Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
recipe for its “rosolio drops.” Those are the rose oils in which Catherine de Medici
is said to have bathed. Mixed with lemon, peach, anise, lime, and orange, they
make a sublime combination.
A SIDE TRIP FROM GENOA
The coastline that stretches west of Genoa, known as the Riviera di Ponente, must
once have been a paradise. Large bays backed by lush vegetation and shimmering
mountains create ideal conditions. But as is so often the case, its beauty has been
marred by the crush to exploit its charms, from a lengthy sprawl of seaside resorts
and ugly apartment blocks swamping the medieval centers to the acres of plastic
tunneling that produce the cut flowers of the Riviera dei Fiori. It has little to rec-
ommend it to the time-pressed traveler, with the exception perhaps of
San Remo,
a 4- to 5-hour train trip from Genoa.
This grand old resort town took shape in the 1860s, when a Piemontese,
Pietro Bogge, built the first Grand Hotel des Londres (still operational). A decade
later, the ailing Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna arrived, fleeing the humili-
ation of her husband's infidelity. She proceeded to find solace in her brief sojourn
here and brought along the origins of a sizable Russian community. The spires of
its Russian Orthodox church are now as much a part of San Remo's character as its
Art Nouveau casino, built in 1905. After Maria Alexandrovna's departure, San
Remo's exotic glamour was sustained by an interesting array of entrepreneurs,
artists, and aristocrats (including the composer Tchaikovsky and Swedish scientist
Nobel), and 190 villas and 25 hotels were built between 1874 and 1906 to
accommodate them.
Nowadays the town has no real identity beyond tourism, so the experience is
a little hollow, not least because a few town-planning catastrophes have all but
ruined her once beautiful visage. Besides trying your luck at the pretty
casino
(
%
0184-534001;
men must wear jacket and tie),
there isn't that much to see or
do in town itself, so your hotel choice is rather crucial here.
€€
Among a number of hotels along the Corso dell'Imperatrice,
Lolli Palace
(
%
0184-531496; www.tourism.it)
currently offers the best value. Doubles range
from
€
78 to
€
140.
Among the upscale choices, the grand
Royal Hotel
(Corso dell'Imperatrice,
80;
%
0184-5391; www.royalhotelsanremo.com)
is pricey at
€
220 to
€
400 (check
the Internet for deals), but still a relatively good value given its high standards,
grand rooms, and old-fashioned luxury.
I'd opt to base myself in nearby
Dolceaqua,
an inland medieval village that is
one of Italy's most beautiful towns (Monet was inspired to paint it) and where the
Rossesse, Liguria's best red wine, is produced. Dolceaqua is gorgeous and feels rel-
atively undiscovered, yet has a sophisticated
tourism office
(www.dolceaqua.it),
excellent wine-tasting venues, and a number of charming, inexpensive B&Bs.
€€
The pick of the B&Bs are
Dei Doria
(Via Barberis Colombo, 40/44;
%
0184-
206343; www.deidoria.it;
€
80-
€
85 double),
with great views; the classy
Talking
Stones
(Via San Bernardo, 5;
%
0184-206393),
with three en suite rooms for
€
€€€€
60; and quaint
Raimondo
(Via San Bernardo, 17;
%
0184-206110; raimondo
yvonne@libero.it;
€
60 double).
