In April 2017 we travelled south, mainly to celebrate the launch and first sailing summer of Ribelle, the yacht of our friends Paola and Salvatore. The “Christening” (it wasn’t exactly a Christening, but felt a little like that) took place at the yacht club in Monaco, but our family stayed in Èze, a hilltop village in France near Monaco, overlooking the sea. And after the celebration of Ribelle we went to Italy and stayed a few days near Alba and then to Portofino.
Èze is a beautiful medieval village, where some of the houses have been converted into an exclusive hotel. The whole village is climbing along the hillside and the passageways go either up or down with lots of steps.
Alba is the capital of the elusive and exclusive white truffle. But unfortunately we were not there in the truffle season. And the Piedmont region has the most gorgeous wines including the Barolo. We loved it so much that we decided that we must come back in the truffle truffle season. and we did in October the same year (see: https://www.osterlund.co.uk/piedmont/).
From Alba and Piedmont we turned south to the coast and a real gem, Portofino. Portofino has a well protected natural harbour and only a few houses, lovely walks on the surrounding hillsides and offer good food in the restaurants along the port. And the season had just started. The restaurants were open, but not in any way full. It was chilly in the evenings but warm enough to be able to sit outside and enjoy both nature and people.
The first days we stayed at Èze, a hilltop village just outside Monaco
The houses are climbing up alongside the mountain
Our hotel was "Lion d'Or", repreented by the golden lion at the entrance
Precarious steps brough us down into the garden and to our rooms
Whereas the restaurants and saloons were higher up
Wherever there was space a little garden was created
Mikee enoying the view from our terrace
Looking down we could see the sea and a sailing yacht partially hidden by the clouds sweeping in
Mikee tryint to copy the lady beside her
Inside the village more stone steps brought us to shops and beautiful scenery
And I included Eric as well in my photo
We went to Monaco for the celebration of Ribelle, who had already successfully raced in the Med
On the quay we met Bill Duker, who was there to celebrate Ribelle as well
Eric and Jen waiting on the quay before we could get aboard
Jen and Mikee
Paola, the owner of ribelle is welcoming us as they prepare the yacht
Aboard the ultra modern Ribelle is Henk Koster
Master bedroom (in the background) and bathroom)
Eric and Jennifer on deck
A presentation by Paola and Salvatore about their sailing lifes
While the guests were listening
After Monaco and Èze, we went to Italy and fist stayed in the region of Alba, famous for Barolo wine and its white truffle
The town of Alba
Eating on a square
Another stop for coffee and snacks
Inside a shop in Alba
View of the hilltop village of Neive
From Alba we went south to Portofino before the season had started in earnest
Portofino harbour
A view from the castle above the town
The first tourists had arrived and we joined them eating ice cream
Jen, Mikee and Eric
I took a walk on the hills behind Portofino. You can see the castle to the left, defending the entrance of the harbour
A sailing yacht entering the harbour
The inner part of the harbour
One of many beautiful churches clinging to the mountain side. Notice the other church in the background above the roof
In the evening people collected in the harbour to have dinner at the many restaurants
While Mikee and Eric enjoyed the evening before our dinner
Eric lit up by the evening lights from the nearby restaurants and stalls
Later at night the trees and castle were lit up by garish colours. A 10 second exposure made the boats and flags a little blurry
