Day 6 - 21 April, 2005: Rapallo, Portofino

We had to get up early today to make the 8:30 ferry over to Varenna. The ferry ride was pleasant; about 20 minutes or so, and once on land, our navigation lady guided us down the lake until we could get onto the Autostrada towards Milan and on to the Ligurian coast. Our route took us around Milan, down towards Genoa, around Genoa and along the coastal higway to Rapallo. The drive was amazing. Once we got to the coast, it was basically tunnels and bridges alternating as we cut straight across the valleys formed by the fingers of the Appenine mountains reaching down to the sea. The engineering involved was amazing. Honestly, I'm surprised that the Italian government was able to muster the organization to get this incredible job done.

We had our first fill-up on the way down: 82 euros ($110). There was a slight bit of nervousness when our VISA got declined. Thankfully they took AMEX. We came to find out that FirstUSA had put a hold on our account due to charges showing up in a foreign country. I was able to call from the lobby of our hotel in Rapallo and straightened it all out.

We got to Rapallo around 12 or so; right on time. We spent about 15 minutes or so fumbling around trying to find our hotel and realized that we passed right by it on our initial approach. It's basically right on the water; across from a long promenade. There was a HUGE street market going on on the promenade when we got there; so that made things even more crazy than usual. Fortunately, I had reserved a spot in the hotel's secured parking area, or else we wouldn't have found a spot anywhere nearby. We were given the choice of a room on the 1st floor or the 3rd floor. The 3rd floor room had an awesome view of the sea, so we chose that one. It had the added benefit of being a little further away from the street; which we hoped would help us out when it was time to retire for the evening.

The hotelier was able to sell us our ferry tickets to Portofino, and we set out to find a place to have lunch. This trip we're trying to be a little more thrifty at lunch and have been purchasing sandwiches and small pizzas for picnic lunches on park benches or what have you. We ate on the promenade; watching the people and soaking up the sun. I traded some SMS messages with my buddy Adam, who was on his honeymoon and was in Rome at the time. We tried to send pictures of the waterfront to some people back in the states, but never got any confirmation of their delivery.

Anyway, we boarded the ferry and half an hour later we were in Portofino. It's a smaller town than Bellagio; but no less quaint. The small harbor was dominated by some yachts the likes of which you only see in places like Ft. Lauderdale, Cannes, or Monte Carlo. The water was such a deep, rich, azure blue that it's no wonder they call some of this coastline the "Cote d'Azur." We strolled around the shops, aghast at the prices being charged for some of the goods. A gelato that would cost 3 euros in Rapallo was 8 euros there; blouses that would be $40 in the US were 150 euros there. What amazed me even more is the thought that there are people who would look at that 150 euro blouse and say to their husbands, "Now that's not that bad a price for that blouse, is it honey?"

We walked up the hill that overlooks the harbor and found an old church and fortress that was used to defend and protect not only Portofino, but the approaches to the entire bay on which sits Rapallo and Santa Margherita. We walked around to the lighthouse, at the end of the peninsula and passed by several doors with paths leading up or down the hill to their respective villas. Our guidebook mentioned that the "locals" don't even come out until very late in the afternoon; after the last ferry has left (and with it all of the "common" tourists).

Unfortunately, we had to share the return ferry with at least 100 schoolchildren ranging from elementary school to high school. It was a complete zoo. Once back in Rapallo, we went in search of dinner (and Pesto in particular, since the region of Liguria is the home of pesto). We found a lovely little "locals only" trattoria and proceeded to have the best pesto ever. We had our compulsory cup of gelato on the walk back to the hotel.

It's another early morning tomorrow; as we have to get to Florence in time for our 4:45pm tour of the Uffizi Gallery. We also want to see San Gimignano and its towers tomorrow, too. So far the weather's been great, except for Tuesday. Today it was perfect; bright blue sky and just a few puffy clouds.