Portofino and Santa Margherita

We knew it would be tough to find a berth in Portofino, so we head to Santa Margherita which is the next town over in hopes of finding some place to hang out even for just a couple of hours. It would be nice to have lunch in Portofino and it is an easy bus ride between the two towns. So we pull into a space that looks like it might work. No one is around so we post a notice on the window of the boat and plan to take another note to the capitainerie letting them know that we will be back in a couple of hours. Just when we are about to leave, thus gruff guy comes up to us and tells us it is not possible to stay where we are for even a few minutes. We must leave. We are all very disappointed and are still hoping we can figure out some way to stay even for a few hours. So I go down to the capitainerie and pled my case. I tell the same guy we would really like to spend the night there, but if that is not possible could we please stay for a couple of hours. Like so many times in Italy, after the initial outburst of no possibility, he decides we can work something out. He tells us he is going out to lunch and to see him in an hour. So we order a nice seafood lunch at a nearby restaurant. After lunch I go back to the capitainerie and the guy tells me I can just stay where I am for the night. No problem. I don’t even have to move. So what went from it is impossible to stay for just a few minutes turns to an ok to stay the night there, no worries. Everything works out. We catch the bus and stroll around Portofino with its upscale shops dripping with jewelery and designer clothes. In the late afternoon we catch the bus back to Santa Margherita. We are standing at a square looking at a beautiful church, when this little girl with a mop of curly hair who I would guess to be about 7 years old is stomping her foot and crying out in Italian to her father that she is not too pleased with. Temper tamtrums are somehow much more charming in Italian, and I can tell another drama queen is developing her Italian passion for life. The next morning Victoria has to leave us to go back to Paris. We wish her a fond farewell in the early hours of morning and head for France.