...then two weeks on the Italian Riviera will do for us!! It has been a difficult month or so after all; eating, visiting and exploring its tiring work!
We managed to find ourselves a gorgeous little apartment just outside the bustling resort of Rapallo. It was nestled amongst olive groves and lemon trees; we even had a pet duck! The owner Harold speaks not a word of English and about three words in French. We speak very few words of Italian and a little french - this made for some incredibly interesting conversations where miraculously (and with a lot of hand gestures) we managed to understand each other.
Rapallo is a lively port and town. Its multi-coloured buildings cascade down the hillside and along the mile long promenade where everyone from kids on scooters, millionaires from the Marina and local octagenarians come to stroll, eat fabulous ice cream and sit on the shaded benches looking out to sea to watch the world go bye.
Rapallo was our base from where we where able to explore other parts of the Riviera. We boarded a typical tourist loaded boat headed for the Cinque Terre and quickly came to the conclusion that we hate other tourists and organised fun... Nevertheless it was definitely the best way to see the beautiful UNESCO world heritage site. As the name suggests the Cinque Terre are five small villages, 12 km from end to end, that cling precariously to the rocky slopes which rise steeply from the sea. The buildings are painted in typically bright Ligurian colours and are interspersed with vineyards which look impossible to harvest! A wander around the winding alleyways to purchase souvenirs, a delicious seafood lunch by the sea and getting a little tipsy on alcoholic iced lemon juice made for a very enjoyable day trip.
Stunning coastline walks take in the beautiful bays such and Zoagli, Santa Margherita and St Michel.
We hopped aboard a water taxi to take the 10 minute trip across the bay to join the jet set in Portifino. We had hoped to do bit of celebrity spotting but the closest we got was sitting down for an ice cream with a guy who looked a bit like captain Birdseye! The village is a pretty little place with its now famous coloured houses and is gorgeous designer boutiques (window shopping only!) however its celebrity status inevitably means that prices soar, standards slip and even the waiters have an air of self importance about them. Nevertheless, like us, boat loads of tourists flock in every hour to see what the place has to offer. They leave with a cheap souvenir having paid over the odds for lunch but still with big smile on their faces. In our opinion (and of course we are biased) it is a very nice place but not a patch on Positano!
The Ligurian Coast in beautiful and well worth a visit. It is billed as northern Italy’s answer to the Amalfi coast. We are not sure it is quite that but it certainly has plenty of its own charm without needing to make the comparison.
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