Italy is just plain wonderful – plain and simple – there’s just no other way to say it!  Love the food, love the architecture, love the geography.  We spent a couple of weeks on the Italian Riviera (Santa Margarita) with side voyages to Venice, Pisa and Florence.   We began our voyage flying into Genoa, spending the night,  picked up car and headed south along the coast to Santa Margarita. Following on our experience the previous year in Paris, we rented a house overlooking the city and bay complete with pool and kitchen.  Lazy days with breakfast on the terrace, overlooking the bay, sunshine and warming temperatures.  Meandering into the town searching for markets or enjoying the waterfront.  On the waterfront, every afternoon, local fisherman would come into port with their catch for delivery to the local fish market.  The port also hosts accommodation to large pleasure vessels the contrast with the local fishing boat was priceless.  A short walk along the waterfront to the west of town takes one to the famed village of Portofino.  The days were warm and sunny, not too hot with cool breezes off the Mediterranean.   People walking along the road way with ever present scooters.  I must confess that I was so taken with people using scooters in Italy, I had to have one myself.  Along the way to Portofino were magnificent shoreline homes and hotels.

And finally to the village of Portofino.  We took in the village square squeezed in between old buildings and the marina. This is one of the most memorable views.  We’ve an elderly artist who can no longer travel the world in search for sites to paint.  So we supplied her with copies of many photo’s including the above which she painted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used Santa Margarita as a base, and took several excursions from there, including Venice and Pisa. Yes, Venice is all about tourism, one of the most popular in Europe, but I don’t care its just a must see.

 Like our time in Santa Margarita, we opted for a vacation rental which well suited grandmother, daughter, son and tour guide (me).  It also allowed us to to live in a “neighborhood” where we could experience life away from hotels, restaurants and tourist hordes.  As throughout most of Europe, life in the neighborhood included the ever present fresh fruit and vegetable vendor.  Certainly residing in the neighborhood also allowed us to enjoy the tourist activities

on our schedule which we certainly did.  We also took a day trip from Santa Margarita to Pisa.  I won’t bore you with photo’s of the Leading Tower of Pisa as a whole lot of photographers have more justice than I, but in addition to the tower is the cathedral which is part of the complex.  The cathedral is one of the finest I’d seen in Europe but is rarely shown because of the notoriety of the tower.  We took the train from Santa Margarita to Pisa.  In preparing for the train trip, I cautioned everyone to secure their wallets and especially their passports as pick-pockets are notorious in crowded public places in Italy.  And as luck would have it, I lost my passport.  It was when departing the train, I was hassled by another passenger whilst the pickpocketer histed my passport two days before returning home.  The good news was that it allowed a quick trip to Florence and while not much time to explore this wonderful city, at least we got a little teaser.