Dawn found us in the northern part of Italy in the picturesque town of Portofino. The day began cold, windy, and cloudy, and we went ashore by tender. (A tender is a lifeboat that carries about 150 passengers at a time between the ship and land.) We walked along the fishing boats and yachts tied up side by side along the coast, up the hill on the main street,and took a bus to neighboring Santa Margherita.

The main street in very narrow and there is extremely limited vehicle traffic. The uphill climb gets progressively steeper the further that you go. As you approach a small piazza, there is a newsstand on the left. Buy your bus tickets there. The bus stop is in the piazza.

Santa Margherita is a resort town featuring expensive shops, a huge cathedral, and buildings with painted artwork on their sides that made each building look like it was decorated with molding and sculpture. The pastry in the shop windows was tantalizing!

Having explored a large part of Santa Margherita, we took a bus back to Portofino. By this time the clouds had cleared and the sun warmed the land. We climbed to Brown Castle where we were awed by the magnificent views of the village on one side, and the expanse of water on the other. It was so picturesque! We took many photos, including the Church of St. Martin which had inlaid stones creating a pattern on the ground. There was no way to take a bad photo in Portofino!

A special award must go to the inventive owner of this home. What better way to stop people from selling door-to-door than a set of stairs that raise up to prevent access. Pure genuis!

Back on ship that evening, we dressed for the first formal night of the cruise, followed by entertainment in the theater by Renato, a popular Italian singer with an operatic voice.(He was also on the Legend when we sailing to the Greek Isles 15 months earlier.)