The stuff postcards are made of

It's become apparent, Santa Margherita Ligure is one of those places where you can completely lose track of all time and drift into a completely relaxed state. I have found myself on several occasions asking Shannon even what day it is. Lazy breakfasts, people watching and afternoons spent lounging on the balcony watching the people on the beach below.
Today we decided to take a bus to Portofino, about 10 minutes away from our little paradise. The rumours of Italian driving are true - even more so when on board a bus. He stopped for no-one, bleared his horn at every bend and drove at a speed that made me tense at every bend as we wound our way around the coast. I couldn't help but grin as we pulled into our stop and took in the view. There are moments in life that simply take out breath away - and views as it would seem! I could not even begin to justify Portofino's beauty with words. But a picture, well we all know how much it can explain...

Doing her laundry and watching the tourists

Portofino harbour

A brief side note: for those of you who have not travelled Europe before...public toilets have a service fee. Yes, you read correctly! However, there is good reason for it. Unlike the big places we have at home that are always hhmm let's say grotty, most public toilets in Europe are looked after by an attendant. They keep them clean at all times and usually they charge between 20 and 50 euro cents. For the pleasure of using the facilities at Portofino today the charge was 1 euro...around 1 dollar 40 australian. And...she can get away with it because it's the only public loo in town! Sorry if that bored you, but I find it kind of fascinating that they charge you to use them, but also have someone employed full time to keep them clean.

Portofino was once a tiny fishing village...now...a massive tourist trap, filled with expensive boutiques, restaurants and yachts moored in the harbour worth millions. It's also a popular celebrity holiday destination. We read only yesterday that Beyonce and Kanye West were holidaying here this week for Beyonce's birthday. However, escaping all that is truly one of the most beautiful places I have set eyes on. Shannon and I had read about a castle upon a mountain, where you get the most incredible views. Who could pass up that? The thought of an uphill climb didn't thrill me, but the views did. So we sucked it up and began the climb. It began with stairs, but then turned in to a rocky path. It took us about half an hour to reach Castle Brown - sweaty, tired and thirsty. We were rewarded with spectacular views over Portofino. We enjoyed phone calls home to our parents and much needed drinks before heading down again.

An uphill trek to Castle Brown

We knew Portofino was expensive and thought lunch would cost us...but we walked out of the harbour a little and found a tiny pizzeria where we enjoyed quite cheap prosciutto and salami pizzas.
We took the boat back to Santa Margherita for a different view and while we had planned to go across to Rapallo (part of the Cinque Terre) we ended up returning to our hotel to relax and enjoy siesta as the Italians do.

Tomorrow - Rapallo and a cable car.