Today we got out of Florence and headed back to the beach, which might have been a good idea, since it was supposed to be really hot in Florence. Babbo rented another car; An Alfa Romeo Guilo ( he said he got it instead of the BMW because it was "more sporty"). The drive to Santa Marghertia wasn't too bad, especially compared to our drive a few days prior. It was cool though, we drove through Carrara and got to see giant blocks of marble and granite (not even cut into slabs yet, just huge chucks of stone). Babbo informed us that David was cut from a single slab of marble from this area, Dad of course googled to confirm.
Once we got to Santa Margherita we checked into the hotel and got back into the car for the supposedly short drive to Portofino
. It was only about 4 miles, but we didn't get parked for over an hour. The parking lot in Portofino was full so they were only letting in one car for each one that left. When we got kid of close, Babbo let Mom, Dad and I out so we didn't have to wait. We walked down to the water and found a little bench right by the sea to sit and have a bottle (just formula this time, no wine).
After a while Nonna and Babbo finally parked and met up with us. They took us to the Splendido Mare for lunch (they stayed here when they were in Portofino last time). Lunch was fantastic! Being back on the coast, everyone went for the seafood again.
After lunch we got a gelato and explored around Portofino. It is a gorgeous, but quite small, and it was starting to get crowded as 2 cruise ships just showed up to the area. We decided to head back to Santa Margherita. Mom and Dad weren't too anxious to get back in the car and wanted to see more of the area so we walked back from Portofino
. It was a very cool walk, it was recently (within the last year at least) redone, with a nice felt red walkway that went all the way from Portofino to Ravalla (another beach town well past Santa Margherita). The walk from Portifino to Santa Margherita was about 4 miles long and every step gave you a new view of some of the most amazing coastline anywhere in the world.
Once we made it back and met up with Nonna and Babbo, we got cleaned up and headed out for dinner, We decided we wanted to go see Camogli, another beautiful seaside town, so we headed to the train station, on the way there Dad started feeling nauseous so he decided to sit out the trip to Camogli, and since we didn't have his phone, we had to use Nonna's to take pictures, and unfortunately, her phone ended up in the toilet before any of the pictures on it from Camogli were downloaded, so you will have to take my word, that this place if beautiful. Mom said it was her favorite of the 3 towns we went to today. Camogli is a little gem of a town undiscovered by tourists; supposedly its where the locals go for a day at the beach or a walk after dinner far from the crazy cruise ship crowds.
Dinner in Camogli was at Camogliese, a great local restaurant along the shoreline. Mom, nonna Babbo and I enjoyed fresh seafood while watching the sunset over the harbor church steeple. We then took a passegiatta (stroll) with the Camogilese folks and stopped for some gelatto. I seem to be very popular with the locals. We walked back to the train station for the four minute trip back to Santa Margherita, then walked back to the Hotel Jolanda to check on dad. good news, he seemed all better but he missed us.
Italian Riviera
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Portofino, Italian Riviera, Italy
Other Entries
-
1Preparing for the big trip
May 1510 days priorLaguna Niguel, United Statesphoto_camera3videocam 0comment 1 -
2Hanging out at LAX
May 1510 days priorLos Angeles, United Statesphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 0 -
3First International Flight
May 1510 days priorLos Angeles, United Statesphoto_camera9videocam 0comment 0 -
4We Made it!
May 169 days priorLondon, United Kingdomphoto_camera5videocam 0comment 0 -
5Brighton Brings out the crazies
May 169 days priorBrighton, United Kingdomphoto_camera16videocam 0comment 8 -
6People in Europe sleep at the wrong time
May 178 days priorGatwick, United Kingdomphoto_camera8videocam 1comment 3 -
7Made it to the Borgo
May 178 days priorBrindisi, Italyphoto_camera25videocam 1comment 1 -
8Another Day in Paradise
May 187 days priorBrindisi, Italyphoto_camera28videocam 2comment 1 -
9Meglio Di Questo
May 196 days priorBrindisi, Italyphoto_camera50videocam 13comment 5 -
10Sightseeing in the Rain
May 205 days priorPolignano a Mare, Italyphoto_camera32videocam 0comment 1 -
11Last day at the Borgo
May 223 days priorBrindisi, Italyphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 0 -
12Bello Luong Bimbo
May 223 days priorMatera, Italyphoto_camera28videocam 0comment 9 -
13A long drive through a beautiful country
May 232 days priorScanno, Italyphoto_camera19videocam 0comment 2 -
14A long walk back in time
May 241 day priorFlorence, Italyphoto_camera16videocam 1comment 2 -
15Italian Riviera
May 25Portofino, Italyphoto_camera17videocam 1comment 1 -
16Trying to see the beauty through the crowds
May 261 day laterCinque Terre, Italyphoto_camera21videocam 1comment 2 -
17Divide and Conquer
May 272 days laterFlorence, Italyphoto_camera21videocam 0comment 1 -
18Florence to London
May 283 days laterLondon, United Kingdomphoto_camera6videocam 0comment 1 -
19Exploring London with Friends
May 294 days laterLondon, United Kingdomphoto_camera10videocam 1comment 0 -
20Ciao Europe!
May 305 days laterLos Angeles, United Statesphoto_camera7videocam 0comment 0
Comments

2025-02-16
Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank
Grandma Patty
2017-05-27
Wow! You have seen some amazingly beautiful places! You will have lots of pictures to remember Italy.