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Portofino, Italy:
This morning we arrived in Portofino, Italy. Again. We were supposed to take a boat ride to San Fruttuoso which is just around the corner to the right for approximately 30 minutes, take 30 minutes to visit there, then another boatride to Carnogli for 30 minutes, then a 1 hour walking tour and then have local wine and Genoese bread during the 30 minute cruise back to Portofino.
Margaret had breakfast in the room and I went to La Veranda, which has become our typical routine. She was feeling better so, after reading our books in the room and a nice relaxing lunch in Compass Rose we got our number 16 tour passes and took the completely packed tender to shore. After that hot ride and viewing the boats that we would take on the “Italian Riviera Cruise” Margaret said, “No way am I going to do that” and I turned in the tickets to the tour guide and we headed down the docks to the quaint Portofino waterfront. Seeing a church up the hill a bit we decided to check it out and it was beautiful. Lots of fresco paintings, beautiful dioramas and stained glass and only two other people in the cathedral. Exiting we remembered that Matt and Amy had told us to go to the Hotel Splendido which was on the top of the hill at the harbor entrance.
And, a walk up the hill it was. There were incredibly gorgeous views of the harbor entrance and classic stone walks and stairs. The hotel was stunningly beautiful, had been in business for 120 years as a hotel and who knows how long as a private residence and it was a very elegant building. We found a nice table at the railing with an unobstructed view of the harbor and enjoyed a nice bottle of Italian Rose, and the waiter brought us bowls and bowls of Italian olives, huge almonds, hazelnuts and fresh potato chips. It was a beautiful setting with an amazing view…I have to say, much better than a crowded ferry boat and standing in lines…you get the idea. That being said, several people later told me that they had a good time on the tour. But, they weren’t at the Splendido with us…
After we finished the wine and much of the chips (mostly me), almonds and olives we ordered some raspberry sorbet and some yummy lattes! The sorbet came with some strawberries and was fantastic! After helping a nice couple from New York take a picture and them reciprocating, we walked back down the hill to catch the tender. It wasn’t very crowded and we got a nice spot right next to the open door. Score!
Tonight we are having dinner in the steakhouse, Prime 7. This is the first time we have a reservation since we’ve been on the ship, which is pretty unbelievable but I have to admit that we haven’t really tried that hard. The dinner was great and we ordered some nice reserve wine. A great day for us to spend together at one of the most beautiful places we’d ever been.
Dad - Enjoying your emails We look forward to seeing more. Dad