Portofino, Italy
October 2002
I spent a week in Reggio Emila, near Bologna, working with an Italian company on a project. With the weekend nearing, I asked them for an interesting destination. Bologna is in the central northern region, an easy drive to either the Alps, or the Mediterranean. I chose to visit the Met, which also took me through Parma (the home of Parmesan cheese and Prosciutto ham), Pisa, Florence and a pleasant drive through the Tuscany region. I didn’t have nearly enough time to see any of these with understanding, only enough to grasp the depth of the culture, geography and history that I was missing. It’s an incredible land, with recorded history back to before the Roman domination of Europe. My destination for Saturday and Sunday was a small town on the coast, originally a fishing village, but also an ideal port (I called to locate a room. Once we had agreed on a price I was ready to confirm the reservation, but the proprietor abruptly said, “you come; I have room. Ciao”. It was ready when I arrived). Because of its strategic value, a fort was built on the hill overlooking the inlet, then later turned into a castle. The castle, now called Castello Brown, was purchased by an Englishman in 1867 and converted into a residence. Eventually Portofino became attractive to the wealthy, who frequented it in the early part of the 20 th century. It is relatively isolated, being at the end of a narrow, crooked two-lane road that skirts the steep, rocky coast for five miles, from the nearest town, Santa Margherita.
Once there, I was taken by the idyllic setting. Yes, it has its commercialism; artsy shops, cafes and hotels. It also has the castle on the hill, grand houses overlooking the Mare Liguria (this part of the Met), statuesque Lombardy poplars and windswept cedars. Being from the states, the landscape was just too perfect to be anything but Disneyland, but there were no foam rocks or mechanical fauna; it was all real – I checked. There where real people living above the shops below, taking the trash out, and yelling at their dogs. Notice that the architectural features on the buildings are painted onto the stucco, a common practice in the area.
I couldn’t live in Italy, because I love my open spaces and raw, uncivilized, nature, but the culture and history are fascinating, the food is fabulous and I am always looking forward to going back, next time to stay longer.