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Our last hiking day takes us to Portofino, probably the most anticipated village for both Ralf and I, but not before we make our longest hike yet from Rocco to San Fruttuoso and then on to Portofino. Maybe it was just because it was such a long hike, but there were honestly times in the last few hours where I questioned if we'd accidentally missed a turn-off and taken a longer route because it took so long to actually see Portofino. In the end, we were on the right path all along and eventually we did make it to Portofino. The only unfortunate thing about the day was Portofino was a bit of a disappointment (more on that later) but it was a amazing hike, despite the strenuous terrain.
Rewind....to start the day we took the train to Rocco where we were catch a bus to the neighboring (and very much uphill!) village of Camogli to begin our hike but with all the troubles we had finding the bus on one of our earlier days, we decided to add on a few kilometers and just hike it. Admittedly, it was a very pretty trail, albeit very steep. The walking path
was good though and eventually we made it to the village for some breakfast. Then off through a beautiful wooded area to San Fruttuoso. Not much more than an indentation along a mountainous coastline, accessible only from the sea or on foot. But it has two powerful attractions. One is an ancient Benedictine monastery and the other the Christ of the Abyss. The monastery is a lovely stone building with a small dome, which straddles the beach. Parts are medieval, some Romanesque, and the burial vaults of the aristocratic Doria family of Genoa are here. Until nature decided to throw up a beach in quite recent times, boats moored directly under the supporting arches of the monastery and could unload directly into the cellars. You can still walk beneath these arches and find the odd boat or two resting on the stones out of the weather.This picturesque little village ended up to be one of my favorites so there are a lot of photos on this particular blog. We had a great lunch of seafood pasta and pesto lasagna before starting off on the last leg of our journey. This was the phase at the end of a week of
hiking where Alec still had boundless energy but Ralf and I were losing the battle quickly! Alec actually took a couple videos that he made me promise not to delete that captured how exhausted we were and maybe, just maybe, how much complaining we were doing at that point. Nope, they did not make it to this blog! Despite the difficulty of this hike we both reflected later how glad we are that we did it and that Alec led us to achieve something we would have probably never done if it weren't for his enthusiasm.
After several more hours and a couple second guesses as to whether we were still on the recommended path, we finally reached a point where we could see the village below. As with our other hikes, we had quite a ways to go before we actually made it down into the village. In fact, I think this was one of our longest descents where, at times, we lost sight of the village but just continued on the well marked, nicely groomed walk-way.
Portofino is a fishing village on the Italian Riviera coastline, southeast of Genoa city. Pastel-colored houses, high-end boutiques and seafood
Rocco- Camogli -San Fruttuoso - Portofino
The village below as we begin our steep ascent.restaurants fringe its Piazzetta, a small cobbled square overlooking the harbor, which is lined with super-yachts. At first sight, Portofino was just a postcard perfect as we'd imagined and seen featured in artwork before our trip. Once we got down into the village, it definitely had it's own charm but in our viewpoint, not nearly as charming as most of the other villages we'd visited this week. The way the buildings lined the harbor filled with boats was truly beautiful but surprisingly, the buildings themselves had facades painted on rather than featuring true architectural detail. Maybe this area has been damaged and it was rebuilt in this manner. I haven't researched that but I did feel in some ways, it was more like Disneyland's Epcot. Very magical nonetheless and we are glad we made it here! After enjoying a few ten euro beers and a bite to eat we decided to take a boat to Santa Margherita. The harbour there mainly caters for smart yachts, but the town is also home to a small fishing fleet which can be seen unloading opposite the morning fishmarket. From there, we were able to make our way back to Sestri Levante by train
and enjoyed a nice seaside dinner there complete with a visitor from a very friendly cat. He may have been more friendly as a result of the mussels I shared but I think he was a "regular" there. The boys didn't enjoy his company nearly as much as I did but we had a great final dinner in the little town we've called home the last week.
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