I bid my baby farewell in Lausanne. Bekky was heading to Paris and the boys and I caught a couple of trains to our first stop in Italy. One night in Rapallo and a quick trip to Portofino.
Initially a practical decision as we had a room right next to the train station, Rapallo turned out to be a pleasant surprise and we could have happily stayed longer. We had our first taste of what to expect with stairs in Italy with several flights of narrow stairs to get to our loft room. We had a lovely Italian woman hosting us and we got a taste of Italy with breakfast on the balcony overlooking the city (and the train station).

Portofino

Portofino is a fishing village on the Italian Riviera coastline. We caught a ferry from Rapallo which was quick and easy and scenic.

I’d seen photos of Portofino from a high angle and wondered where the heck they were to get the shots. Turns out it’s easy. Just walk up to the castle (or was it a palace?) on the hill and the views are amazing. It was a castle, Castello Brown, now a museum. You can walk around the grounds for free but of course you have to pay to go in, which we did. I’m not that big on museums but I liked the architecture and the light.

Speaking of light, I would have liked to get to Portofino at dawn or dusk, or at least a sunny day. Turns out the middle of an overcast day can still yield ok results when you have an amazing location.

The bay (harbour?) is an interesting mix of super-yachts and fishing boats.

We stayed for lunch, trying the theory of 3 we were told about. 3 streets back from the main tourist spot gives you a meal that’s 3 times better at 1/3 of the price. We only went 1 block because we were hungry and didn’t want to miss the ferry back. I am now willing to try a few different cooking combinations when I get home. Pasta, pesto, potato and baby beans. Would never have put those ingredients together if I hadn’t tried it for myself.

We had a lovely 1/2 day in Portofino and I’m glad I made the effort to go. I really wanted to compare Portofino and Positano. I’ll tell you what I think when I get to the Amalfi Coast photos.

The rest of the day, however, turned to shit, with major dramas and meltdowns behind the scenes trying to get trains to Lucca, and a resulting domino effect that had quite an impact for the next stage of the trip. I won’t bore you with the details though. Photos of Lucca next, where we based ourselves for almost a week. From there we did Florence, then Cinque Terre on a rainy day and a quick, dramatic visit to Pisa before heading to the South of Tuscany to Pienza.