Genoa and the Italian Riviera Part 1 - Rapallo

Our next port of call was Genoa in northern Italy, a very busy, historic port city behind which are many hills. As the hills restrict its development in their direction to about 10 km, it is a really elongated city. Its suburbs stretch about 30 km or so along the coastline. We saw glimpses of them when we drove in and out of tunnels high up on the hills to the first of three coastal towns we were visiting. From our height the suburbs  looked more like picturesque villages nestled in the hills close to the sea.

The towns we were visiting along the Italian Riviera are known as the ‘Three Pearls of Paradise Gulf’ - Rapallo, Santa Margherita and the famous resort town of Porto Fino. 

Rapallo was a very charming town, with some very old buildings as well as more modern ones. It was interesting to see ‘windows’ painted on some of the old buildings, which apparently was to reduce their tax bill in those days. I cannot remember how that worked, I am afraid.

We headed to the waterfront, where we visited a cafe to try a piece of the most divine, freshly baked focaccia I have ever tasted. This is a specialty of the region.  Our guide told us that the people of this village claim theirs is the best in all Italy. I would believe it! 

We noticed that along the waterfront not far away from the cafe there was an ancient castle and the start of an old wall. This was built to help protect the town from raids by a notorious, very dangerous Turkish pirate. 

Along the path around the waterfront there also was a red 'carpet' which is the longest red carpet in the world - over 8 miles long. It goes along the ancient path between the three towns we visited. It was installed in April this year, apparently and already looks well worn by people choosing to walk along that path.

The following photos will give you a glimpse of this town, particularly its waterfront area where we spent most of our time.

This is part of the frescoes on the ceiling of the rotunda shown below.

The rotunda was closed when we were there, but is used for community music events. 

Walking the red 'carpet'.

You can just see the old castle on the far left. It was circular.

The cafe where we tasted the focaccia. 

Another view from the waterfront.