Friday 26th April 2024

Friday 26^th April

SHE SAID:

We left Lucca & Tuscany for the Liguria region, which is very hilly but encompasses the Italian Riviera.

Giovanni, our driver, dropped us at Camogli, a quaint & colourful fishing village. Lori gave us a brief tour around then left us to wander. We were supposed to be there till 2.15pm then catch the ferry to the old monastery, but we got called back before midday. Lori had been told by the boat captain that the 2.30pm boat wasn’t going & we had to get the midday or 1pm ferry. She was unable to contact 1 couple, so we missed the 12 noon boat, but were on the 1pm one.

We were supposed to just change ferries at the old monastery, but the ferry on to Portofino was full, so we had an hour to walk around this one place. But again, she called us to the ferry ½ hour into the wandering saying an additional ferry was coming to take us to Portofino at 2pm. That turned out to be wrong too, as the ferry sat at the dock till 2.30pm. We could have had another ½ hour!

Portofino was very busy, full of very expensive shops & cafes; we didn’t even look for a drink or anything. Our final ferry took us to Rapollo for the night at the Europa Hotel. 

Geoff & I jagged another good meal served by friendly locals, & an added bonus was finding “Hannibal’s Bridge”. It is not confirmed but there is credible evidence that this bridge is 2200 years old. If it isn’t it is documented being there for well over 1000 years!

Camogli Fishing Village

Hoping for some fish!

Heading for the Monastery

Monastery
Portofino

Hannibal's Bridge
Our hotel: Europa

Walk along the foreshore

Castle

HE SAID:

We got some bad news on Varena's WhatsApp today. My sister Carmel, who'd had a breast lump removed a week ago, was informed after the biopsy analysis that the cancer had spread to a lymph node. So, now she'll need more checks, chemo, etc. Not good at all!

After my vertigo a few days ago I was a bit worried how I'd go on a boat, especially if the seas became a bit rough. The swell did get up, but I was fine, luckily. Portofino seems like a great place to avoid. Everything is overpriced. It is tiny. And in summer it gets full of Brits. What's the point?

At our dinner place Varena looked up things to see in the area and came across Hannibal's Bridge. Most of it has been washed away in floods. And the waterway that it crossed was redirected quite a while ago. But just the though that Hannibal may have crossed at that point in 200BC on his way to sack Rome is amazing. The backstop story is that the bridge was mentioned in a document from 900 and something AD. Not a bad age for a bridge!