Yaaaay, we finally made it to Portofino yesterday!! It’s been raining off and on all week (mosquitoes galore!!! 🥴), but we decided to head to Portofino yesterday (rain or shine) to fit that trip in before heading off to our other Italian travel adventures next week!! Almost every day has been cloudy, rainy and/or thunderstorms, but yesterday turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day (even if it was a bit humid)!! ☀️
I have booked a lovely place in Rapallo (near Portofino) for the two weeks after Sheryl leaves before my cruise, and the owner of the apartment was kind enough to hold my two backpacks so I’ll only have one suitcase with wheels to navigate on the trains (and the Vaparetto in Venice)!!
So we met the apartment owner’s partner at the train station where he KINDLY took my the bags (yaaaay!!), then wandered around Rapallo a bit to find a gluten free pasta place with AMAZING pesto sauce!! (According to the people I stayed with in Genoa years ago, Liguria is the home of pesto and it is FABULOUS!!) I think I’m really going to enjoy Rapallo with all its intricate small streets near the beautiful waterfront!! Our visit yesterday was to see Portofino but also so I could get a feel for Rapallo, and I’m excited about my stay there!!
Our yummy pesto pasta lunch was right across from the ferry stop to Portofino, so I figured we were right on schedule and it was going to be an easy, sunny, enjoyable day!! But of course not…. it IS travel after all!! 🤪
Turns out they had cancelled all the ferries for the day due to the crazy thunderstorms the night before (even though their website didn’t mention it earlier that morning when I looked)!! 😏 But, we wouldn’t have enjoyed exploring Rapallo and tasted the delicious pasta if we hadn’t meandered around before realizing this, and it was the highlight of the day!!
I usually go for the least complicated (least walking) option, but when things don’t turn out as planned, I find I get the more interesting experience!! As often happens, the “travel gods” had my best interest at heart and gave me the experience I NEEDED rather than the experience I THOUGHT I wanted!!
Just so you know (for future travelers!!), the ferry is the easiest option because it goes straight into the Portofino harbor so you don’t have to climb up and down the hill (and it also makes a stop in Santa Margherita which I highly suggest)!!
However, if the ferry isn’t running and you decide to take the bus, take the TRAIN to Santa Margherita station and catch the bus to Portofino from there (so you can get in first and don’t have to be crowded in face-to-back with no breathing room…. hanging on for dear life around the crazy, SKINNY 2-lane road to Portofino in a super hot bus!! 🥵😳
I have LITERALLY never seen that many people packed onto a bus!! Oh wait - except the time when we were on the chicken bus in Guatemala and I got my wallet stolen because of the crowded aisles and jostling so I didn’t notice when someone stuck their hand in my pocket!! 🥴🤪🤷♀️ Even so, most of the people on that bus sat 3-to-a-seat on the old school bus bench-type seats so there weren’t that many people standing in the aisles for very long!!
This was like 25 minutes each way of isometric exercise, trying to keep from falling on the next person (and my knees, ankles and calves definitely felt it by the time I got back to our AirBnb)!! Plus on the return, we seemed to be in the middle of a very loud family (some who had gotten on the back of the bus and some on the front) who insisted on chattering over our heads all the way back to the Santa Margherita station!! 🥴😂🤪
Needless to say, the visit to Portofino had definite highlights (Rapallo, Santa Margherita, gluten free pesto pasta AND a gluten free pastry with Nutella!!, sunshine, lunch and cappaccino by the beautiful sea!!), and a few challenges!! If we had stopped at Santa Margherita, I would’ve said it was the perfect day!!
But that doesn’t mean I won’t try to see Portofino again! Since I’ll be there for a couple weeks by myself, I might just go there on a day it’s sunny and the ferry is running (just for the views which are supposed to be spectacular from the water)!!
This week will be busy with more travel!! Sunday we are doing a wine tour, visiting Pisa, San Gimignano and Siena, then we say goodbye to Viareggio on Tuesday for our travels to Lake Como and Venice!
I’m sure I’ll have more to write and lots of pictures to share next week - or maybe after Sheryl leaves and I’ll be alone and need someone to “chat with” - but I’ll leave you for now !! XOXO and sending hugs to all!! 💖🤗💖
I have booked a lovely place in Rapallo (near Portofino) for the two weeks after Sheryl leaves before my cruise, and the owner of the apartment was kind enough to hold my two backpacks so I’ll only have one suitcase with wheels to navigate on the trains (and the Vaparetto in Venice)!!
So we met the apartment owner’s partner at the train station where he KINDLY took my the bags (yaaaay!!), then wandered around Rapallo a bit to find a gluten free pasta place with AMAZING pesto sauce!! (According to the people I stayed with in Genoa years ago, Liguria is the home of pesto and it is FABULOUS!!) I think I’m really going to enjoy Rapallo with all its intricate small streets near the beautiful waterfront!! Our visit yesterday was to see Portofino but also so I could get a feel for Rapallo, and I’m excited about my stay there!!
Our yummy pesto pasta lunch was right across from the ferry stop to Portofino, so I figured we were right on schedule and it was going to be an easy, sunny, enjoyable day!! But of course not…. it IS travel after all!! 🤪
Turns out they had cancelled all the ferries for the day due to the crazy thunderstorms the night before (even though their website didn’t mention it earlier that morning when I looked)!! 😏 But, we wouldn’t have enjoyed exploring Rapallo and tasted the delicious pasta if we hadn’t meandered around before realizing this, and it was the highlight of the day!!
I usually go for the least complicated (least walking) option, but when things don’t turn out as planned, I find I get the more interesting experience!! As often happens, the “travel gods” had my best interest at heart and gave me the experience I NEEDED rather than the experience I THOUGHT I wanted!!
Just so you know (for future travelers!!), the ferry is the easiest option because it goes straight into the Portofino harbor so you don’t have to climb up and down the hill (and it also makes a stop in Santa Margherita which I highly suggest)!!
However, if the ferry isn’t running and you decide to take the bus, take the TRAIN to Santa Margherita station and catch the bus to Portofino from there (so you can get in first and don’t have to be crowded in face-to-back with no breathing room…. hanging on for dear life around the crazy, SKINNY 2-lane road to Portofino in a super hot bus!! 🥵😳
I have LITERALLY never seen that many people packed onto a bus!! Oh wait - except the time when we were on the chicken bus in Guatemala and I got my wallet stolen because of the crowded aisles and jostling so I didn’t notice when someone stuck their hand in my pocket!! 🥴🤪🤷♀️ Even so, most of the people on that bus sat 3-to-a-seat on the old school bus bench-type seats so there weren’t that many people standing in the aisles for very long!!
This was like 25 minutes each way of isometric exercise, trying to keep from falling on the next person (and my knees, ankles and calves definitely felt it by the time I got back to our AirBnb)!! Plus on the return, we seemed to be in the middle of a very loud family (some who had gotten on the back of the bus and some on the front) who insisted on chattering over our heads all the way back to the Santa Margherita station!! 🥴😂🤪
Needless to say, the visit to Portofino had definite highlights (Rapallo, Santa Margherita, gluten free pesto pasta AND a gluten free pastry with Nutella!!, sunshine, lunch and cappaccino by the beautiful sea!!), and a few challenges!! If we had stopped at Santa Margherita, I would’ve said it was the perfect day!!
But that doesn’t mean I won’t try to see Portofino again! Since I’ll be there for a couple weeks by myself, I might just go there on a day it’s sunny and the ferry is running (just for the views which are supposed to be spectacular from the water)!!
This week will be busy with more travel!! Sunday we are doing a wine tour, visiting Pisa, San Gimignano and Siena, then we say goodbye to Viareggio on Tuesday for our travels to Lake Como and Venice!
I’m sure I’ll have more to write and lots of pictures to share next week - or maybe after Sheryl leaves and I’ll be alone and need someone to “chat with” - but I’ll leave you for now !! XOXO and sending hugs to all!! 💖🤗💖
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