Sunday, April 28, 2013
Portofino, Italy
That's pretty much how we all feel about Portofino. Oh sure, it's a pretty place, and for some people, I can see how it is a must see for them. But for me and my friends, it was a must see once kind of place. And here's why: You're trapped, and they know it.
This area of Italy is made up of many little villages on the back side of mountains along the coast, and connected by little coastal mountain roads. This special situation leads the locals to think they can charge whatever they want, for anything. Good food, bad food. Wifi, no wifi. It's all the same to them because, "Where else are you going to go?"
Jennifer and I went in search for wifi and food one day. I sat down and ordered a hamburger for €13. Mmm, I was excited for my burger. Anything that costs that much has to be good right? Well, about ten minutes later, the waiter brings me a hamburger patty on a plate. That's it. Not even a garnish.
@#$% Portofino!
Nevertheless, it is beautiful, and since it's probably your first time here vicariously through me, I might as well do you the service of providing you with some nice things to look at.
So, here we go.
We walked all the way through Portofino, and found the local bus stop. We took a bus to the next town over, Santa Margarita. It was pretty too. And yes, half the clips in the video, and the rest of my pictures are from Santa Margarita even though I titled the movie trailer above, "Portofino." I did this because no matter where you go in this area, the ship is docked in Portofino, so you have to start and end there.
After walking around for about half an hour, we found an entrance to a gated park at the bottom of a hill. The gate was open so we went inside, and there we found steps that led up the hill, so we took them.
On our way up, we found some pretty incredible little areas, many of which were not being used anymore and had been overgrown with plant life to create a kind of effect that...well, to be honest, the whole place looked a lot like Dire Maul from World of Warcraft. Check it out: Pictures of Dire Maul.
Eventually we found a palace type thing.
And you know what, the statues were actually kind of cool. For me, they made the trip up here kind of worth it. Most of them were Greek gods or goddesses, and it was fun to try and guess which ones they were before looking at the engraving at the bottom.
And finally, a church on top of the hill overlooking the water (and next to a coffee shop). This was as far as we went, then we turned around and eventually made our way back to the bus, and then the life boat tender, and then the ship.
Of course, that didn't happen right away because we were all split up. In fact, we lost Marcy altogether, she got distracted, as she does. But don't worry, she found her way back on her own. While waiting for everyone else to finish their site seeing, I sat down and did what I do best.
Oh, and before we got back on to the ship, we managed to find one place with working wifi. Sadly, these last two moments were the highlight of my day.
We would return to Portofino several times in our contract. But don't worry, I probably won't write about it anymore, unless I can find some amusing aspect to why I would ever bring this place up again.
Next time: ROME!
Portofino, Italy
That's pretty much how we all feel about Portofino. Oh sure, it's a pretty place, and for some people, I can see how it is a must see for them. But for me and my friends, it was a must see once kind of place. And here's why: You're trapped, and they know it.
This area of Italy is made up of many little villages on the back side of mountains along the coast, and connected by little coastal mountain roads. This special situation leads the locals to think they can charge whatever they want, for anything. Good food, bad food. Wifi, no wifi. It's all the same to them because, "Where else are you going to go?"
Jennifer and I went in search for wifi and food one day. I sat down and ordered a hamburger for €13. Mmm, I was excited for my burger. Anything that costs that much has to be good right? Well, about ten minutes later, the waiter brings me a hamburger patty on a plate. That's it. Not even a garnish.
@#$% Portofino!
Nevertheless, it is beautiful, and since it's probably your first time here vicariously through me, I might as well do you the service of providing you with some nice things to look at.
So, here we go.
 |
| Porto@#$%inwhoopdiedofino. |
 |
| ♫ Fat guy in a little coat. ♫ |
After walking around for about half an hour, we found an entrance to a gated park at the bottom of a hill. The gate was open so we went inside, and there we found steps that led up the hill, so we took them.
On our way up, we found some pretty incredible little areas, many of which were not being used anymore and had been overgrown with plant life to create a kind of effect that...well, to be honest, the whole place looked a lot like Dire Maul from World of Warcraft. Check it out: Pictures of Dire Maul.
Eventually we found a palace type thing.
And you know what, the statues were actually kind of cool. For me, they made the trip up here kind of worth it. Most of them were Greek gods or goddesses, and it was fun to try and guess which ones they were before looking at the engraving at the bottom.
And finally, a church on top of the hill overlooking the water (and next to a coffee shop). This was as far as we went, then we turned around and eventually made our way back to the bus, and then the life boat tender, and then the ship.
Of course, that didn't happen right away because we were all split up. In fact, we lost Marcy altogether, she got distracted, as she does. But don't worry, she found her way back on her own. While waiting for everyone else to finish their site seeing, I sat down and did what I do best.
 |
| Starcraft. Any place. Any time. |
We would return to Portofino several times in our contract. But don't worry, I probably won't write about it anymore, unless I can find some amusing aspect to why I would ever bring this place up again.
Next time: ROME!
No comments:
Post a Comment