Italia 2006 part 2

After a bit of a break while I got sucked into the last episode of Dr Who, and my viewing of the Mystery Plays, and then the world of work (busy week, but then they all are these days!), I’m returning to my tales of Italy.

Having had a couple of days of playing ‘follow the umbrella’, I decided to strike out on my own. Only as far as Diano Marina, about 10 mins down the road, but still, I felt intrepid, buying my bus tickets and trying out my Italian. A little leisurely shopping and sitting in cafes was just what I needed. By about the fourth day of the holiday I think I’d relaxed into it.

Then I did my main trip of the holiday – along the coast, through Genoa, and down the Riviera di Levante to Santa Margherita and Portofino. Unfortunately the main Italian summer holiday traffic delayed our arrival in Santa Margherita, so we only had time for lunch there before getting a boat across the bay to Portofino. This was one of those memories you want to bottle, and take out on a wet cold and miserable day at home, or on a particularly bad day at work. It was gorgeous – arriving by boat, passing the incredible yachts in the harbour, clearly belonging to some of the beautiful people, although we didn’t see any of them, as the cafes and restaurants round the harbour were full of tourists like us. Maybe they hide away on their yachts during the day, and then come out at night? I’d certainly go back to that area, but I’d want to stay at Santa Margherita, or Rapallo, which are bigger and, lets face it, have more shops.

What else did I do? Well the pace of life had slowed down, so a couple of times we walked to Cervo, a beautiful village with shady narrow streets, set on the hillside, discovering cafes with wonderful views across the bay, where you could sit in the sun (or rather the shade) and drink cocktails, and on the last day where we sat and had a long and leisurely Italian lunch at a lovely restaurant, ordering our food in a combination of English, Italian and French.

Ah, Bella Italia – I guess I’ll be going back.