We walked around the main tourist area for a while before buying boat tickets for Portofino. We expected to leave very soon because the empty boat was right there. It turned out, though, that they didn't want to use that boat, and we had to wait 50 minutes to get on one coming from Rapallo, already crowded when it arrived at Santa Marguerita. We had a nice view of the coast, though through rain streaked windows, as we proceeded along the coast of the peninsula. 

Boat at S. Margherita landing

En route to Portofino

When we got to Portofino about 11:45, the dock was so mobbed with tourists trying to get on or off of boats that it was difficult for us to disembark. The whole waterfront area was a mob scene. We could see that Sunday was not the day to visit such a popular site. And all this on a terrible rainy day! We walked inland as far as the streets went, partly to get away from the crowds, but primarily to see the rest of the town. Portofino is not very big, but it is very pretty. If there were no tourists there, it might even be a nice place to visit. But it can't compare to nearby towns like Portvenere or the Cinqueterre, which are at least as pretty, have more to see, and are less crowded. One nice thing about it: cars are banned, except those of residents. In that respect it was better than Santa Marguerita.

Portofino in the rain

Away from the marina

Uncrowded Portofino we didn't see

Back at the waterfront we found a small alementari (grocery store). Most of the tourists didn't seem to realize what it was, so it wasn't crowded. We bought a couple kinds of focaccio, some fruit and water, and had a picnic lunch sitting on the water's edge amid all the hubbub. We just caught the 1:00 boat back to Santa Marguerita.

On our way back to the La Vela, we checked out a couple of nice restaurants the hotel clerk had recommended for Jane's birthday dinner. We made reservations at D'Approdo, reputed to be the best in town. We picked up the car and went back to the hotel for a short time. Since it was raining too much to do much in Santa Marguerita, about 2:15 we decided to drive to Vernazza in the Cinqueterre to see if we could arrange a room there for the Monday and Tuesday nights.

The autostrada was very similar to the one between Genoa and France, perhaps with even more tunnels. We got off at Carrodano and found that the roads toward Vernazza were extremely narrow and twisting, with sheer drops and no guard rails. By the time we got within a few kilometers of Vernazza, we had decided that we didn't want to drive this route again, so we wouldn't stay in Vernazza after all. We'd stay in Sestri Levante instead. Actually, in planning the trip Darrell originally intended to have us stay in Sestri all four nights we would be on the Italian Riviera, from Saturday through Wednesday morning. In retrospect, that would have been far more convenient.

> The birthday girl

Leaving La Vela

We struggled back to the autostrada and got back to the hotel in Santa Margherita about 4:45. It was still raining, so Jane wrote postcards while Darrell sorted and culled our brochures and maps. A little before 7:30 we drove to the Piazza Mazzini, the square near the L'Apprado, and got the last parking space. When we entered the restaurant, we found that we were the only customers, although a few more came later. Obviously, most of the weekend visitors had departed. 

We both started with the gnocchi al pesto, undoubtedly the world's best pasta. Jane followed with scampi and a salad, while Darrell had a filet mignon. We shared a fine white wine. They had fragolini da bosco for dessert (but only one serving), and Jane tried that. However, they were not like the wild strawberries we used to get when we lived in Verona almost 40 years before. All the food was delicious and, as we expected, the prices were very high, just under $100 for the two of us. But after all, it was Jane's birthday.

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