Jun 13, 2012 - Comiglio...hike to San Fruitosso...Portofino, Santa Margherita!!!

I woke up, had a wonderful breakfast...perfected the doppia espresso (double cafe), yogurt and crostini! I boarded the train to Comiglio, asked a policia once I got there, for directions and headed for the San Rocca steps! After 2 hours uphill, I decided that I might as well head towards San Fruitosso! This is a small seaside village that you can only get to by ferry or foot! I figured I would hoof by foot, then ferry to Portofino, then train home from Santa Margherita! Wrong! The hike was adventurous, scary, and welcoming! At one point...

May 11, 2012 - Bad luck today

May 11 - Portofino, Italy & bad luck! We took 2 buses to get to the charming seaside village of Portofino were we walked up and down to see 2 old churches and through some old streets and along the harbor. Very pretty and quaint! A very narrow road into and out of this village follows along the Mediterranean on one side and a high stone wall very close to the road on the other. Tour buses cannot travel this road, just smaller buses and cars. Behind the high wall were some lovely villas difficult to see but the glimpses were tantalizing. On...

Jun 23, 2011 - where it all began

And here it is Thursday and we’re in Portofino a place of some significance to us. It was November, 1988 when five of us were sitting in a restaurant outside of Toronto called Portofino, when the idea was hatched to organize a turn of the century celebration. Here we are eleven years later on from out first trip and now our fourth trip, who’d of thought? The seas were choppy so the tender ride to shore was a bit bumpy but nothing serious unless you suffer from sea sickness. But what a shore we found! This is another spot for the rich and...

Apr 13, 2008 - 1st Day at Sea

Monday, we got up early as the ship arrived in Portofino along Italy’s northwest coast. We had plans to tour Genoa (birthplace of Christopher Columbus). However, the Captain determined the sea was too rough for the tenders to get ashore safely. So, we’ll have a day at sea and a chance to catch up on rest. We met our dinner companions last night. We’re sitting with a retired UCLA professor of dentistry and his wife; a woman and her mother from Montreal and an elderly couple who didn’t stay for the meal because the gentlemen was not feeling...

Jun 22, 2007 - Portofino

Another crummy day here in the Mediterranean. Woke up and had to eat breakfast looking over the port of Genoa at the landscape around Portofino. Reminds me of Cinque Terra but definitely a bit different. Still, turquoise and azure seas, rock walls, cobblestones, brightly colored fishing boats. Lots of stone stairways but beautiful bouganvillea(sp?). Bought 2 bottles of limone that we will have to imbibe with Jo and Judy. Took lots of photos and hope to post one or two sometime soon. Portofino is known for great pesto and after lunch now I...

May 9, 2007 - Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre was beautiful! Pronounced Chink-way Terra, it consists of 5 small villages on the Italian Riviera that are accessible primarily by boat, train or walking. They literally "drip" down the steep hills to the sea. We stayed in the largest village, Moterosso del Mar and walked to the other villages, then took the train back. The scenery is gorgeous, terraced hillsides with vineyards, olive groves and lemon trees. We stayed in a beautifully restored house in a lemon tree grove called Casa di Limoni which was owned by a very...

Jun 8, 2006 - Portofino

Thursday 8 June and I am off to Portofino via Santa Margherita. Santa Margherita is where you go if you are rich, Portofino is where you go if you are very very rich and probably famous. I sit in the sun waiting for the train at Moneglia, as usual "il treno in retarde" the train is a bit late ! At Santa Margherita I navigate down the steps following the signs for "mare" or the sea, and through alleyways filled with expensive clothes shops, then out onto the road that goes around the bay. It is a perfect sunny day and everyone is out in...

Apr 9, 2005 - Day 14 - Travel to Cinque Terre - HALF WAY

Hi guys, So today we had to get out of Rome. We had seen pretty much all the sights...with the exception of inside St. Peters and the Sistine Chapel...and it was too crazy busy for us to stick around. Also, this morning it was raining, so we were glad to get out. That means there is not much to report for today. We spent a good 5 hours on the train to get to Cinque Terre...Chad is very frustrated with the Italian train system. We found a hotel in Monterosso, one of the five towns. We are just bumming around the town now and we plan to hike...