Portofino

One of the favorite artworks displayed in our home is a watercolor of the Portofino harbor painted by my Grandmother on a visit to Italy in the 1940's.

Portofino,  watercolor by Margaret R. Hough 1940's

I found the painting still enclosed in Nana's sketchpad and indeed the penciled outline of an additional sailboat or two in the harbor indicates that this was still a work in progress.  Each time I see this painting I imagine Nana sitting comfortably at her easel gazing at the incredible view as she takes time to record this memory in watercolor. 

Portofino lies just up the coast from where we are in the Cinque Terre.  So one of the excursions planned for our visit with Lily was a visit to Portofino with hopes that we could locate the exact place her Great Grandmother sat while painting this view.

Cappuccino break in Santa Margherita-Ligure
before departure for Portofino

Although direct boat service from Manarola to Portofino is offered on certain days, the boat did not operate on the day we intended to travel so we took the train from Manrola to Santa Margherita-Ligure where we would be able to board a passenger boat for the 15 minute ride into Portofino harbor.

From the train station into the center of Santa Margherita-Ligure is a short walk.  We arrived just before Noon so we took the opportunity to enjoy a cappuccino in the main square.  There were so many interesting take away options that we decided to make an impromptu picnic lunch.  Liguria is famous for its focaccia and also for a crepe made from olive oil and chickpea flour.  We found a bakery that made both!  And sat in a waterfront park next to a prominent fountain crowned with an imposing statue of Christopher Columbus and enjoyed our lunch.

Arrival in Portofino

The boat trip into Portofino's harbor takes only 15 minutes.  As we approached Portofino there were many huge yachts moored in the harbor with uniformed staff members undertaking various tasks.  One of the tasks would be to transport the yachts occupants into town for shopping or dining.  Google tells us that the yacht owners included Dolce and Gabbana and a Russian billionaire.  Although there wasn't room at the dock for their massive yachts, there was for ours so we landed in the center of the town and immediately took off on our quest to locate the perch where Nana sat to paint her watercolor.

Getting close

Lily first remarked that it was obvious the buildings had changed color from the uniform white of Nana's painting. The colors of Portofino today are classic dark reds, yellows, light greens and ivory we associate with the Mediterranean.

We headed away from the harbor towards footpaths up into the opposite hills.   One stone path led from the harbor to Castel Brown - a local landmark.  The path led past large private homes with patios and gardens that would have provided a similar view.  But the stone walls were too tall to provide an easy view of the harbor.  Although there were several breaks in the wall where we could look down towards the harbor, the perspective didn't seem quite right.  Plus, the walkway and walls appeared to pre-date the 1940's so we were pretty sure Nana didn't choose that exact spot.  At one point Marlow actually knocked on a very imposing door of the villa with a grand patio overlooking the harbor.  The staff of the villa finally answered his knocking but assured us we were in the wrong place!

Not quite the exact perspective ..... keep climbing

After traversing up and down the walkway Lily spotted another slightly higher pathway above the path we were on.  So we walked back down towards the harbor and took this alternate route back up into the hills opposite.  This path led to a church and its adjacent cemetery.   At various points on the cemetery grounds it was possible to look down to the harbor.

Hmm, perhaps Nana found a spot in the cemetery to create her painting.

The cemetery has expanded since Nana must have visited the area.  It has grown into higher and higher points on the hill all connected by stairs and ladders.

And it is still expanding.  At the very top there were still crypts in various stages of completion.  Peering around one set of crypts we saw what seemed to be a good candidate but there was no terra cotta roof visible in the lower left corner of the view.

Just missing the prominent terra cotta roof.

But when peering around another set of crypts, and standing on an adjacent bench to look over the trees below, we were able to find what looks to be the exact place Nana sat.  We imagine that before the cemetery expanded up into the hills, the various plateaus were paved observation areas where Nana would have been able to sit in the shade and gaze down at the harbor.

Eureka!  We located Nana's perch!

Having completed our quest we headed back towards the port with great satisfaction and feeling quite entitled to some gelato!