The coastline between Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino is beautiful. We’re somewhere along there now, although we’re not sure exactly where. After having lunch in Santa Margherita Ligure, I had this great idea – “Hey, let’s walk to Portofino!” I had read that it’s possible. Now I’m not so sure.
When we started walking, we were on a paved walking path next to a sandy beach. It was a perfect day for a walk. We had gone quite a ways when the terrain started to change. The beach disappeared into a rocky coastline. On the other side of the road, flat ground turned into a tree-covered hillside.
The walking path was no longer paved. Occasionally it would disappear altogether. It still followed alongside the coastal road, but now the road was narrow and cars were few and far between. Then the walking path stopped altogether.
At first I thought it was just another missing section of pathway, but I was wrong. This was the END of the walking path. At the same time, the road had narrowed. It was not a good place to be for pedestrians like us.
Paraggi? What does THAT Mean?
Really? The path goes all this way and then just dead-ends here? We saw a rustic-looking sign on the other side of the road. We crossed over so we could make it out. It said “Paraggi.” Underneath “Paraggi” there was an arrow pointing up the hill and into the woods.
I had never seen the word, “paraggi.” As far as I knew, it might have meant “Scenic Pathway”, ”End of the Line”, “Beware of the Man-Eating Paraggi”, or “Continue at Your Own Peril”.
We looked around towards where the arrow was pointed. Was that the start of a trail? It was — a nice one, too. Nice and steep, that is. But the trail was a better option than anything else we had going for us. It would have been a long walk back to Santa Margherita Ligure. But Portofino had to be close, right?
We followed the trail up the side of the cliff and into the forest. In no time we were way up on the side of a steep hill. Wherever there was a break in the trees, we had a fantastic view.
Into the Forest We Go
Into the forest we went, which felt good, because it was shady in there and it had started to get hot, walking in the sun.
We had come a long way. but now I was getting concerned for my not-a-hiker Better Half. She was fine, which was impressive, considering that her shoes were better suited for lunch with the girls than a hike through the forest.
We pressed on to see what was beyond an upcoming ridge. We could see boats. That must be Portofino down there. We’d made it!
Nope. As we got closer we could make out a tiny village with a beach and a dock. I thought we were right about where Portofino ought to be, but this place was way too small to be Portofino.
Paraggi
We descended down the other side of the ridge. When we popped out of the woods we saw the smattering of buildings, a beach, and the boats. When we were all the way down we came to a sign: “Paraggi.” OK. Now we knew the meaning of that sign – “This way to Paraggi.”
Paraggi is a quiet, isolated enclave between Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino. I didn’t remember seeing it on a map. If you ever want to really get away from it all, Paraggi looks like the place to go. But if this is Paraggi, what did they do with Portofino?
It had to be just over the next hill. We strolled through Paraggi and picked up the trail on the other side. Up, up, up we went, back into the woods. We went up the hill until we came to another ridge and looked down the other side. No Portofino. I guess it must be over the NEXT ridge.
Now I started having doubts. We were headed north, right? Had to be. Portofino is north of Santa Margherita Ligure, right? Definitely. This little walk was my idea. Am I in trouble here?
Finally, when we went over the top of one more ridge, and there it was – Portofino. (Whew!) Wow – what a view. It looked like a little slice of paradise down there. Multi-colored, classic-looking Italian buildings surrounded a marina, all nestled in a cove.
The marina was packed with boats, some small and some not so small. And further out, there were larger, very nice-looking boats. Hotsy-totsy boats. By the looks of it, we had found the playground of the rich and famous.
To be continued…
