Portofino on the Italian Riviera

The perfect summer vacation spot … if only it wasn’t so crowded and expensive. Just south of Genoa, Portofino is a famous resort village located along the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Liguria. The town is clustered around a small harbour, and is known for its colorfully painted buildings that line the shore.

I’ve been there twice: when I was 12, and decades later with my Californian cousins. Behind me you can see the colorfully painted buildings that line the shore.

When I was 12, my family stayed in nearby Santa Margharita Ligure which is within walking distance of Portofino. Or you can take a small boat across the bay. Just now, as I wrote that sentence, a line from Truman Capote’s “Ischia” sprang to mind, a travel sketch found in his collection of work entitled “A Capote Reader”:

It was a classic day, a little cold for southern Italy in March, but crisp and lofty as a kite, and the Princepessa spanked across the bay like a sassy dolphin.

Why am I blogging about Portofino? Because I was watching Kylie’s latest film on YouTube and like all her short films – some made by drone camera! – it’s beautiful. I wanted to share it with you. Who’s Kylie? An extremely talented, effervescent young Australian woman who went to live in Italy. And she just got married! Here she is on her honeymoon in Portofino (link below.)

Honestly, you’d think you were watching an Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant movie; a lost world of glamour, elegance and enchantment. Well, Kylie brings it all back, and I applaud her for it.

Brava, Kylie! Felicitazioni.

(443) PORTOFINO, ITALY: A CINEMATIC VINTAGE LOVE STORY – YouTube

 

 

4 thoughts on “Portofino on the Italian Riviera

  1. Lovely! In 1977, I spent a week on Ischia in January, in Forio, which was small and quiet in those years, though I imagine it was far busier in summer. I stayed in a very simple pensione, recommended by painter friends. That amazing aqua water and steep promontories, the stone buildings, handsome men (a guy called Fausto was doing some repairs in the pensione and I remember having a glass of wine with him one afternoon!). Sigh. This is an evocative post, Juliet…

    • I had every intention of going to Capri about five years ago, but I was mugged in the street in Naples so I left the region. I hear Ischia, even these days with all the tourists, is still heavenly.
      Yes, an evocative post thanks to Kylie’s compilation of beautiful images.

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