A British expat in Nice: sanremo

We went to Sanremo today for lunch - it's a sign of how close borders are in this part of the world that I can go to lunch somewhere, and that requires crossing 3 national borders each way... I've been there before and not a lot has changed - it's still a pleasant little town, with nice weather and the smell of the sea. (Monaco doesn't smell of sea, despite it being just over there - it's kind of weird...)

Anyway, this time we literally went just for lunch, so no photos of the old town (though you can find those in my last Sanremo post). But I do have a couple of photos to share, in case you're interested:

Sanremo:

Map in Sanremo bus station:

Houses and a river:

Restaurant we didn't eat at, but which was in a very pretty square:

View of the port from where we did eventually eat lunch:

The best bit about eating in Italy is the free Limoncello after lunch. (Note: probably not standard, don't rely on getting it, be lucky in your choice of restaurants...)

Sanremo has a big square just above the bus station. The best thing about it is this frog bin:

I still want to live here:

(This blogpost is largely in the interests of keeping me busy enough to ignore the child that's been screaming outside for the last few minutes solid. So if it looks a bit pointless, well, yes. You're right. But if you wanted deep insight and philosophical debate, I should tell you I think you might have come to the wrong place in any case...)

At the beginning of this week, we went to Sanremo in Italy for lunch. It's a little bit further along the coast from Ventimiglia, and so, so much nicer. Ventimiglia (Ventimille in French) is, frankly, ugly. Its sole redeeming feature is the Friday market, where you can buy clothes, shoes and handbags at less extortionate prices than the shops in Nice charge, but where you run the risk of having your handbag stolen. Swings and roundabouts...

Anyway, this is about Sanremo, which is much nicer. It's another town that people clearly actually live in, the sun was shining, and we had lunch by the port where a friendly waitress compensated for my dismal Italian by speaking good French. That close to the border, I suppose it's a useful skill!

We walked around the old town - one of the few places that I've seen where tourists are encouraged to go, but which looks actively dodgy. They have sort of done the old town up, and put tourist signs up in 3 languages explaining what we're looking at, but the area is still obviously a poor one. Still, a pretty town overall, and one I'd happily consider if we're still around here next August when we're evicted for our annual month of landlady's summer holidays.

Photos from the day...

Sanremo - every day is a special day. (Such relentless positivity is luckily not widespread.)

An extremely narrow building, even for round here!

A fountain in one of the courtyards by the old Palais de Justice (I think!)

Pretty streets in the old town:

Religious fresco, randomly dotted above a doorway in the old town:

Giant tree in a park at the bottom of the hill leading to the cathedral. Originally covered in more houses, they were destroyed in an earthquake (followed by a Genovese attack) in the 18th century, and no rebuilding was allowed because it was deemed an unsafe site. Replaced by this lovely park, beloved of the wife of the first King of Italy.