Our Wakes: 2016

From Cannes to Italy (30 April- 1 May 2016) The trip from Cannes to Italy was easy and we encountered no particular issues  except that the fish refused to be caught. Some friends already said that I had better go to the fish shop in the morning so that I can eat fish at the end of the day. While moving eastward we were surprised to see how much the scenery has changed. In France you have many villa’s on the mountains with apartments in the city like Marseille, Toulon, Cannes and Nice. Between the cities the dominant color is green. Once you arrive in Monaco you are faced with an ugly spot full of concrete buildings.  Not a single tree is left. Afterwards it is Italy, the first part, 'till you pass the city of Imperia  has no charm when seen from the sea. All kinds of construction is allowed and what is not built on is covered by greenhouses. After Imperia, the coast is much more pleasant to look at. No buildings and greenhouses, but nice little apartment buildings of 2 to 3 floors colored in brown that are well surrounded by vegetation. After Imperia, we decided to move directly to Portofino as we had received so much positive feedback about this harbor. We left Imperia early in the morning, but arrived only late in the evening in Portofino. The weather forecast was right, except for the direction of the wind. The wind forced us to take many tacks but despite  the new sails we managed to gain 10 miles towards the target after 3 hours. In view of the distance we still had to go (more than 50 miles) we decided to start the engine. Finally at 10pm we arrived at Portofino and dropped the anchor close to Portofino. Only in the morning did we visit the harbor often called the St Tropez of Italy. The place is very nice and has managed to keep its charm despite this place being full of visitors in the summer. The day after we headed south towards Spezia and had a first glimpse of what is called the 5 grounds. Those villages located along the steep slopes of the coast a big tourist attraction and seen from the coastline are unique and was on our to do list for the next day.  The Ligurna Province. While we were cruising along this Coast, we did take some time to visit some places that the guides recommended to us. The first place visited was the caves of Toirano. In the past they were below water level but today they are around 300 meters above sea level. During the 70 minute tour, the guide will show you some very impressive stalactites and stalagmites that are all over the place. The guide will also show you some prehistoric footprints as well as skulls and bones of bears that probably died during their hibernation. If you visit this region, I can only recommend that you stop by and visit the Caves. After the caves, we returned to the nearby city of Loano. The city is well preserved and currently many buildings have been restored and the facades are nicely decorated with paintings.