7/7 I left Ibiza for Milan. The Vueling flight was short with no drinks or snacks again. We even had a view of the snow-covered Alps as we landed. I keep hearing songs at odd times. As we were taxiing to the gate Brooks and Dunn came on singing "Only in America." I was a little nervous about taking another Vueling flight for fear my backpack would disappear again. The bags were very slow coming off the flight but my backpack was there! The Malpensa airport in Milan gets my award for having the best signage helping passengers, whether they are looking for the train, bus, a hotel, etc. There were great signs as well as interactive kiosks. I enjoyed a gorgeous day and a scenic trip in to Milan from the Malpensa airport which is quite far from town.

I arrived at the Milan train station to find a long line waiting to buy tickets . They never seem to have enough people working in Europe where long lines seem to be the norm. When I reached the front I requested my train ticket and was told that the train was full! I didn't think trains ever were soldout. I had to settle for the train after that which was still not bad but required a change in Genoa. After Genoa, the train stayed along the coast giving us fantastic views when we weren't in one of the many tunnels.

My hotel was in Santa Margherita Ligure (SML) which is 5km from Portofino. They say Santa Margherita Ligure is old money while Portofino is new money. That was evident during my visit, but either way it's lots of money. My hotel was just a few minutes down from the train station with SML being fairly small while Portofino is tiny with just 541 people.

The sign out front said my hotel had 3 stars but I don't think I got a room in that wing. My room was very large with a ceiling that must have been at least 20 feet high. The shared bathroom was next door but the shower was on the fourth floor when my room was on the first floor! That was a new one for me. The room didn't have AC but it did have 1 large window which helped some.

Santa Margherita Ligure is just in an amazing setting on the coast with villas dotting the green hillsides. There is a small harbor as well as several beaches easily accessed by the lovely promenade . It was easy to walk around the entire town in an hour. I went by upscale boutiques practically non-stop and wondered how they stay in business. A lot of cruise ships have excursions to Portofino so that may help.

I felt quite out of place amid all of the wealth. SML long ago banned all new development preserving the classic character of the town. I was fortunate to have a reservation since every place was soldout with demand consistently exceeding supply in the summer.

I keep remembering the days when I first came to Europe and what a hassle it was to change currency in eacy country and try to use up all of my coins. I love the Euro but wish the dollar was stronger. You used to have to pay to use the bathroom in most places too and that seems to be gone so you don't feel compelled to keep small change anymore. One thing that hasn't changed is how Europeans treat their dogs. The dogs go in grocery stores, restaurants, airports and most any place their owner goes .

7/8 Today I did Rick Steve's walking tour of Santa Margherita Ligure. It was so easy to take tons of pictures since every view could have been on a postcard. The town was very clean and well-designed without anything that might diminish the character of the town. Santa Margherita Ligure reminded me a little of Malibu but with much bigger houses and a lot less commercialization.

One stop on the tour was Rapazzo Park where there were lots of palm trees, all originally imported from North Africa. Each palm tree is supposed to be a different species and it was interesting to look at each one and see sometimes subtle differences. The views from the park were great since it overlooked the beaches as well as the entire town. You could also see way up into the hills and see these huge villas and just wonder who owned them and where their money came from.

The architecture immediately grabs your attention since there is so much intricate detail on the facades of the pastel-colored buildings . What's not immediately apparent is that some of this detail may not be real, but is actually painted on the building to look real. It was always a Memorex moment as I looked at a building to determine whether what I was looking at was real or not. In the photos it's hard to tell as well. Sometimes windows were just painted on the building but didn't exist. The same with woodwork, shutters, stonework, etc.

One thing I've noticed in Italy is that the Italian women all tend to look glamourous. They are always decked out as if they were on the way to the country club. Anything that glitters is popular especially with eyeglasses(very super-trendy), purses and shoes. The northern Italians, like many of the Spanish, are very light-skinned and it might be difficult to tell them apart from Americans if everyone dressed similarly. With clothing styles though it is usually quite easy to tell the Americans from the Italians plus the Americans tend to be quite a bit heavier.

Next, I took the bus to Portofino on a very narrow road along the coast which required the driver to honk multiple times as he approached bends in the road to warn drivers coming the other way since there wasn't enough room for 2 cars. There were a few beaches along the way but you either had to walk from Portofino or SML or take a scooter since there was no parking.

When Portofino came into view it was just like the pictures I had seen . It's as if it's at Disneyland or in some other created place because it is so perfect. (In fact, Walt Disney visited Portofino before designing parts of Disneyland and Disney World to resemble Portofino.) Every detail seems to have been considered throughout the small town. The harbor is very small but upscale businesses and restaurants circle it to attract the owners of the many yachts that have squeezed in.

There is a photo in the slideshow of this enormous yacht parked off the coast near Portofino. This yacht truly dwarfed the other large yachts around it so I, of course, wanted to find out who owned it (thinking maybe it was some big celebrity). It turns out the yacht was built for a Kuwait-based millionaire businessman who is a senior figure
in a company which specializes in the engineering and financial sectors (I couldn't find his name and it didn't really matter since he wouldn't be someone familiar to us; he sounds like a middleman between Iran and countries that are technically prohibited from doing business there) .

My research found out that the yacht is called 'Samar', after the owner's daughter. At nearly 77 meters (253ft), it is the biggest yacht to be built in the United Kingdom since the 125 metre Royal Yacht Britannia more than 50 years ago. Boasting five decks, accommodation for 12 passengers, 20 crew and four staff, a glass staircase running through the centre of the vessel, a fully-fitted gymnasium, a steam room and hot and cold pools on the upper deck, the boat is the epitome of luxury. I believe it is also available next summer if someone would like to rent it for a glorious cruise through the Greek Isles. :-)

Portofino actually lies on an isthmus with the harbor being on the side protected from the sea. I took a walk out to the lighthouse where it was neat to see the Mediterranean on one side of town and separated by less than 100 meters the harbor on the other side.

Castello (Castle) Brown, which was originally built in Roman times, was right before the lighthouse high up on a hill. It provided the best views of town and the harbor. I literally took 200+ photos around Portofino and SML since there were just endless scenic views. What I enjoyed most about the castle though were all of the black and white photos of the many celebrities that visited the two towns in the 50's and 60's. Many of them I did not know but I've posted pictures of the ones I did .

I promised the story of the two pines at Castello Brown on the photo. In 1867 the English Consul in Genoa, Montague Yeats Brown, bought the abandoned castle for 7000 lira. He had fallen in love with the place after having seen it from his ship during several sailing trips in the Tigullio Bay. In 1870, the Consul planted two pine trees in the terrace of the castle: one for his wedding day, the other for his wife Agnes Bellingham. The pine trees still dominate the city with their majesty. The castle was eventually sold to the city of Portofino in 1961.

Portofino really is just a perfect, little town but not in an overly touristy way. It is just elite and somehow puts up with the few souvenir shops and the many gawking tourists. I was ready for the beach so I headed back to SML since there aren't any beaches in Portofino.

The few beaches in SML were all wall-to-wall people with absolutely no vacanies! What happens in August when there are supposed to be even bigger crowds? I kept walking away from town until I saw a beach with a chair open for me . I read some and, since it was hot once again, went for a refreshing swim. The beaches here are still small pebbles with no sand and lots of very big rocks around the shoreline. I did see lots of small fish while I swam in contrast to Spain where I didn't see any. If the water wasn't so rough it would have been very pleasant to swim around and admire the underwater life.

I headed back to town to put my many photos on Travelpod. It would sure be easier if I went to uglier places and I apologize for the photos that may be quite similar. I just couldn't believe the amazing views I constantly had. After my Internet session it was off to the hotel to pack again for a train ride in the morning to the Cinqueterre. I'm certainly glad I had Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure on my itinerary. They were both incredibly beautiful and definitely worth a visit!