Portofino
/44° 18.126' N 9° 12.704' E Portofino, Italy
The sea was so still it wouldn't blow a feather so we motored from Genoa and as we passed the bay of San Fruttuoso decided to pop in for a peek. The €30 mooring bouy fee was too steep for us for just a dip in the sea so we dove in just outside the bay instead. Beaut' bay though and had we been keen to make the most of it and stay the day we would have obliged. However we wanted to make tracks around the corner to Portofino.
Portofino; The little piece of italian perfection whom merely allows you to view and admire, never belong, but oh' what a privilege!
In places she is little 'toy town' the facades are often intricately, cleverly painted on rather than the real deal. Walt Disney even took a slice of it back to Florida with him. However there is still no escaping the parcel of perfection of Portofino.
We had a lovely berth, bow to the quay which meant privacy in the cockpit from the tourists, so I spent the evening writing in the glow of Portofino and citronella candles. Bow-to mooring in this instance meant the tender was required to go ashore. Whilst I scribbled away Captain took the tender and tried to buy ice from the nearest restaurant, they refused payment and filled up our tuppaware with enough ice for a couple of decent size Caiprahinas.
He pootled of in the tender again to take some evening photos, he wasn't gone long when out of the darkness came the distinguishable whoosh of rather a lot of air escaping in a hurry. Cappy had inadvertently popped the front section of the tender on the underside of the jetty. Whoops. Not enough to sink him but enough to piss him off. To be fixed tomorrow.
We started the next day off with a climb to Castello Brown, then when we realised it required payment and we were penniless we carried on meandering around the pathways of Portofino. Well worth a stroll up and along these paths, you pass the most handsome gates and get to day dream about what and whom may live beyond.
Charlie x
