After getting some last minute
recruitments, Frank (the drummer), Robynne (Shop-ey), Neo (dancer), Carl
(another Shop-ey) and myself, got the bikes from out of the crew bike area and
headed out to bike to the beautiful Italian town of Portofino. We needed to
take a tender boat from the ship to the town of Santa Margarita where there was
a small port. So after awkwardly loading our bikes into the boat, and riding
for about 15 minutes in the boat, we got onto the dock in Santa Margarita and
began our bike ride to Portofino.
Following
Carl, who had been here before on a prior ship, led the way through the small
town. The buildings along side the road stood tall, usually three stories. They
were brightly colored in a variety of reds, yellows, pinks and lime. They had a
charming look that gave all of us something to marvel as we biked further along
the road. We hugged the right side of the small road and tried our best to stay
clear of passing cars and Vespas.
The town
eventually gave way to barren coast. We could now see looking out into the bay,
a beautiful view of the other side of the bay, which housed several small towns
and also several marinas with hundreds of small sailboats. Every curve in the
country road gave us another view of the coast, which ranged from small resorts
to unusual rock formations to secluded beaches.
Stopping
only a few times for photos, we made it into the town of Portofino. The first
building we saw was an old, pink colored church. As we approached it, the
church bells rang for 12 noon. The ringing of the bells sounded as if they had
been in the church for 400 years and seemed like an appropriate soundtrack for
this old town. The road dead-ended into the parking lot for the Portofino
marina. We locked up our bikes and walked down the old stone road into the main
marina plaza.
The road
into the plaza was narrow and on each side were several shops and restaurants. As
we walked further, we agreed that we would like to sit down and have lunch at a
restaurant with free Wi-Fi. We walked further until the road emptied us into
the gorgeous marina. It moored mostly small sailboats and on each side was
green, natural hillside. Looking out we could still see the other end of the
bay. Along the marina were more restaurants to choose from.
We tried
sitting at one restaurant, but as we tried to log onto their advertised free Wi-Fi,
the waiter told us that no more that 4 people were allowed to log onto the Wi-Fi.
He explained that there we already two people logged on so only two of us could
log on. Annoyed, we got up and left. We walked around the town like lost ants
with our tablets and phones trying to pick up networks with little success.
After about 15 minutes, we decided to give up and just sit down anywhere.
We found a small pizza place and
after the waiter arranged the tables so all of us could sit, we sat down and
browsed the menu. We each ordered some pizzas and waited for only a short while
before they arrived. I ordered a 4-cheese pizza with hot salami and it was
pretty good. For one of the cheeses, they used Brie, which I’m typically not a
huge fan of. The pizza though was still excellent and with the view of the
marina on a bright sunny day, how could you possibly complain?
When we got the bill, we realized
that the restaurant was a cash only establishment and none of us had cash.
Frank, from the U.S., tried to withdraw from an ATM but for some reason would
not work. Neo, being from the U.K., managed to pull out enough cash to cover
all of us. While this was all happening, the waiters were growing impatient as
we were taking a long time and the restaurant was filling up quickly. Neo paid
the bill and we thanked them in our absolute best Italian accents and got out
of there.
Most of us being completely
stuffed, Robynne still wanted to get some Gelato before we left. We walked down
the road a few feet and found a nice little Gelato stand. As she ordered and
got her Gelato, I watched and realized that maybe I should get one too. With my
last 5 Euro, I got a Nutella and Pistachio flavored Gelato. I had never tried it
before and was sort of under the impression that it was just like normal ice
cream. I got my cone and licked the green pistachio side. I was instantly blown
away. It tasted exactly like pistachio and made the top of my head tingle. The
Nutella was also excellent and as I started to mix the two together, it made a
perfect compliment to each other. I couldn’t stop smiling from top to bottom of
that cone. This wasn’t just ice cream, this something far, far better.
 |
| Gilato makes Robynne very happy. |
We walked back up to the parking
lot to where our bikes were locked up. With the Gelato melting on one hand, I
managed to unlock my bike and get on. Robynne went to the bathroom and we
waited till she got out to get back onto the road.
The way back was equally scenic as
it was going into the town. We stopped more frequently this time to take photos.
We made it back to Santa Margarita in only about 20 or 30 minutes. As I looked
back I saw that we lost Robynne and Carl along the way. We waited for 15 minutes
and decided we needed to just head back to the ship for a rehearsal. As the
tender boat pulled out of the marina, I looked at the road that we rode and was
amazed that that is were I had just road. It was like out of a magazine.
Portofino was such an amazing little
gem in this Italian country coastline. The road leading to the town was
probably as exciting as actually getting to the town. It was an amazing
experience and to share it with some awesome people made it even more
enjoyable. I recommend if you get in the area, grab some friends and a few
bikes, and see where the small country road will take you. I guarantee it won’t
disappoint. -DB
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