Portofino, Italy

Portofino, Italy - full of charm.  I love the colored buildings that surround the small port, with the yachts in the harbor. 

You can walk around the little harbor and stop in a few shops.  The laundry hanging out the window adds to the charm.  We had dinner in a local cafe and what a treat it was to sit in Portofino, sipping wine.

One of my memories of Portofino is when I was a more inexperienced photographer, and I was walking around the tiny harbor with too powerful of a lens.  It was a lens for greater distances and close ups were not working out. 

I had climbed to the top of a pretty steep hill overlooking the harbor.  Any time they say it is a spectacular view, I have to go there.  So I climbed and climbed and they were right, it was fantastic.  But I had the wrong lens and couldn't fit the view in the picture. 

I was also short on time because I had to be back to the ship for a dinner.  But I was determined to get that shot.  So I walked all the way back down the hill, into the harbor, back on the tender, to the ship, to my room, and changed the lens. 

And yes, I retraced my steps and hiked up that hill again. 

By this time I was hot and tired - but I got my shot!  Only time for a few clicks at this point, I went back to the ship again.  I was out of time to get ready for dinner so I hurried as fast as I could and arrived in the lounge on time, no one knew what I had just packed into that last few hours.