Tuesday's Explorations - Another Road Trip!

Another morning in Bogliasco.  This is a time when we lay in bed and try to figure out the best approach to the day.  On the one hand, the temptation of lying here and planning our day around nothing more than enjoying the experience of our immediate surroundings presents strong merit.  From another perspective, however, it is hard to avoid tackling some form of new adventure or experience.  The sun was shining again today.  Several colleagues left at 6:30 for a trip to Cinque Terre by train (not of any interest to us for several reasons).  We decided to grab breakfast and head down to visit the city of Chiavari, which we had not visited before, and then drive back along the coastline.  Chiavari is about 25 miles south of Bogliasco.

wanted to show how close the pine tress are to the Villa, and our room......a morning wake up view

our trusty red Lancia Y

The trip down went without a hitch.  We jumped on the autostrada at Recco and were there in less than 30 minutes.  The town is on the sea and has a port center, but more interesting is the old medieval quarter.  There are vestiges of the original arcades of the city from the 14th century.  The character of this urban history and buildings was powerful.......aided by the closure of most of the older streets to traffic.  It was quite remarkable (prepare for a lot of pictures).

We found our way to the central Piazza, where there is an open market every morning.  The activity and energy of this particular market was particularly exciting, more than what we have seen in other smaller cities on this trip. We wandered (and took pictures) and ended up at a small cafe on the edge of the piazza.  This was the first time that we (Andrea) ordered a Caffe Shakerato......an italian version of a spiced up iced coffee.......amazingly good!

From here we wandered back through streets to our parking space, just in time to find a meter maid starting to write a ticket.  The problem was that I had placed the 'biglietto' on the dashboard, but when I shut the door it apparently blew off into the floor.  This was a bit difficult to explain in Italian (impossible!) but she took pity on us and did not write the ticket!.......crazy Americans.

We then drove down to the port area and walked a bit, but it was not as interesting (check out the floating water 'bouncy' rafts) so we climbed back into the car and headed up the coast to Rapallo.

The road up the coast to Rapallo was seriously "up" as it wound around and through the hilly coastal landscape.  The views were spectacular to the west over the water, but the roads were so curvy that we didn't really have much of a chance to enjoy the vistas! 
We stopped briefly in Rapallo - which is a pretty big city - to admire the harbor view, then decided to drive on through Santa Margarita out to Portofino.  Its a beautiful drive along a very narrow, twisting road onto the Portofino peninsula, parts of which were one lane as they are re-building sections of the road. 

Once in the tiny town of Portofino, we were ushered into a parking spot by an attendant and made our way to the harbor. Portofino is just a beautiful place - the harbor was full of both fishing boats and amazing sailboats and yachts. Most of the yachts are too big for the harbor and anchor just outside.  

The town is full of waterside restaurants and beautiful little shops.  But it is the setting that is so spectacular.  We stopped for lunch at a place we had visited a few years ago and were given a table right by the water. After a wonderful lunch we walked up the hillside towards the castle, stopping in a few shops along the way. Eventually, we had to return to the car and leave. It's difficult, as it really is one of the most beautiful places on earth!

We drove back to Bogliasco, up and above Santa Margarita, on one hairpin turn after another, high up and over the mountain. It was late afternoon, so we had a few hours before dinner to relax. It was a wonderful day - we discovered a new town we both loved, Chiavari - and revisited one, Portofino, that is always very special.

A new fellow, Brian, arrived today from Scotland. A poet and musician. Tonight was also Bob's last evening, as he is headed back to California early in the morning. Time is going by too quickly!