Riviera Di Levante

The Riviera di Levante features some of Italy’s most opulent resorts, particularly in Santa Margherita and Portofino (above). Meanwhile, a little farther down the coast (and in stark contast to those other two spots), the five villages strung together on a serrated cliff known as Cinque Terre are one of Italy’s most famous treasures.

This stretch of coastline ranges from Genoa on the west -- past Portofino and Cinque Terre -- to Liguria's border with Tuscany. Beyond Portovenere (below) is the Bay of Poets (also known as the Gulf of La Spezia), which was popular with writers and artists, including the likes of Lord Byron and Mary Shelley, among many others.

On the excursion to San Fruttuoso and Portofino, Gina and I noticed the Costa Concordia, the ill-fated Italian cruise ship that struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio. With water flooding the ship, the Costa Concordia (in dry dock, below) listed, then settled on its starboard side, killing 32 people.

A subsequent investigation focused on the shortcomings of the procedures followed by the crew and the Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, who reportedly left the ship prematurely. Convicted of manslaughter, among other charges, Schettino was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The ship is currently undergoing a salvage operation.

Our boat cruised past the Genovese suburbs of Nervi and Pegli, both fishing villages subsumed by urban sprawl. Camogli, a charming village of about 6,000 residents, features a canopy of umbrella pines and olive groves. Its name means “house of wives” from the days when women ran the village while their husbands were at sea.

We docked in San Fruttuoso (below), a Benedictine abbey that sits in a little harbor reminiscent of something out of The Count of Monte Cristo. The abbey was built about 260 A.D. in honor of St. Fructuosus, the Bishop of Tarragona who was martyred in Spain. In the mid-13th century, the abbey was rebuilt by the Doria family.

A large bronze statue of Jesus Christ rests in the seabed of the cove near the abbey to bless the waters. The original bronze stature, which was placed in about 50 feet of water in 1954 in honor of Dario Gonzatti, depicts Christ offering a benediction of peace, with hands and head raised skyward toward the abbey.

The pastoral site now houses fisherman while they ply their trade during the busy season. Chirping “cicadas” amongst the pines provide a cacaphonic chorus, yet the odd looking bugs are invisible to the naked eye. The abbey also houses a restaurant and bar and the harbor beach is quite popular with both locals and tourists.

Next up: Portofino, perhaps Italy’s most exclusive seaside resort. The small harbor provides moorage for tiny skiffs and multi-million dollar yachts alike, like the one Gina attempted to claim as her own (below). Access to Portofino is tricky; taking the boat seemed safer and certainly saner than driving the narrow (nay, death-defying) road.

Portofino has long attracted reclusive writers and artists, not to mention numerous Hollywood luminaries, going back to its heyday of the 50s and 60s. As we sat a one of the many ritzy café terraces, paparazzi stalked the port together in packs like coyotes on the prowl. Rumor had it that Johnny Depp was in Portofino.

Walking a couple of the routes, we fanned out into the green protected area surrounding town, the Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino, for views of the port; we later perused the many designer boutiques for gifts. Afterward, we had lunch. Portofino is, in a word, expensive. It even costs a euro to use the public restroom. Oy!

Returning to Genoa, we plotted dinner plans and a return to Riviera di Levante for a tour of Cinque Terre, the five little villages etched into the cliffs and cut off by mountains, where farmers have eked out a living among the olive groves for centuries. However, as we would soon learn, our destinies would lie in the foothills of Liguria.