Hotel Villa Luisa

I've almost neglected this batch of photos taken from our hotel in Rapallo, called Hotel Villa Luisa, which worth a mention here.

Since the hotel doesn't have a family suit to offer to the 4 of us, they gave 2 individual rooms to us with no extra charges. Furthermore, the hotel provided free parking lot for us. How generous of the owner.

Although the rooms are not too big, they are very homely.

I love the furniture & decoration, very classic, very Italian feels.

Son's room was just next door. Both of our rooms are connected with an interior door.

Feel very homely.

The small pavement at our front door.

The owner is an Italian man about our age. He told us the hotel was actually started by his father and he is slowly taking over the hotel from his dad now.

I can see that he is a very hard working man. Whenever we were in the hotel, be it in the early morning & late evening, he was there to greet us. Also, he seems to involve intensively in the hotel's daily chores. He even mixed the coffee for us & boiled the hot water to fill in son's cup noddles etc.

I'm not saying Italian ppl are not hardworking, but we hardly see any Italian ppl works so hard and humble like he did. For this, I really respect him.

Although the hotel is only rated as 3 stars (we heard that it's because of no internet connection & restaurant), the owner had provided a very pleasant accommodation which worth a lot more than this.

The open dining area is more than comfortable for us to sit there to take a long breakfast.

Other public area in the hotel is very lovely too, just like HOME. Too bad I didn't bring my camera along when I wandered in the hotel the other day.

They have also planted some orange trees in their front yard.

Some tables & chairs are put there casually for everyone's liking.

In summary, the hotel is simply a charming one. It got her own style, just like her owner.

Video - San Fruttuoso

San Fruttuoso

Every vacation will go to its end eventually, and San Fruttuoso is it.

Unlike the other coastal villages, we didn't get to see colorful houses along the shore. Instead, there is only an irony white abbey located in the bay, dominant the whole San Fruttuoso.

Abbey of San Fruttuoso of Capodimonte is a religious building. To me, the Abbey is no less beautiful than other colorful houses which we have seen all this time.

The other part of San Fruttuoso.

Somewhere near the abbey on the seabed is located the famous statue of Christ of the Deep, placed there in 1954. Husband think we would need to hire another boat to go there for a look. So, we didn't.

Near the abbey, there is a bathing beach, with a part of free access, a bathhouse, bars & food place for the tourists.

The abbey regularly hosts classical concerts and light music. Imagine a concert held in this place, so cool !

The rugged coastal line.

We disembarked the boat from this small pier.

It's a very beautiful beach down there.

The boys said they want to join the rest of the ppl to dip in the sea.

We have no idea how to go to the other side of the beach, if not by swimming? End up, we didn't bother to go there.

Before going down to the beach, we walked up the hill for a quick tour. 5 minutes later, we set foot at the front door of the abbey.

The abbey was dedicated to San Fruttuoso of Tarragona, bishop and saint of the Spanish, whose ashes are kept in the abbey.

Comparing to the heat waves out there, inside the church is so cool that I almost wanted to take a nap in here.

A big sea shell that was sold at a small hawker stall outside the church (cost around HK$ 120-140).

Actually, we have seen this shell for so many times and was so tempted to buy it, but didn't. Later, we found this shell in a shop in HK, sold at HK$ 40 only.

We followed the only path and walked up the hill a bit further....

There is nothing much to see around this place, just the backyard of the church.

One doesn't need an expert to tell how old the church is....the church was built in 13th century, more than 800 years ago.

Ok, we have walked to the opposite side already.

The abbey as view from its left side.

A touristy restaurant situated at the mid level, which has the only advantage to be in San Fruttuoso. We heard that the food quality is medium but the prices are really too high for what we can get. Well, I guess that's normal.

We by pass the restaurant and walked down to the beach side.

As soon as we have settled ourselves under a shade, William couldn't wait to take off his clothes and ran straight to the beach.

Looking at the glaring sun, I was really worried that he would get sun burnt. But he looks so happy out there, so we just let him be.

With the experiences he had had on the day before, he seem to enjoy swimming more this time. I guess he had slowly get use of the salty sea water.

Vincent is the same too. He dare to swim to the deeper part and seem enjoy it very much. Just that we need to keep 2 very close eyes on him as we saw no life guide around here.

While the boys were playing close to the shore, I free one of my eyes to sweep around the beach.

This handsome young man must have thought that I am a journalist or what? Haha...

Some were gambling under the big umbrella.

Some were sun bathing...

When I saw my boy sun bathing himself like this, I really laughed out.

20 minutes later, we made them get out from there. I checked their body carefully, and relieved to find no sign of burning. The only logic explanation I could think of is the cold sea-water had lower down the temperature fast, so they don't get burn.

On the ride back to Rapallo, William was so tired that he felt asleep on my lap.

We were by then, all so exhausted that we felt content to stop the trip just right here.

It's a wonderful family vacation, and I feel very lucky and grateful for having the chance to visit to all those lovely places. Also, thanks to hubby who had made this vacation a successful one.