Today we anchored off the little Italian town of Santa
Margherita Ligure for a day on the Italian Riviera. We booked a tour which took us by boat to the abbey of San
Fruttuoso, the fishing village of Camogli, and Portofino.
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| A gorgeous sunrise! |
It was a little chilly as we sailed out from Santa
Margherita in our tour boat but the sun came out and warmed up nicely. San Fruttuoso is a small Abbey on a
little bay accessible only by boat or a grueling hike over the mountain from
Portofino. We only stopped in the
bay for a photo op and then continued on to the fishing village of Camogli
which is built on the Golfo de Paradiso.
The village is fairly interesting because the buildings are all painted
in trompe l’oeil. What appear to
be intricate marble window frames are in fact illusions. The buildings are also unusual because
they have a narrow alley-type entrance which slopes uphill. Inside is a narrow open courtyard that
all the apartments overlook. There
are no balconies. The design
developed so that if marauding pirates came ashore, the only access was through
these little alleys. Once inside
the pirates were subject to being pelted by rocks, boiling oil or boiling water and there was no place
to take refuge from this. Now the courtyards are draped in colored lights and
flags, quite unexpected.
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Abbey of San Fruttuoso
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| Inner courtyard in Camogli |
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| Trompe l'oeil decoration on the buildings |
We reboarded our boat and headed to Portofino. This is a small town which is
apparently favored by the rich and famous. It’s on a little cove and is accessible via boat, a narrow
road from Santa Margherita, or of course, your private helicopter. It literally is a tiny village, not at
all what we expected. Despite its
size, every other shop seems to be a designer one like Gucci, Dior, Louis
Vuitton, etc. It’s definitely a high-end
place.
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| Portofino |
After a walk around, we headed back to Santa Margherita our
starting point. This village has a
nice promenade along the waterfront with lots of cafes and restaurants. We picked a restaurant and had a great
lunch. My fish was so fresh I think
it jumped from the sea onto my plate. We had a salad composed of sliced fennel
and sliced orange with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It was fantastic! I never would have thought of combining
those ingredients but I will do so in the future. After a little walk along the promenade to work off lunch,
we headed back to the ship and spent the rest of the afternoon on our veranda
watching the fishermen working nearby.
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| The seaside promenade in Santa Margherita |
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| Statue of a famous Ligurian (Christopher Columbus) along the promenade. He's pointing to the west. |
In the evening we had been invited to try a new menu by the
chef with whom Seabourn has formed a relationship. He is Thomas Keller and evidently he has several famous
restaurants in California and New York.
We sat outside in the restaurant and had an interesting meal. I actually think I prefer the regular fare served, but I
suppose it’s good to try different things.
This was our last stop in Italy. Tomorrow we’ll be in Saint Raphael on the French Riviera.
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