Santa Marguerita and Portofino

Friday, March 25, 2011 (Part 1)

Today, we were very much on the move, and we have now entered the "family visit" part of our trip. We started the day by saying goodbye to Cinque Terre and driving to Santa Marguerita - about a 1-1/2 hour drive. The plan was that we would meet up with Roberto and Niki in Santa

Marguerita.

After first over-shooting the town and then turning around to drive back through, we finally spotted Niki and Roberto standing on opposite corners. We saw each other at the same time and we all started waving our arms and yelling across the street. It was so great to see them again!

Once we got the hugging and kissing out of the way, Roberto directed us to a parking lot where we could leave the car. Then, we all piled into Niki's car and drove to Portofino. Portofino is one of those places that I have heard a lot about. It is a classically picturesque harbor town on the Italian Riviera. But it was so much smaller than I had expected! We walked the entire harbor area in about 5 minutes. We also did a little shopping in a Murano glass jewelry store, and then Niki took us on a ferry boat ride back to Santa Marguerita while Roberto drove the car back to meet us there. It was a bit of an overcast day, but it was nice to

be on the water, which afforded a different perspective of these seaside towns.

As between Santa Marguerita and Portofino, Santa Marguerita was the much more fun, lively and interesting of the two. I am so glad that we followed Roberto's advice and met there instead of Portofino.