Happy Birthday Chris!
This morning, we took the train 2 stops NE to Sanremo and spent the day walking around the city. We left the station, walked down to the beach, then along the shoreline about 3km then back. It was pretty hot in the sun.
We stopped for lunch at 2:30pm (almost all restaurants close at 3pm) and had a pizza and salad and 1.5 liters of water. We were famished and it was a good stop. Our waitress was a nice woman with a bright personality. As we were leaving, she was getting on a MV Agusta Brutale(!) Crazy bike to be ridden by a middle aged woman. Italian women are really different to Americans.
From there, we hiked up into the city and discovered the real heart of Sanremo. The tiny alleyways and interesting "streets". On the way, we ran into a Norweigian man and his wife on a Honda Sh150i. He asked where we were from and we ended up talking to him for 20 minutes.
It was now too late to make the 4:30pm train, so we had some more time to spend. We walked slowly back down to the beach and found a shady spot to sit for a while. Then back to the station and onto the 5:27pm train back to Ventimiglia.
On the way back from Ventimiglia station, we visited a coffee machines shop and bought parts to make a moka pot: the funnel, filter screen, gaskets, and a pressure relief valve. The shopkeeper and her brother were a little puzzled by what I wanted the parts for, but eventually we explained. I'll send her a picture when I've finished making it. My goal is to make a "chicken pot" like the one I saw at the Lavatasa museum in Torino.
At 7:30 we went to dinner at Pasta e Basta (Pasta and Enough). The pasta and sauces were everything Alec and Linda claimed. Fantastic dinner. We had a nice chat with the restaurant chef, then walked around a bit to burn off a little of the dinner.
Chris had a flurry of birthday well wishes while we were at dinner. Also, we learned that Chris and Daniiel Ansa's (Cash Pixels) mom back in Accra share a birthday. She also turned 65 today. Cool!