has been absolutely terrible and I guess it followed Jess and I to Sestri Levante. It was blowing so hard and getting sand and dust in our eyes even with sunglasses on. We wanted to stay in the little bay area to see the sunset, but the wind just wasn't allowing it. So we started walking towards the house. We walked right next to the port though with the wind at our backs and were still able to see a pretty decent sunset.

After we high tailed it home it was time to think about food. So we walked down to this little Pizzeria where they had so many different kinds of pizza. What did I get you may ask? The usual...Margherita. It was so good, but I think I need to expand my pizza loving horizons. We ran all the way back home so our pizza wouldn't get cold. After our day of traveling, Pizza, the movie “Secret Life of Bees” and the show “Housewives of Beverly Hills”, it was a perfect ending to a most perfect day.