July 20th-30th                     Italian Riviera

We arrived at the Island of Capraia around 2 p.m. The landscape here is rock 
spotted with green scrub and a few trees (wherever they were able to find 
enough dirt for roots to hold them to the rocks!!!) Even though it is all rock, 
there are many different sizes and textures (craggy, gnarly, smooth and jagged) 
with steep cliffs falling down to the sea making each area unique. The water is 
a crystal clear blue turning to turquoise in the shallows.  We went around to 
the only harbor, but decided to go back to a beautiful cove called Ceppo for a 
swim.  As we were ready to jump off the boat, a dinghy full of people came by 
to ask us where we were from.  The family (Olivia, Adam, Barbie and Mike Faze) 
from Los Angeles were visiting their nephew Max Grazia who has a summer home on 
the island.  Max invited us to dinner at his house and we were delighted to go. 
 We moved the boat to the harbor and climbed the very steep path leading up to 
his summer home.  Maria, his wife, made a wonderful meal (Pasta, meatballs, 
vegetables and Tiramisu!!)  Their almost three-year-old twin girls (Mara and 
Lisa) kept us entertained until they went to bed.  We then visited their 
friends in another beautiful house with a view of the sea and the harbor.  It 
was a wonderful night with wonderful company and fantastic food and beautiful 
surroundings!!!

The next morning we left again at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at Viareggio around 
2p.m.  We actually had all three sails up as we motored!!!!  However, it only 
lasted a couple of hours.

They didn't have any room at the huge marina in Viareggio (1800 berths @ 75 
Euros for our boat), so we tied up to the wall behind another American boat 
called Peregrina with Lisa, Phil and Gabe aboard. Since they were going to the 
grocery store, I went along in their dinghy.  The next day, Rudy and I rode our 
bikes for the first time since leaving Gaeta. We took a swim in the water on 
the other side of the breakwater in front of a beach and a jellyfish stung 
me!!!  Rudy couldn't believe how fast I swam and climbed over the rocks to get 
out of the water, but I did!!!!  We did some chores and bought some items we 
needed for the boat (propane, boat hook...it vanished...we think "Someone" 
forgot to tie it down!!!  That "Someone" is always doing something wrong!!  We 
wish we knew who that "Someone" was!!!  I think I know!!!  Rudy doesn't 
agree!!!!

July 23rd, we anchored in a bay called Portovenere.  The bay was under a 
picturesque town with two black and gray granite churches and a huge castle on 
the hill.  The town had houses all in different colors stacked on top of each 
other as they climbed from the valley to the top of each hill.  It was a lovely 
place to spend the night.  We even had an ice-cream boat come by and of course, 
we had ourselves a treat!!!!  Fantastic!!

July 24th was a different story!!!!   We motored along the Cinque Terre 
coastline, which are five towns on a high, sheer coastline.  Most of the 
tourists come here by ferries in the summer because there are no cars allowed 
in the towns.  We did visit these towns by car in the winter, however and 
wanted to see a different perspective.  As we were listening to the weather on 
the VHF, they announced that thunderstorms were coming our way. (This was Not 
predicted on the three or four forecasts we get every day!!!)  We could see the 
sky getting dark, so we tried to motor around the storm.  We were kidding 
ourselves!!!!  We travel about 5-7 miles per hour and this storm was racing 
through!!!  In a matter of twenty minutes we were in the middle of the storm 
that had winds up to 60 miles an hour and lightning striking all around the 
boat!!!  A lot of lightning....the scary part was that we could hardly see the 
bow of the boat and were afraid of hitting something or being hit!!! We shut 
down all of the electronics except for the radar and turned on the running 
lights. The radar indicted that there wasn't anybody in our vicinity and we 
maneuvered out of the storm with its help.  That was the longest 60 minutes I 
have experienced in a very long time!!!

The weather still didn't look very promising, so we decided to go into a 
marina for the night at Lavagna.  We didn't have to wash down the boat (it was 
power washed by the storm!!) but I did a few loads of wash and Rudy did some 
Internet stuff in the marina.  Since the forecast for the next day was for some 
high winds, we decided to stay another night at the marina (45 Euros).  We 
found a nice restaurant at the end of the marina and had a quiet night. It was 
great!!! 

July 26th found us on our way to Genoa.  The seas were extremely rolly 
although there was little wind. It was probably from high winds West of us. It 
was very uncomfortable.  Since I wanted to see St. Margarita and Portofino from 
the water (we also experienced this area by car this past winter), we decided 
to go closer to the coastline. (The water is about 350 feet deep right next to 
the coastline!!!)  Here the waters were calmer and the towns were 
magnificent!!!  It is one of the most picturesque places we have experienced.  
Everything is beautifully manicured, clean, and colorful with a quiet elegance 
that is tranquil and friendly.  One area was more breath taking than the 
next!!!! 

 As we made our way to Genoa, the seas got a little better.  In Genoa Harbor, 
there is an enormous breakwater and therefore very well protected.  We choose 
to go to Porto Antico Marina (45 Euros) and spend the night.  The people here 
were very friendly and helpful and it was easy access to the town.  We ate at 
the restaurant Vittorio's that had been recommended to us and it was one of the 
best meals we have had in Italy!!!  That Good!!!

On Sunday July 27th we went to the Finale Ligura Marina. We went to pay for 
the berth and we were told the first day was FREE, including water and 
electric!!!  The next day would be 30 Euros for our size boat, but we did not 
intend to stay.  It is a small marina with no services in the marina itself, 
but we were happy!!!

Monday the 28th, we left for San Remo our last stop in Italy. Along the coast 
we saw many landslides and many houses were perched almost on top of the 
crevice.  These people are very brave or.....  They do have a wonderful view, 
however!!

We went bow-to at the wall at San Remo.  Here again it is free for the first 
three days.  A British boat tied up next to us and we found out that we 
mutually knew several people from Turkey to Trinidad.  We realize every day how 
small the world seems to get!!!  We stayed two nights and found an Internet and 
a grocery store with easy access to our boat.  On Wednesday the 30th, as we 
traveled to Villefranche on the French Riviera, we stopped in Monaco to take a 
peek at the rich and famous!!

Next time the French Rivier....ciao