Final days in Rapallo with my family!

The last few days in Rapallo were a whirlwind of final adventures in Liguria, eating everything, spending time with all our family and friends, and saying goodbye without crying too much.

The weather FINALLY gave us solid days of warm sunshine after weeks of cloudiness and daily showers. We took full advantage and enjoyed an excursion to Montallegro via Cable Car. My little cousin, Beatrice (Bay-ah-TREE-chay) was our guide and we had a ton of fun with her.

The cable-car took us over the green slopes of the mountain, giving us a ridiculously awesome view of the perfectly azure sea and all houses and seaside towns built into the mountains. Eyeball-exploding beauty for sure.

At the end of the ride we explored the top of the mountain, running around the paths cut into the forest with Beatrice and taking in the gorgeous vistas of everything below. We visited a centuries-old Basilica, had coffee in a courtyard of a cafe overlooking the edge of the mountain, pet a stray cat, and played games with Beatrice. Afterwards we built sandcastles on the beach and played tag until our sides ached.

On our last night, we had a big dinner out with my adult cousins and then we went back to my cousin Rocco's restaurant for drinks & dancing. Also, Ketch took his first ride ever on a scooter with our favorite new friend Ludo!

Saying goodby to the crew of little cousins was harder than I had anticipated. We spent a lot of time with them, playing videogames, foosball, going to the aquarium, having piggyback ride races, drawing pictures, and all sorts of fun stuff. We taught them words in English and they taught us new words in Italian, with lots of teasing on both ends.

One of their favorite games, that I made up, is called "Cugino Panino/Cugini Panini" which means cousin sandwich/es. This game pretty much consists of me being at the bottom of a pile of crazy little boys with Ketch on top of us all, while we all scream out which parts of the sandwich we are. (I like to be focaccia.) It usually just results in tickling, screaming, and perhaps a broken earring or two in my end.

It was so hard to leave my family and the endlessly beautiful Ligurian coast. I know I'll be back within a year or two, but it's still emotional to not be around people I love so much and that are so generous and fun.