Liguria: A Journey Through Italian Excellence, Roots and New Opportunities
From the Cinque Terre to Genoa, from the Italian Riviera to my family roots: a journey through landscapes, wine, hospitality, real estate and the people who continue to make Italy extraordinary.
There are journeys we take to discover new places, and others that somehow bring us back to where we began.
My recent journey through Liguria was both.
I returned to Italy with the desire to spend time with friends and family, rediscover places connected to my roots and enjoy, for a few days, the extraordinary lifestyle that this region offers. But when your professional life is dedicated to real estate, international relationships and promoting Italian excellence abroad, it is almost impossible to separate travel from curiosity.
Every destination becomes an opportunity to meet someone, discover a business, understand a territory and imagine how its story might travel beyond Italy.
And Liguria has many stories worth telling.
The Cinque Terre: Where the Landscape Becomes the Product.
One of the most memorable moments of my journey was my visit to the Cinque Terre.
Here, the relationship between people and the land becomes immediately visible. Vineyards climb steep hillsides above the Mediterranean, supported by terraces and dry-stone walls. Producing wine in this landscape requires something more than technique: it requires commitment to a territory.
I had the pleasure of meeting the people behind Cantina Cinque Terre and tasting their wines directly in the land where they are born.
It was precisely the kind of encounter that represents what The Italian Excellence is about.
Cantina Cinque Terre brings together 220 member-owners and vineyards covering more than 46 hectares. Its wines include Cinque Terre DOC and the celebrated Sciacchetrà DOC, while its work is deeply connected to preserving the terraces, dry-stone walls and infrastructure that make viticulture possible in this extraordinary landscape.
Here the expression heroic viticulture is not marketing language. The vineyards grow on steep terraces overlooking the sea, in conditions that make cultivation particularly demanding.
Sitting there and tasting these wines made me think about something that goes far beyond wine.
The true value of Made in Italy is inseparable from the place, the people and the story behind the product.
And this is exactly the story that international markets — particularly the United States — increasingly want to discover.
Rapallo and Portofino: The Italian Riviera Lifestyle
From the Cinque Terre, my journey continued along the Ligurian coast.
Rapallo and Portofino represent another expression of Liguria: hospitality, elegance and an international lifestyle that has attracted travelers from around the world for generations.
During my stay I had the opportunity to visit hotels, meet entrepreneurs and discover new Italian excellences that I hope will soon become part of The Italian Excellence.
These encounters are an important part of the project.
The objective is not simply to showcase beautiful destinations or exceptional products. It is to create relationships between Italian entrepreneurs and an international audience and, whenever possible, develop real opportunities for visibility, partnerships, investment and expansion into the United States market.
For me, luxury is increasingly connected to authenticity.
A boutique hotel, a family winery, an artisan, a remarkable property or a food producer may belong to completely different industries, but they share something important: their value comes from a story that cannot easily be reproduced somewhere else.
Genoa: Between the Sea, History and Business
From the sea and the promenade of Nervi to the historic center, Genoa continuously changes character.
Walking through its famous caruggi means entering a maze of narrow streets where commerce, food, architecture and cultures have met for centuries. Genoa’s historic center extends across approximately 113 hectares and remains one of Europe’s largest medieval historic centers.
Eventually those streets lead back toward the water and the Porto Antico, the historic port area redesigned by Renzo Piano in 1992 and today transformed into one of the city’s principal destinations for culture, tourism and leisure.
For someone who lives and works between Miami and Italy, Genoa has another fascinating dimension.
It is a city whose identity has always been connected to the sea, trade and encounters between different cultures. Walking through it today, I could not help thinking about the modern connections that can be created between Italy and the United States.
Products cross borders. Capital crosses borders. People cross borders.
And increasingly, real estate does too.
When a Journey Becomes a Real Estate Opportunity
During this journey, an interesting coincidence connected my personal experience in Liguria with my professional life in Miami.
My Coldwell Banker colleagues in Italy were entrusted with the sale of an exceptional residence in Albaro, one of Genoa’s prestigious residential neighborhoods.
The property is an approximately 245-square-meter penthouse arranged over two levels, with four bedrooms, four bathrooms and two panoramic terraces. Its principal terrace offers a 180-degree view over the Ligurian Gulf. The residence is surrounded by a private park of more than 4,000 square meters and includes access to a condominium swimming pool, a private wellness area with sauna, two garages and two additional parking spaces. The asking price is €2,400,000.
Suddenly, the connection became very natural.
I had spent days experiencing Liguria not as a listing on a screen, but as a lifestyle: its sea, food, wines, hospitality, people and extraordinary geography.
And this property offered another way of participating in that lifestyle.
For an international buyer, purchasing a home in Italy is rarely only about square meters and bedrooms. It can also be about establishing a personal connection with a territory and becoming part of its way of life.
The property is being presented through a collaboration between Coldwell Banker 24RE in Italy and Salvatore Domina, REALTOR® – Associate, Coldwell Banker Realty, Coral Gables–Miami, Florida, USA, creating a direct connection for clients interested in exploring Italian real estate opportunities from the United States.
Back to My Roots
But the most personal part of this journey was still ahead.
Leaving the coastline behind and traveling toward the Ligurian hinterland brought me to places connected with my own history: Pontedecimo, Prelo and the surrounding areas.
Here the journey changed.
It was no longer simply about discovering Italy. It was about remembering where part of my own story began.
Returning to these places, seeing family and friends and then continuing my journey toward Milan reminded me why my connection with Italy remains so important even after building my professional life in the United States.
Roots are not something we leave behind.
They travel with us.
From Italy to Miami: Creating a Bridge for Italian Excellence
This journey through Liguria ultimately reinforced the idea behind The Italian Excellence.
Italy possesses an extraordinary concentration of talent: winemakers cultivating seemingly impossible landscapes, hospitality entrepreneurs welcoming travelers from around the world, artisans protecting generations of knowledge, remarkable properties and professionals creating contemporary businesses while remaining connected to their territories.
The opportunity is to help these stories travel.
My work between Italy and Miami increasingly brings together worlds that at first may appear separate: real estate, hospitality, wine, lifestyle, Made in Italy and international business.
But they are not separate at all.
A person who falls in love with an Italian wine may eventually visit the territory where it is produced. A traveler who discovers Liguria may return looking for a home. An Italian entrepreneur may see Miami as the gateway for introducing a product to the American market. An American investor may discover an opportunity in Italy that begins an entirely new relationship with the country.
That is the bridge I want The Italian Excellence to help create.
Not simply a showcase of Italy, but a meeting place for people, territories, products, properties and opportunities.
And sometimes, the best business relationships begin in the simplest possible way:
with a journey, a conversation, a glass of wine — and the discovery of something exceptional.
About the Author
SALVATORE DOMINAREALTOR® – Associate, Coldwell Banker RealtyCoral Gables – Miami, Florida, USA
Founder – The Italian ExcellenceConnecting Italian Excellence, Real Estate, Lifestyle & Business Opportunities between Italy and the United States.
Italian roots. International vision. A bridge between Italy and Miami.
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