From a tent and a 2CV to a hillside castle and a luxury yacht to rent for €170,000 a week. We only stayed a day!
But what a delightful day. We stayed a few kilometres away in Santa Margherita – in a what was termed a “family castle” on a hillside. Of course every family should have it’s own hillside castle!
Our castle in Santa Margherita
We arrived in the late afternoon, enough time to stroll into town and admire the deceptive paintwork, masquerading as stone masonry on so many of the old buildings.
The majority of the buildings have the impressive painted detail
From a distance it looks like intricate plasterwork and stone masonry
Close up the detail is incredibly clever paintwork
Not stonework – paintwork
We dined in the old port as the sun went down
The blush of sunset across the harbour
and came upon an excellent Italian group signing Irish folk songs in the square on the way home.
Irish melodies in an Italian town
The next morning we headed for Portofino. The road into the town is so narrow that campervans are banned from continuing all the way into the little seaside town. Of course Charlie was in his element!
Bikes, boats and Charlie on the road into Portofino
Pretty, pastel Portofino is the very essence of elegance and opulence.
Every corner of Portofino is a delight
Timeless elegance is what Portofino is all about
Everything draws you towards the harbour,
Looking across the harbour at Portofino
Pastel-pink Portofino
which is in part still an old working fishing port
Fishing nets drying at the working end of the port
The working boats of Portofino are not nearly as fancy as the visitors
and also an exercise in absolute excess.”Ferdy” was one of the super-yachts berthed when we arrived.
Summer sailing doesn’t come cheap if you want to impress in Portofino
As it pulled out of the harbour we pulled it up on google. For a mere €168,000 a week – plus expenses – you too could cruise the Riviera! The other super yachts anchored off in the bay were even bigger and we presumed came with an equally inflated bill.
But for all that, it is an undeniably lovely spot. Atop the harbour wall is a small art gallery, although we were not convinced of the meerkat’s merit!
Not the latest trophy – but an art gallery in the harbour
We’re not convinced that fluro pink meerkats are really art
We preferred the natural art provided by the beautiful gardens that covered the hillside behind the harbour and the decorative houses that can even make wash-day look lovely!
Vibrant colours fill the garden that tumbles down the slopes behind the harbour
Waiting for a fare
It might be an historic building, but it’s also the laundry and bus stop
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Thanks for the picture-perfect pit-stop, Portofino!
