Portofino and San Margarita

This is Brian and Terri in our bright green rental car BEFORE “THE driving incident”.  { You can tell it’s before because they are smiling. }  Chris and I hopped in the back seat of Brian’s car and we followed Doug’s car.  Driving through most of Italy is quite scary.  There really are no ‘lanes’.  Cars drive side by side and motorcycles weave around them at faster speeds.  Leading and following are a lot more difficult in conditions like these.  At one point we got off on the wrong road.  Doug turned around and Brian, possibly unsure of where to turn around, veered right a little before deciding to continue straight.  With that six inches of room a motorcycle decided to pass on his left and when Brian straightened out, he hit him – right in the back fender.  Terri screamed something and Brian suddenly stopped.  The motorcyclist quickly turned around, got off his motorcycle and started speaking quick furious Italian and then moved his motorcycle to the side.  We were all a little stunned.  The motorcyclist approached the window still spouting all kinds of impolite Italian.  When he stopped Brian looked up at him and said… “Sorry.”  Almost immediately Chris was out of the car assessing the damage to the motorcycle and showing his concern like he was playing an animated game of charades – at least that’s what the story turned into as we retold it dozens of times later.  Doug was now parked and crossing the street hoping that his excellent Italian phrases like “What is your favorite color?” might come in handy, but Chris had already offered the guy 20 Euro and he zipped away.  Brian was still sitting in the car and hadn’t moved a muscle – taking the ‘if I don’t move maybe he’ll just go away’ approach.   By dinner time the driving incident had already been rehashed several times.  Brian was hoping something else would happen the next day to trump this event… but nothing did.  The driving incident is one of Doug’s new best stories.   

Portofino

The drive, minus our little ‘stop’ was just over an hour.  The drive along the coast was gorgeous.  We parked and headed down to the waterfront.   Portofino is a pretty little town.  Rick Steves reports that “in the 1950’s, National Geographic did a beautiful expose on the idyllic post and locals claim that’s when the Hollywood elite took note.” 

I recently saw a magazine photo-shoot done in Portofino, and had been anxious to see it.  It’s just so picturesque – everywhere in Italy is… especially small coastal Italy!  This city is really not too far from Cinque Terre – and a similar style.  (Click here to see a map --  We ported in Savona and drove to Portofino.)

 

    

We walked along the harbor and then continued hiking up to the Castello Brown, a medieval castle featuring lush gardens and a stunning view of the town.  Here we are in the castle’s courtyard overlooking the town and harbor below.

        

  

I loved all the different kinds of plants and fun tile in and around the castle.

  

 

After we walked down, we ate Salami and 4 cheese pizza and brushetta at a pizzeria by the waterfront.  Several of us ordered hot chocolate which came with exactly NO sugar in it.  Our first sip was awful.  After realizing we needed sugar packets, we doctored it up and it tasted not too bad.  Never tasted hot chocolate without sugar in it!

San Margarita

After we walked back to the cars we drove over to the next town over, San Margarita, and parked by the side of the road to walk along the harbor.

  

   

The boys dropped us off right at the ship and then went and took the rental cars back.  Chris and Brian polished the car’s corner so there was hardly a mark and then walked back to the boat.

Back on board we relaxed, had a delicious dinner and then headed to the Showtime Theater for the big Magic Show which was a little entertaining.