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We took a taxi down the hill to the train station and set out for Camogli, with a change of trains in Genoa. This route
takes us along the Ligurian Riviera, a tourist paradise with vineyards, olive groves,
coastal resorts, and walking or hiking trails.
Camogli is a small fishing port on the north
end of the Portofino peninsula. Set on a steep hill, the town climbs from the harbor and dark
pebble beaches to groves of pine and olive trees. Many of the narrow pastel houses are
decorated in trompe-l’oeil, a painting technique often used on stage scenery which
makes a flat surface seem multi-layered. These houses seemed to have interesting
window and door casings which in reality were just flat painted surfaces. Indeed, some windows
and doors were not even real.
The name Camogli is a contraction of Casa Mogli (Wives' House) from
the days when the women ran the town while the men spent months at sea with the town's huge
fishing fleet. Today, the fleet is much smaller and the men have resumed control of civic affairs.
Piles of fishing nets filled with sleeping cats cover the docks along the great 17th century seawall.
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