P is for Portofino, Portovenere, Positano

We're returning to Italy this week, not for the Pantheon shown here, but for three pretty places that I visited in 2006 - Portofino, Portovenere, and Positano.

First, I spent one day in Portofino, so named for the dolphins in the area. It's a small fishing village and resort on the northern rim of the Italian Riviera. The town is crowded around a small harbour and is considered to be one of the most beautiful Mediterranean ports. I climbed the hill by the harbour to visit Castello Brown, one of the town's main points of interest. From that vantage point, I managed to take many photos of Portofino and the yachts below. This castle was used to defend the harbour from as early as the 15th century. In 1867, the castle was purchased by the English consul in Genoa (Montague Yeats Brown) and he transformed the fort into a comfortable villa. Throughout the rooms, you can view photographs of many jet-setting celebrities who visited Portofino throughout the 50s and 60s - the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Ingrid Bergman, and Brigitte Bardot. A few of us had lunch on one of the patios in the harbour area and then did some window shopping, especially for Murano glass. Finally, Positano had the most beautiful cemetery I've ever seen. Gardens surrounded some of the plots and statues of saints and others decorated the area.

Next, is the town of Portovenere, one of the first towns along the Cinque Terre region of Italy. It dates back to the first century and is named after the goddess Venus. With its colourful facades, it made a dazzling first impression from the boat on which we arrived. We climbed the steep hill to the Gothic church of St. Peter, which was consecrated in 1198, and the Doria Castle. You can read about the castle's origins here. It was in Portovenere where I had my photo taken with a statue of a fisherman and began a tradition of having my photo taken with lots more statues in the weeks ahead throughout Italy.

Finally, we checked out Positano on the Amalfi Coast, south of Rome. We stayed here for 5 nights and not only explored the coast and some of its little towns (Amalfi, Atrani, Ravello), but also took a day trip to the Isle of Capri. Positano sits in the hills leading down to the coast and a beautiful, protected beach. It was a relatively poor fishing village in the first half of the 20th century because more than half its population had emigrated, mostly to Australia. However, after John Steinbeck published an essay about Positano in Harper's Bazaar, it started to attract many tourists. Steinbeck wrote, "Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you've gone." I certainly can relate to that! The town was also featured in the movie, Under The Tuscan Sun (2003) and Nine (2009) and was the setting for the romantic adventure novel, Finding Positano, A Love Story (2010). The little port of Mongibello was also based on Portofino in the movie The Talented Mr. Ripley and parts of the movie were filmed here. It was in Portofino that I bought a pair of Italian leather loafers and tasted excellent gelatto!

I cannot say enough how much I love Italy - its people, culture, food, wine, and history! If you ever have an opportunity to visit, here's a tip - avoid the "touristy" places like Pisa and go to one of these three places - Portofino, Portovenere, or Positano. You will not be disappointed! Hope you enjoy the slide show - all my photos except for 3 scanned postcards.