Pisa to Genoa-verse
Marina di Pisa´s a bit of a wreck
The Arno is dirty and brown
But the day livens up when we jump on the bus
And explore the old Pisa town
The leaning tower leans precariously
A carnival is staged
And Galileo,the town´s brilliant son
Thumbs his nose at the church he enraged
If you´re thinking of buying a super acht
Viareggio´s where you should look
But don´t expect less than 100 feet
And bring a substantial cheque book
When we sailed into Portovenere
We were met by Russell and Lee
Tall houses look over the old town port
To watch sailors returning from sea
Take a ferry to Riamaggiore
Then walk the 5 hours back
It´s a steep climb out of the village
Then a challenging rocky track
Then try sailing into Vernazza
And mooring just off the town square
In the heart of the Cinque Terre
This is travel with adequate flair
In the old church square in Rapallo
The bell ringer chimes his notes
But for real people and its market
Santa Marguerita got our votes
In Portofino we moored quite appropriately
Right beside a gigantic cruiser
The ormeggiatore came and moved us on
He had attitude-that of a loser
The buildings in Portofino town
All resemble a Hollywood set
A beer costs a mere 7 euros here
The meal cost?You´d rather forget
Genoa presents an attractive mixture
Of elegance,age and vigour
Columbus´s 15th century house
Wouldn´t work for anyone bigger
On both sides of via Garibaldi
The sumptuous palaces stand
The narrowly winding alley ways
Are lively though not so grand
A highlight was wending our way out of town
In Porto Antico´s hire car
To the old Bruxaboschi trattoria
For our best meal out so far.
July ´09