Portofino!!!














 We got to sleep in this morning because we didn’t have to depart until 9:15.  It is rare but very much appreciated!!

We travelled down the coast to Sestri Lavante, another lovely seaside village.  We had two hours to enjoy this village.  The last time we were here it poured rain the entire time so it was so nice to spend time on a pleasant day.  We had about 5 minutes of very light rain.  

We regrouped at noon and walked up the hill to an amazing castle hotel and restaurant.  We were treated to a delicious lunch in a beautiful restaurant that was high up overlooking the town and the sea.  It was a five star, Michelin restaurant and the food was fantastic!  Very classy!

This afternoon we were scheduled to take a boat over to the famous seaside town of Portofino.  It has been on my bucket list to visit this town.  When we were in the area four years ago we were going to visit Portofino but it was raining so hard we couldn’t go.  So, imagine my frustration when our tour director got a call saying that the boat tours to Portofino were cancelled for the rest of the day due to high winds!!! No!! 😩😩. We couldn’t believe it!!!

So, we came up with an alternate plan!  We drove back to Rapallo and dropped six people off (they wanted to return to the hotel) and then we set off on an adventure.  Our bus driver took us up the coast to the next village where we got on a public bus to Portofino (tourist busses aren’t allowed to go there). Well, that ended up being an adventure all on its own!  Most of us had to stand because the bus was quite full.  We travelled down a very narrow road.  Everytime we met another vehicle, they had to slowly move by each other with only inches to spare between vehicles.  One car driver had to hold his side mirror in to avoid having it ripped off.




We arrived safely and had an hour to explore this picturesque little town that is visited by the rich and famous.  There were lots of big sail boats in the harbor as well as an obscenely large yacht!  The town was very calm and quiet, not crawling with tourists like we experienced in Vernazza.  Some of us hiked up the hill in order to get a view and pictures from the water side.

Then came the trip back on the public bus!  It was packed so full that the driver could barely get the door closed!  We were squeezed in, sweaty body to sweaty body (it was hot and humid) and we had to wear masks! 😩. We got a good laugh out of the situation and agreed that the whole thing was a fun adventure.

We returned to our hotel at 6:00 and had the rest of the evening free.  Once again people split into groups and headed into the town centre for dinner.

Tomorrow we move on to Montacatini.  Five of us still don’t have our luggage. We know that it has arrived in Milan so now we are hoping that it gets delivered to us tomorrow!!

Ciao!


































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