Rapallo

The spirit of Hemingway still pervades the streets of Rapallo to this day. “Today I crossed the valley of the Gods”, he wrote in his diary in 1945. He was at the gates of what is still today the pearl of the Gulf of Tigullio. The special ‘Ernest’ envoy was amazed by the sea, the local festivals, the art and fine cuisine, everything which, today as it was then, will shape the memories you take away from a visit to Rapallo. Once under the control of the marquises of Este, the Fieshci family of Genoa and the Savoys, Rapallo remains a delight to be gradually discovered: the beach facilities, the two ports, the promenade around the picturesque castle looking out onto the sea, and the funicular railway that takes you up the hill towards Montallegro. It was here that the philosopher Friedrich Nietzche got his first flash of inspiration for his work “Thus spoke Zarathustra”. In the margin of the original manuscript, he wrote: “On that day I found myself by chance on that coast, in the autumn of 1886, when a revelation came to me on those streets, or more accurately, I was overwhelmed by him…” Nature and culture come together in symbiosis here, particularly on occasions such as the Literary Prize for “Female author of the year” or the international cartoonists’ exhibition. The town’s incomparable culinary tradition includes the mouth watering lasagna with pesto.