geeteetravels

The first ride of the trip and getting out of the city can be stressful but it went relatively smoothly and was uneventful. We followed the coastal road or just above it all the way to Camogli where we started climbing over to the Portofino area. It was fairly steep and slow in places but thankfully not too long. We were rewarded with a spectacular vista of the Golf of Tigullio once over the top. We rode to Portofino before going back to Rapallo where we were staying. Portofino is a very exclusive area on the Italian Riviera. The are many big private yachts and fancy villas. We couldn’t find an affordable place to stay there thus opted for Rapallo. This is also a nice beach town to enjoy the ocean and the waterfront walks. The hotel is quite dated but adequate as it faces the water and gives a good view of the area.

The hotel offered a deal that included the evening meal as well as breakfast. We decided that the food wasn’t their forte.

Buena notte. We’re off to bed early and hopefully can sleep off the last of the cold we managed to pick up, probably from the plane.

White Oleander are everywhere; super fragrant, beautiful and highly toxic!

Ready to go

Just one of the tiny bays between Rapallo and Portofino

The picturesque coast on a remarkably calm and hot day

Tara is loving being in Santa Margherita di Ligure

We have seen ‘trompe l’œil’ on many buildings; moreso than elsewhere in Italy

Portofino harbour

Our last half day with the Danes involved more Palazzo exploring, a nice lunch and a goodbye beer. The lunch was from a bit of a hole in the wall place with a very friendly chef/owner. We pondered the menu for a bit and then were invited to choose by sight in the kitchen. Finally he shooed us out and said he’d bring us a good mix of everything which worked fine.

We said goodbye to my wonderful cousins with promises of a ‘cousinefest’ next year in Denmark. Then it was time to build the bike. The easiest place to do that was our room as there was no parking garage or other suitable spot.

All put together again

A fine and interesting lunch

Almost built

Palazzo Reale, looks like a nice place for a supper with a hundred of your closest friends

Our flight to Genova was uneventful and we had almost no trouble getting into the city from the airport. Almost, as Tara was pick pocketed out of 50 euros on the bus in. Nothing else was lost so I guess that was fortunate.

As soon as we got away from the bus stop we saw our greeting party waving at us. Two of my Danish cousins with their spouses had come down for the weekend to spend time with us and see the sights of Genova.

Over the next two days we squeezed a lot of sightseeing and catching up. Some of the highlights are shown in the pictures.

• Boat ride to Pegli and back
• Funicular up to a viewpoint and park.
• Trip to walk the passegiata and have dinner in Nervi
• Wandering the narrow streets of the historic centre
• Seeing the Palazzo Reale, and
• Just sitting, talking and having a cold beer with family we see far too seldom.

My cousin Aksel is a farmer in Denmark and a master at raising pigs.

We started out of Calgary two hours late on Air Transat but things improved from there. It may have been our smoothest transatlantic flight ever but it’s still difficult to get much sleep back in the cheap seats.

We planned to meet Erika and had bought tickets to a show (The Comedy About a Bank Robbery) so were a bit concerned about the time. We stored our bags at the airport hotel we were staying at for the night and caught the Gatwick Express into London. We met Erika in time and the show was good and funny although both Tara and I were nodding off a bit in the beginning.

I went shopping for a Denmark world cup jersey which was surprisingly difficult to find, as I wanted to show support for the team, and Canada (nor Italy) didn’t qualify. Then off to find dinner, before saying goodbye and heading back to the hotel at Gatwick. The concierge suggested we check in for the early morning flight this evening without any crowds, which we did. Yet another advantage of staying in the hotel at the airport!