What is it about Italy that makes this Celtic-heritage redhead eager to spend precious travel time there?

Roll the romance language off your tongue. Buon giorno, buena sera, prego, grazie.… These words evoke timeless romance and let you be kind through your journey. 

Ravioli sage & butter

Maybe It’s the Italian Riviera Food

Is the attraction the light, melt-in-your-mouth, oh-so delicate pasta and elegant ravioli or tortellini? Perhaps it is the fresh salads and aromatic herbs tantalizing your tongue. Or the clarity of the wines and boldness of their satisfying flavors.

Pointing at a menu, you stumble out an American version of the name. Although you misinterpret the accent, the Italians nod in understanding.

Savor the length of time you’re given to eat your lunch or supper. 

Ladies on a Bench, Rapallo people, Italy

Could the Enchantment Come from Simple Italian Riviera Togetherness

Maybe it is the bright smiles from a wide age range of locals?

You pull out a map and indicate the street you’re trying to find and a passerby helps you along. 

The curt American habit of asking an employee where the something is disappears as you wander through Italian stores. In Italy, people welcome you uttering a greeting that matches the time of day. You learn to respond in kind and venture out a polite, “English?” Only then do you move forward with your question. You are connected in a encounter with a person you may never see again. How vital that one-on-one moment is in this day of divisiveness.

At times locals can look overwhelmed and serious—likely wondering what the tourists are doing there. If you make eye contact and volunteer a smile, you’ll receive a broad grin in response. Isn’t it great that a universally known gesture is a smile?

Rapallo - sea side, Italian Riviera

Maybe it’s the Crystal Clear Riviera Views 

The coastline stretching from Genoa to La Spezia is gorgeous.

Italian Riviera lands captivate your vision and retain little pieces of your soul long after you leave. The fresh air from the Ligurian Sea fills your nose with crisp, salty aromas. Sea air brushes hints of the conjoining Tyrrhenian, and farther away, Mediterranean Seas against your skin.

Lady of Montallegro Cathedral, Italy

Italian Architecture is Enchanting

For this architecture-lover, the churches draw me in—every time, in every town.

I wander in awe, light a candle for those lost from me, sit and pray for friends facing struggles. Closing my eyes, I ponder the people who have worshiped here for hundreds of years.

Say Yes to Traveling the Italian Riviera

Italy—the food, the people, the age-old structures—is a complex country best enjoyed simply.

Observe people taking pleasure in life. They are living their daily routines with delight while, maybe, you have to be on holiday to do so. Marvel in the rigid trail you’re hiking could-have-been, built by Romans as they traversed the heavy woods.

This country, younger in its unification than America, is best taken in wholeheartedly. Embrace the Italian Riviera. Relax into the pace, and let the myriad parts of Italy seep into you. You’ll sense stress disappearing. Life becomes, experienced in the moment you’re living it. 

Italy entices you. Communication and community between people comes from seeing each other when the words between us differ. 

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Read: Delectable, Tantalizing Italian foods not to miss