We've been eager to get back to Italy since our trip to Genoa in March, so last week we set off for four days in the Portofino National Park. This is an area on the coast, just south of Genoa, very similar to the Cinque Terre, but with relatively minimal tourists. We were not disappointed. It's a fantastic area with a good sprinkling of coastal villages, hilltop walks, and beautiful bays with clear water to swim in. Plus it was at least 30 degrees every day!
On our first day we walked the coastal path from Recco, where we were staying, through Camogli and around to St Fruttosso.
Camogli is a small fishing village, still very active with lots of little fishing boats, and fishermen sorting out their nets.
Round the corner from the harbour was the swimming beach. The hotels on the waterfront seem to "own" the slice of beach directly in front of them, with umbrellas and beach chairs specially for their guests - even the water is roped off for their sole use! We didn't dare test it out and see what happens if you stray into their water space!
The tracks were well marked with a variety of circles, square and triangles. We were following the red-spot-and-doughnut variety (more about the food later..!)
Great views back towards Camogli and Recco...
We then got to a section of the track where a signpost warned us that the conditions ahead were dangerous, and not to be attempted by children, unfit people and old ladies. Maybe that wasn't quite the correct translation, but we got the gist of it. Oh, and definitely go no further in the summer, in the heat of the day. As we didn't fulfil the child/old lady category, and it was midday and 30 degrees, we confidently bowled on through. Yep, there was a bit of climbing involved, with sheer drops off into infinity, but nothing an old lady couldn't have coped with.
It was incredibly hot though, and I got through 2.5 litres of water in a couple of hours. We were happy to arrive in St Fruttosso and flop into the water to cool off. We didn't attempt the return trip, and got the water taxi back to Recco.
We stayed in a great family run hotel, which had been in the same family for over 100 years, with three generations currently working there (including twin brothers in their seventies who took great pleasure in showing us all the old photos and memorabilia around the hotel). They had a Michelin restaurant in the hotel, but we decided to eat at the "osteria" which was downstairs, with basic tables and chairs, the radio blaring, and the menu written on a piece of brown paper. Well, what a great decision that was. Each dish was only 6 or 7 euros, all coming out of the same Michelin kitchen as the restaurant, 1/2 a litre of very good house wine for 4 euros, and a lot of laughs and chat with the waitress and the local Italian guests, trying to translate the menu for us. We enjoyed it so much we ate there every night, working our way through 12 different dishes, all of which were fantastic.
Here we have Capponadda Camogliesi - a tuna and calamari salad....
And Rondinana, a fish and tomato dish...
On our second day we had a ten minute train ride to Santa Margherita and had a shorter walk round to Portofino. We stopped on the way at a tiny bay called Piaggi, and squeezed ourselves onto the slice of public beach, overlapping our towels with the neighbours! This photo was taken when we arrived - by the time we left half an hour later, it was definitely bumper to bumper.
Round the corner was Portofino - still a pretty, colourful coastal village.....
But with a slightly different clientele! Portofino is the one tourist spot of the area, with luxury launches jockeying for position in the harbour. Unfortunately a cruise ship has just docked and was ferrying Americans on-shore.
They proceeded to waddle their way around the flatter parts of the village, buying vastly overpriced olive oil and pottery, before wedging themselves in restaurant chairs and wolfing down the "plat du jour" in time to be ferried back to the ship. Thankfully they couldn't make it up any hint of a gradient, so we had a quiet picnic up in the gardens of the castle on the hill.
Lew's contribution to this week's blog....the name of a shop in Portofino that caught his eye...!
To get back to Santa Margherita we decided to experience another mode of transport and got the bus - very impressive rally driving skills from the driver, negotiating tiny roads, lots of bends, flashy cars, and scantily clad Italians sauntering down the road with nothing more demanding on their minds than choosing the next swim! Interestingly our 10 minute train ride was a bargain at 2 euros, but the 5 minute bus ride was 3 euros.
Back to the food; we made a concerted effort on the gelato front this time, making sure we reached our quota of one each a day, with a minimum of two flavours. Dark chocolate, and tiramisu were particular favourites, closely followed by strawberry, and fruits of the forest. Lunches were usually some sort of focaccia or pizza bought at the "focacceria" with some tomatoes and fruit.
On our last day we came home via Menton, which is actually in France, but only just across the border, so it's still very Italian in style. Menton was very popular with the British upper classes in the early 1900's, as it was recommended by several notable doctors as being a healthy place to live for those with a "delicate constitution"! There are several streets lined with beautiful old villas from that era, but very difficult to get a good view of them, as they are all hidden away behind the extensive gardens. We spent a lot of time wandering through the old part of town...
With a large population of rich Brits in poor health, inevitably death was a daily occurrence, so the cemetery is well worth a visit! Spotting the rugby balls from a distance, we thought further investigation of this grave was necessary.....
You come across the most unexpected people, in the most unexpected places sometimes!
So once again, Italy has impressed us, with friendly people, great food, good transport and wonderful weather. Maybe we need to look for house-sits in Italy next time - there will be a next time, won't there?!?
No comments:
Post a Comment