We are thrilled to share some exciting news! Relais San Damian in beautiful Liguria has been spotlighted in the esteemed German online magazine “Glücksmomente Charmingplaces.” Recognised as one of their top 5 gems on the Mediterranean for 2024, our charming retreat continues to enchant guests with its serene ambiance and unparalleled hospitality. Dive into the full article to see why Relais San Damian stands out among the best Mediterranean destinations.
Welcome to Imperia, Italy, a charming coastal town nestled in the picturesque region of Liguria. At San Damian, we invite you to explore the enchanting streets and breathtaking views of Imperia through a curated three-day itinerary. Immerse yourself in the rich history and vibrant culture of this seaside gem as you wander through the historic districts of Oneglia and Porto Maurizio. Indulge in delectable local cuisine, discover hidden gems along the coastline, and unwind in the beauty of the Ligurian landscape.
Join us on a journey of discovery and relaxation as we unveil the wonders of Imperia, one unforgettable day at a time.
Read the full article and itinerary by visiting www.italia.it
In the heart of the San Damian olive grove, the winter sun kisses the silver leaves of the olive trees. It’s time for new oil. Drops of gold slide from the green fruits into the bottles, trapping the essence of the earth and our patient work. The oil, fresh and vibrant, tells the story of the hands that cultivated it and the sun that nourished the olive.
Each drop is an ode to nature, a hymn to tradition, ready to dance on the table, giving lovers of good food a taste of pure Mediterranean poetry.
You are all invited to taste it here with us, at the Relais San Damian with Pamela and Roberto
The Taggiasca olive harvest in San Damian, is a cherished cultural event steeped in tradition. Every autumn, typically from September to November, Roberto and his staff meticulously handpick these small, flavorful olives from ancient groves nestled in the picturesque Ligurian countryside.
The harvest process involves carefully shaking the branches or using small rakes to gently dislodge the ripe olives, ensuring minimal damage to the trees. These olives are renowned for their distinct nutty and fruity flavor profiles.
After harvesting, they undergo a meticulous curing process, often in brine or salt, which preserves their unique taste and texture, making them a prized ingredient in regional cuisine, especially in dishes like pesto and Ligurian olive oil.
The Taggiasca olive harvest not only yields exceptional olives but also fosters a sense of community, as generations come together to celebrate this timeless tradition in San Damian, Liguria.
This article has been translated from German. Please read the original version from Anja Fischer, Gründerin und CEO von Glücksmomente Charmingplaces, on www.charmingplaces.de
In the 1990s, our Charmingplaces hosts Pamela and Roberto created a small vacation paradise with their country hotel San Damian on the Ligurian coast, where you can feel completely at home.
Born in Vienna, the daughter of an American mother and a German father, Pamela grew up among many cultures and ways of life, in a house that always hosted new guests from all over the world.
In conversation with our hostess, we try to find out how her special childhood shaped her and why, despite a rootless background, she was able to create a place that feels like home to us. And why, to appease a restless mind, you don’t have to travel at all yourself.
Charmingplaces: Pamela, you spent your childhood in Liguria. When did you move there?
Pamela: It was in the seventies. My parents were young, explosive, dreamers, idealists, party people, restless, and decided – of course – that their place was in the south of Europe.
CP: The south of Europe has many exciting and beautiful places. Why did you choose Liguria?
Pamela: Liguria is simple and authentic, with the sea, a mild climate, open-minded and sociable people. We moved to a small village inland from Imperia, ironically called Isolalunga. Long Island. My grandmother is from New York.
CP: But this Long Island was probably in a much smaller cosmos. How were your worldly parents able to put down roots there?
Pamela: Our house, the renovated old bakery in the village, was a five-story house, full of stories and charm and always full of people. Friends came from all over the world.
Those who worked with Conrad Lawrence on ant research and lived for months in a tent on Monte Faudo, or those who worked in marine biology research. Guests who came from Japan and slept on the kitchen table because the mattress was too soft. From Australia with the latest technology and once even Miss Australia!
Some came from Persia and taught me a different and beautiful mathematics, some spent hours in meditation standing on their heads on the terrace. Others did pantomime theater, still others conducted orchestras.
In between came my mother’s old biology teacher from Massachusetts, JP the nun, who had made an interesting connection with the local curia and who took us around the European capitals, sleeping in monasteries.
CP: So the world came home to you. How did that shape you as a child?
Pamela: I was a quiet child, I observed and absorbed sensations, I understood many languages, I was curious but spoke little. I lived on this diversity. As an adolescent, I decided to deepen my great love for animals, which were always my best friends during my somewhat lonely childhood in winter in Liguria. I became a veterinarian to be able to help the animals, even the wild ones, on my own. But I couldn’t lock myself up in a studio or clinic for more than a few years. The need for movement and stimulation returned, which I could only satisfy by traveling.
CP: Where did your first travels take you?
Pamela: When school ended in June, I left with my mother to spend two months in the United States and Canada, fascinated by this world so different from Europe, by the huge spaces where everything was gigantic, from the milk bottle to the forests, lakes and deserts. There I experienced the wealth of the American bourgeoisie, the descent from a hero of the War of Independence (William Dawes), the abundance and the economic prosperity. Then, in August, I returned to Italy and went with my father to Hungary, where his brother lived (he had stayed in Hungary after the Russian invasion of 1956), to spend a whole month there, on the Danube, among vineyards and corn and sunflower fields. Here we got up at five in the morning to get the rationed bread, and my uncle carefully stored everything we brought from the West, starting with the plastic bags.
CP: Growing up among so many shifting cultures, your journeys into such contrasting worlds-how were you able to figure out which of all these was you?
Pamela: The vision of these distant worlds, which I was able to experience intensely without prejudice before the fall of the Berlin Wall, has greatly influenced my personality and life choices.
CP: Is there a good example of this?
Pamela: The adventure of our agriturismo! Together with my husband we have slowly and painstakingly built a wonderful place on the hills above the village of Isolalunga, where I used to play hide and seek as a child. The opportunity to combine my great love for nature with the feeling of welcome that I had breathed since childhood in the “open” house where I grew up. I could never call it “my” house, it was a house for “everyone”.
CP: And your need to travel doesn’t check in now?
Pamela: When my two daughters Viola and Emma came along, that need began to disappear in its old form. We created an open place for travelers who know how to uncover the mystery of the lesser-known places. The places that are not marked on the usual maps and are protected and guarded like a treasure. Today, as when I was a child, I still draw energy and passion from meeting people who come here from all over the world to appreciate the authentic simplicity and wonder of these places that have hardly changed in the last 50 years.
San Damian is a place that reflects the soul of Pamela. Open, worldly, a spot where after a few hours guests feel as if they have been here for a long time and yet can always discover new facets of their hosts. Like we did in this conversation. Thank you Pamela!
The world is changing, and it is changing fast.
It took a virus to stop us, to stop our society from racing, producing, consuming. We know that things will be different now, and we know that it is no longer up to us to decide: we can only accept the change. But we can still decide how we respond to change: are we ready to listen, and to learn from all this?
We are lucky to live in San Damian, and we are grateful for this. We keep working among the aloes, the willows, the buganvillea and the olive trees. Enjoying the warm and fertile season, we take care of the gardens, of the terraces and the paths. In the middle of the Spring, among the white blossoms of the almond trees and the star jasmines, we are getting ready to welcome you once again: we prune, plant, sow, and make it perfect, while floral scents rise from the lavender and the rosemary.
Covid-19 will change our lives forever. But nature keeps moving forward in the life cycle, and San Damian will continue being what it was created for: a safe haven of peace, far from the crowd.
We await you in our tranquil gardens and the discrete terraces, spaces especially designed to retire in quietness and solace. We are ready to welcome you in the peaceful atmosphere that our clients know very well: if you do not, we invite you to experience the unicity of this place sheltered from the media and the chaos of our times.
We know that we will meet again soon. In the meantime, we wish you and your loved ones peace and health in these challenging times.
Once upon a time, there was a piece of wood. It was not an ordinary chunk of wood: it was a beautiful, veined piece of olive tree. But it had an odd shape, and a sad destiny was awaiting it. It had once been a taggiasca olive tree, tall and strong, but for some reason it had been cut and uprooted. Who knows why. And who knows how it ended up in the basement of an old house, among rubble and waste. The house was on a hill, sun-scorched and shaken by the wind, that had once been invaded by ants and then burnt down.
The piece of olive wood did not know that sun and that wind anymore. It lied in the dark, year after year, without ever seeing the beauty of the different seasons. It moaned and sighted: “Oh, if only I could go back and be with the other trees, feeling the rain on my leaves, warmed by the sun and caressed by the wind!”. It relished the memory of the warmth of the sun, of the freshness of the wind and the pleasure of the rain which had been nourishing and making it strong for so many centuries.
It was not alone in the room: other pieces of wood had also been abandoned, and the confinement in the basement had made them mean and cruel. They mocked its pointed shape, and envied its hope. The seasons and the years passed by, with our piece of wood always dreaming about the world outside: “How wonderful it would be to feel again the birds sitting and singing on my branches!”, only for its wooden companions to cruelly mock it: “Now you can feel the cats!”.
In fact, there were many cats, and mice too. Our piece of olive tree being a dreamer, it never grew tired of enquiring about the world outside, and about what happened beyond the walls of the basement. Sometimes the cats, other times the mice, described the passing of seasons, the cheerful sound of the cicadas and the brightness of the moonlight. They described how the hill was changing, year after year: an orchard had appeared here, strange sculptures had been spotted there. Persimmons were growing, the fig trees were laden with fruits, the ramassin plums carried the smell of far away worlds and the ponds were filled with crystal-clear water.
They spoke of the vibrant colors in the rooms that humans had started to inhabit again, right on top of the basement. They reported that people never seen before were curiously wondering around, observing, drawing, writing.
The piece of olive tree asked many questions, dreamed and remembered, keeping alive the spark of life it had managed to preserve: “What a pleasure it would be to feel again my roots deeply plunged into the soil!”.
Then, one day…
These two-storey suites boast a broad terrace and an enticing sea view. Spiral or regular staircases will take you to the mezzanine, made of olive and pine woods. Italian motives and warm tones dominate here: local pieces of art combine with colourful Tuscan pottery and matching curtains, handwoven in cotton or linen.
A mix of Ligurian and Italian styles, the space is illuminated by touches of purple, yellow, red and orange. Chromatic dissonances brighten an ambience dominated by the warmth of precious woods, such as olive wood: a symbol of eternity and wisdom, the twisted body of the olive tree is a familiar sight of our countryside. In our suites, this strong wood lends solidity and character to the mezzanines, the balustrades, and the fireplaces. The reassuring, rustic solidity of the woods is balanced by the discrete elegance of the cotto tiles, of the black slabs of slate, of the shiny marbles.
From the terrace, the gaze glades over the whiteness of the trachelospermum jasminoides, the star jasmine vines that separate contiguous terraces. Ancient, evergreen cycads peep out of the brightness that inundates your balcony.
Both inside and outside, these details tell the story of our quest for harmony: inspiration, creation, openness to the wonders of world. Pamela and Roberto treasure the inspirations encountered in their travels and bring home objects, atmospheres and good vibes that speak of care, hospitality, authenticity, relations. They enrich the atmosphere of San Damian with the personal touch of the people who crossed our paths and worked with us to give shape to our dream.
It is not easy to explain. We leave it to you: lose yourself in the harmony we created.
Sense the intimate feel of the suites of San Damian resort, designed by Pamela and Roberto to give each of them a unique character. Their love and care for details can be found in every corner, woven in every fabric, engraved in the most precious materials.
While cozy and warm vibes can be felt in every room, in the Garden and Arch Suites touches of green, turquoise and blue create an uninterrupted connection with the sea views and the outside veranda and garden. Located on one level and facing an external veranda, the Arch Suites are designed for those who seek light and airy spaces. The Garden Suites are on two levels, with a loft bedroom and an intimate, private garden.
All our suites boast unique and surprising works of artistic craftsmanship: a lamp, a mask, a sculpted hand, a colourful corner. Works of art apparently interrupting the expected continuity of the decor, to eventually reintegrate into the overall harmony of the space.
Some of these pieces were created in the nearby hamlet of Dolceacqua, the village of artists and artisans cherished by Claude Monet, who celebrated and eternalised the bridge and local castle in his paintings.
Dolceacqua is also home to Edmondo, who is much more than our friend and provider of excellent, home-produced Rossese wine. Edmondo’s hands are behind the restoration of the furniture of our suites: charming, ancient walnut and chestnut wardrobes, tables and night stands.
An artisan sees to every step, from the ideation to creation of an object. Like artisans, Roberto and Pamela transform ideas into reality, shaping every day an hospitality made of small details and unique vibes.
“… it feels like a whisper” – In the kind words of Angela, who reviewed San Damian on booking.com.
Red and white mulberries from May to late summer. Cherries and black cherries in June. Ramassin plums in July. Figs and Isabella grapes in August and September. Persimmons in the heart of Autumn.
These are just some of the season fruits we grow in our gardens to make your breakfast an unforgettable experience: awakening in San Damian means savouring the tastes and smells of those plants that have been imported from far away centuries ago and eventually thrived on the Ligurian hills.
We owe the sweetness of the Ramassin plums to the Arabian world and to the Benedectine monks, the first to grow them here. Mulberry trees arrived from Asia, and Ligurians soon learnt how to feed their leaves to silkworms to create precious silk fabrics. The luscious, aphrodisiac figs so appreciated by Romans arrived here from the Middle East.
We pick the ripe fruits from our garden and choose for you only the healthiest ingredients: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, yogurt, milk, cinnamon, carrots, whole grains, spelt flour and our home-produced taggiasca olive oil. We skilfully mix them to create our superb cakes and pies, baking for you every morning in accordance to your tastes and special dietary needs, including food intolerances.
Free from chemical pesticides, the fruits of the semi-wild plants of our garden are made into delicious low-sugar fuit spreads. In fruit spreads, the amount of fruit is higher than in jams or marmalades, and the level of sugar is lower. They are also free from preservatives, which means they arrive fresh on your breakfast table. Ripe fruits, low sugar, a rapid boil: a simple recipe to savour freshly-grown fruit, with no additives. Fruit spread is a gift for the present.
This is what take your time means for us: respect for the rhythms of nature, choosing only seasonal products and baking them daily to serve you freshly-made, tasty breakfast treats. This is the secret and the magic behind our fuit tarts and pies: an invitation to savour the perfection of the present.
