ITALY BLOG SEPTEMBER 9th, 2025 - PORTOFINO

 

9/9/25– I wake up to the sound of thunder rolling outside. Thankfully, we have nothing to do this morning and able to sleep in. We check the weather and see it should clear up around 1pm, so we decide to go ahead with our Portofino plans.

Our hot water stopped working yesterday and our AirBnb host stops by this morning to check it out. Unfortunately, the issue is broader than what she can handle and calls a maintenance person that won’t be here until later. Good thing is, we ask about how we can call a taxi for the day we leave and she offers to take us herself. Wow, didn’t expect that and greatly appreciate the hospitality.

Shortly after noon we notice the rain beginning to let up. I check the ferry schedule and see a 1:15pm time that goes to Portofino so we get ready for our day out hoping the weather holds up. It takes ten minutes to walk to the port (everywhere here seems to take ten minutes), purchase our tickets and take a few photos around the pier before we embark.

The rain sprinkles just a bit, but the humidity is warm enough for me to discard my beanie and sweater. Now I’m starting to second guess wearing jeans. 

The ferry takes only fifteen minutes with some pretty cool views of the town and surrounding hills, and the closer we get to Portofino the more the sun comes out illuminating the colors of the buildings perfectly. Excellent timing if I do say so myself.

We disembark with full sun and immediately make our way up the hill toward the church and castle just in case the weather turns again. The church is nice from the outside but completely under restoration on the inside, but the real treat is behind the church where there’s a cemetery on a cliff overlooking the water.

The castle on the other hand is a hike away and not something we are looking at doing, so we opt to go back down to port. Not sure where to go, we check out the shops and find some souvenirs (including a real nice Portofino handbag for Sharece. She’s worth every penny).

With our stomachs rumbling, we search the restaurants for a place to settle down, weeding through the high end ones charging 50 Euros for an appetizer. We decide on getting a margherita pizza, but just as it arrives at our table the guy behind me lights up a cigarette. Doing my best to deal with the nuisance, a prissy looking lady with two dogs sits at the table in front of me. Before I can even tell Sharece that this looks like trouble, she asks the guy smoking a cigarette for a light and suddenly I have two of them practically blowing smoke in my face. I immediately flag the waiter to have our order to go. I don’t care if the restaurant caters to smokers, just be considerate about it and don’t treat my hair like an ashtray.

Checking the time, we are close to the next ferry back to SML, so we eat our pizza in the shade by the water before boarding. Another fifteen minute journey and ten minute walk later we are back at our AirBnb (with a quick stop in between for food for tomorrow), just in time to have the handyman arrive to fix the hot water. Not sure what is done but it works now and happy to have the rest of the night to ourselves to relax.

Side note: The clouds came back after we arrived back to the AirBnb, almost as if the sun came out just for us today.