Picturesque Portofino

28 July 2026 – Portofino, Italia – Portofino is a lovely little town on the rocky northwest-ish coast of Italy.  The town itself curves around the small harbor, full of ochre and sienna-colored buildings ringed around the turquoise waters filled with both fishing boats and fancy yachts.  Portofino has become the playground of the rich and famous, though we didn’t see anyone who might qualify.  We did see a number of huge spaceship-style yachts, as well as one rumored to rent suites for some $50-to-$90,000 per week.  Way too spendy for us!

We arrived by tender, so my first views of this pretty little town were fuzzy and maybe even a bit splashed with sea water. 

J wanted to climb the rocky promontory to one side of the town, and I wanted to paint the lovely scene, never having been to the Ligurian Sea before.  We picked a waterfront café at which to meet (Il Gemelli – The Twins).  I walked around the entire curved waterfront, stopping briefly to dip my toes in the sea (because how can I go to the Mediterranean and not dip my toes?).  Though I will admit I asked a random strong-looking man if he’d hold my hand while I dipped my toes, so that I wouldn’t fall in.  Yes, the kindness of strangers and all that.  He and his wife were quite nice, and held my hand as I stepped down the stone stairs (no wall or rail) to the lower area where someone would climb onto a dinghy – I did end up sitting on the wall to dip my toes, but they kindly held my hand as I climbed back up.  What can I say, uneven rocky stairs just seem to require some kind of stability when one is 70-something and a known klutz.

I settled in at the café which was closed, though later the staff showed up and while they didn’t chase me off, they did move me to another table.  I had a lovely morning sketching and then painting the scene.  (Normally I order a coffee, since I’m using a café’s table – but this café didn’t open while I was sitting there, they just set up all their tables.)

Several other tourists stopped by to see what I was doing, including three women from the Netherlands whom we had met while being processed at the terminal in Civitavecchia.  The funniest was a woman on another ship, travelling with her sister and brother-in-law, who really wasn’t happy with her ship for a variety of reasons.  I told her all the reasons I prefer Holland America, so who knows, she might check it out.

J came back, and I finished up my painting.  The Dutch women went to get coffee at the Dolce & Gabbana café because they stencil their logo on the coffee!  We wandered a bit, and I had some gelato because it really was that hot and humid.  Mmmm, gelato is one of the things I can easily order in Italian – “una piccolo copa, per favore, cioccolata fondente con caffe.”  As she scooped the dark chocolate into the dish, I could see how rich and dark it was – I said “molto fondente!”  And the lady laughed.  (I always feel brilliant if I can actually make a joke in another language, no matter how tiny a joke.  Probably also shows how rarely I feel brilliant, LOL!)

Anyway, more wandering.  Prices in Portofino are rather high, but given that the town is inundated by cruise ship visitors as well as all those rich and famous types, it’s to be expected.  While I was painting, apparently another cruise ship came in, and hordes of tourists came in on large motor boats.  We came in on the lifeboats which HAL uses as tenders – but I guess their ship contracted with some company using larger boats to get more people ashore more quickly.

It did feel like the invasion of tourists.  As the town became more and more crowded, J and I both felt sorry for the residents of this beautiful little town.  Tourism at its best and worst, at the same time.

I bought a bag of truffled potato chips, simply because I do adore black truffles.  That and the gelato were my big purchases.  Normally I’d buy a coffee or other drink at any café where I stop to paint, but no one was ready to serve, so I just borrowed their table(s) and moved on.