Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
alley that leads up to the garden from Piazza Martiri della Libertà, you'll find
à
crêuza du Gio
(
%
0185-280438),
where the bearded Gio takes his ingredients
very seriously and serves up great pizza and focaccia slices; he also stocks ice-cold
beers. The views of the bay are lovely, and there are plenty of strategically placed
park benches.
Next to the gardens (9am-7pm in summer) is the lovely
Chiesa San
Giacomo;
it's worth checking out the baroque interior and the frescoed ceiling
dripping with chandeliers, proof that Santa Margherita has long enjoyed the
patronage of the wealthy.
A Few Good Walks
If you want to picnic in Portofino, head up to
Chiesa di San Giorgio
and settle
on the stone benches that line the church wall facing the Golfo Paradiso—there's
a little fresh-produce shop on the staircase that leads up to the church (or you can
take your pick from the deli in Via Roma). Most people feel compelled to walk
up to the 16th-century Fortezza di San Giorgio, or
Castello Brown
(named after
Montague Yeats Brown, the 19th-c. British consul in Genoa who briefly owned
it), and beyond to the Faro that marks the promontory tip. If it's a busy day, ditch
this and head up one of the Portofino Park's trails.
Perhaps it's because most people in Portofino walk only when there's a luxury
shop beckoning at the end, but the park trails are usually a great deal less con-
gested than the Cinque Terre's, even in peak hiking season. All are well marked,
and big intersections have maps showing the trail network.
For a highly recommended, brisk 90-minute walk, follow the trail from
Portofino to Pietre Strette (which has picnic tables), and then head down to San
Fruttuoso, taking the less direct path (for more expansive views) via Base Zero.
Another recommended route from Pietre Strette is to follow the level trail
(marked with red triangles) to Semaforo Nuovo—the coastal views here are splen-
did. Double back to the intersection where a map shows you the descent to San
Rocco and Punta Chiappa, where you can catch a well-deserved ferry home.
GENOA
“Ever been to Marseilles? Well, Genoa is worse.” This was a pretty standard
response from the few people I knew who had actually been to Genoa before I
made my first visit to the city, in 2005. Which is why I was shocked back then to
find myself wandering the narrow winding alleyways of its ancient heart—the
largest preserved medieval center in Europe—totally enraptured. I marveled at the
myriad tiny bustling shops, their shopkeepers seemingly unaware of the magnifi-
cence of their vaulted ceilings, frescoed alcoves, and marble pillars. How misin-
formed its detractors were! This was like stepping into a massive film set, an urban
labyrinth designed for a scene from the Middle Ages, yet bizarrely with all the
actors in 21st-century fashions.
The contrasts everywhere are extreme: Right next to the cafe, which looks just
as it did when Verdi took his coffee here 150 years ago, a small furniture boutique
showcases the best in modern Italian design; glamorous middle-age women, wear-
ing chunky jewelry and dark shades, stride past veiled Muslim shopkeepers; and
a few steps past gloomy lanes where prostitutes eye potential customers, a white-
aproned fishmonger digs his fingers into a silver mountain of perfect
acciughe,
the
