Camilla Ransom
After a quiet morning sitting out the rain we went for a walk around Porto Venere which, like the Cinque Terre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s main attractions include two very old churches (built in 1198 and 1098), a well preserved castle and a grotto (now collapsed) which is known as Byron’s Grotto, so named because the poet Lord Byron used to meditate there apparently. The village itself consists of a maze of tiny alleyways surrounded by tall, rickety and brightly coloured houses.
As we were on our way back in the dinghy eagle-eyed Tom spotted a dolphin in the bay, so we switched off the engine and rowed after it. Well, Tom rowed whilst I whisper-shouted directions and pointed wildly in its general direction. We wondered what it was doing there in the first place; all alone in a busy and shallow bay. We managed to snap this one pic before he headed out between the islands into deeper seas.
A big swell started to roll in during the early evening, so a decent nights sleep looked unlikely. Still, at least it was quiet. We’ve learnt over the past few months that it’s simply not possible to have a place where the sea is flat and it’s quiet. If it’s quiet then the sea will be lumpy, and you’ll get no sleep. If they’re parting hard onshore then the sea will be completely calm, but still you’ll get no sleep. Ho hum.
