Portofino Vetta

Perhaps the most idyllic little peninsula in Italy, or indeed the whole damn world, Portofino Vetta was the highlight of my time in Italy. Molto bello! Slyvia was very lovely and agreed to be my tour guide and show me the spots that both locals and tourists flock to. Together with Sandi the dog we left by train from Nervi in the morning, arriving in the little town of Rapallo. We then caught the ferry to Portofino, San Fruttuoso then Camogli, where we caught the train home again. A day well spent sight seeing, sun bathing and relaxing...

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Rapallo

^ Silvia, Sandi & Me

^ This is just past La Cervara, a historic former abbey and now a National Monument of Italy. Just past this small headland is the tiny town of Paraggi with it's popular sandy beach.

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Portofino

I think November is the best time to visit Portofino. In summer the bay is full of huge luxury yachts and smaller boats like the one we came on. For such a beautiful small place, I think it would be rather hellish to come at the same time as, say, Kourtney Kardashian (who visited this year and not last, thank god). We looked around the village but didn't buy anything except some fabulous gelato - the beautiful clothing shops were a bit outrageous...

Further up the hill towards the church of San Giorgio there is an outdoor art gallery, featuring pink meerkats

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San Fruttuoso Abbey

The easiest way to get to this 10th Century abbey is by boat, as the only other way is hiking over the hills. Apparently there is still a woman living in the top story of the square tower. she has geraniums on her windowsill. The most impressive thing about the abbey is the huge underwater statue of jesus, positioned out of frame in the bay. I think diving down to see it does cost a fair bit, but I wished I'd looked into it as the statue looks amazing (google it). Never mind, sunbathing and eating pizza was a pretty good alternative.

^ goose-bumpy sausage legs, sorry not sorry!

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Camogli

Last stop was a beautiful sunset at Camogli. This man wanted to smoke his cigar so badly on the boat that he used both hands to hold his hood up while he held the cigar with his teeth. It was so windy that I thought he would finish it in about 5 minutes, ash and all!

Camogli rose out of the water like a mountain of gold bars, the light was so beautiful on the houses I couldn't believe people actually lived there.

It was Halloween night and the orange was spookily good.

... see what I did there?