SPECTACULARLY picturesque Portofino, an Italian gem helped to become famous by Australian-born writer, Elizabeth von Arnim. (Italian Govt Tourist Office)
ELIZABETH von Arnim was a household name in the UK and USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with her many best-sellers. (WikiMedia)
HAD Sydney-born author Elizabeth von Arnim been around today the more-trendy would probably be calling her best-selling books ‘chick lit.’
Not that she would have been pleased with the description, for whilst she was a household name in Britain and the United States with her best-sellers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, she was anything but self-promotional and would doubtless be aghast at what she’d perceive as such vulgar utterings.
Born Mary Annette Beauchamp at Kirribilli on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour in 1866, she was taken to England with her family three years later, and when she turned to a literary career was self-deprecating in the extreme – even to the extent of using only pen-names.
Mostly it was simply Elizabeth or “by the author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden,” the title of her first best-seller that was reprinted twenty times in the first year of its release in 1899.
In general her books were auto-biographical, including stories of two unhappy marriages (at one time she was also one of the many mistresses of fellow English writer HG.Wells.) But a novel she wrote in 1922 called The Enchanted April was very different, and was inspired by a month-long holiday on the Italian Riviera.
And over the decades it’s been adapted as a couple of Broadway plays, two Hollywood movies and a stage musical.
It was set in the Italian Riviera’s beautiful and secluded village of Portofino, which Elizabeth had reached by horse and cart over 50km of winding, frightening, one-lane coastal road from Genoa via Santa Margherita Ligure.
The literary success of The Enchanted April is universally recognised as the reason why Portofino is today the vacation Mecca it is for society’s rich and famous.
But now they drive there in their Ferraris and Lamborghinis on the one road – but have to park outside of the village because motor vehicles are forbidden within Portofino itself, the only exception being the small garbage truck that makes several runs through town each day to empty kerbside waste bins.
Or they sail into the crescent-shaped harbour in their luxury yachts, and pay up to AU$3600 a night in mooring fees.
Steven Spielberg, Coldplay front man Chris Martin, pop diva Rihanna follow in the footsteps of Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly and Marlon Brando who were regular visitors here, while British actor Rex Harrison owned a villa in Portofino – and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got engaged here the first time around.
Today only small cruise vessels are able to drop anchor off-shore and ferry their guests ashore, not the locals thankfully admit, those of gargantuan proportions. And earlier this month one of those boutique companies, SeaDream Yacht Club polled its guests about their favourite Italian destination – and Portofino won hands down even though the award-winning SeaDream I and II visit such other wonderful Italian enticements as Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri, Taormina in Sicily, the Cinque Terre and Venice…
Portofino offers shoppers every conceivable outlet and boutique, with local craftsmen and women sitting side-by-side with top-end Dior, Armani, Ferragamo and Gucci. And when not shopping they take coffee, an ice-cold beer or a glass of wine at a sidewalk cafe and watch the passing parade of well-heeled… or join the queue outside the village bakery for steaming hot, oven-fresh focaccia topped with locally-grown olives and herbs.
The wonderfully pastel-coloured houses and shops add further appeal, there’s the classic San Martino church whose bell-tower peers over the buildings between it and the waterfront… and Castelo Brown named after the British Consul to Genoa, Yeats Brown who moved-in in 1870. It offers a fascinating insight into a lifestyle past with its 19th century furnishings and photos and paintings of famous visitors of the era.
And with no motor vehicles, visitors can stroll to their hearts content without having to dodge snarling motorised annoyances.
Ask anyone who has visited Portofino why they like it so much and you will probably be greeted with a shrug of the shoulders.
“Why?” he or she will reply. “It is just because I do!”
And who can argue with that?
(For information about Portofino tourism go to www.italia.it/en/travel-ideas/the-sea/portofino and for SeaDream Yacht Club’s 2015 year itineraries that include visiting Portofino go to www.seadream.com)
David Ellis, [email protected]
