June 18, 2008

The Real Portofino Resort

Time certainly passes all too fast. It was one year ago that my wife and I were in Italy, enjoying the beautiful towns of Tuscany with side trips to Venice and to Cinque Terra and on to the world famous city of Portofino.

The delicately winding road into the city was buzzing as autos flew by while cyclists cruised and pedestrians crossed the road. It's a blur of activity. My wife described Portofino as the "Italian Beverly Hills", and it really does have the air of the well-moneyed. Mansions and yachts were far from out of the ordinary. Stately shops and hotels beckoned. Outdoor cafes are patronized by women in designer clothes and men looking as if they stepped out of a Fred Astaire movie. The experience was almost surreal- as unique as Venice but entirely different. And worlds apart from the pseudo-Portofino at Universal Orlando.

(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)

1 comment:

CheriBibi said...

You should check out Tokyo Disney Sea's Porto Paradisio. This whole land has been designed to look like Portofino and it reeeealy does. Check some pictures, it's unbelievable !