Another walk on Monte Portofino

On Wednesday October 7 the sun continued to shine and the Ladies, still in shorts and t-shirts, took the train to Santa Margherita once again for another walk on Monte Portofino. We set off on the same trail as the previous week, but branched off after the Mulino in the direction of San Fruttuoso, taking the longer trail over the ridge and down into the bay where the Abbey of San Fruttuoso is instead of dropping down to Portofino. The first part of the walk is on a well-tended, paved path through olive groves, strung up with colourful nets ready to collect this fall's harvest. The second part takes you away from the paved path and out of the olive groves into some wilder territory; we hiked past a lightning-struck tree inhabited by a colony of particularly large and threatening hornets and up into the cloud that often seems to hang over the top of Monte Portofino. The final part of the trail is a long, steep descent into the bay of San Fruttuoso, currently even longer due to a detour around a work site; we came into the town right above the medieval abbey, which we had to pass under (or through) to get to the little beach where we enjoyed a delicious and well-deserved plate of deep-fried seafood with salad from a seasonal restaurant establishment set up right on the beach.