As time passes, the boss is becoming more adventurous.
Last week we "set sail" for Italy and ended up outside a lovely village, Portofino.
The very village is visited in "The wolf of Wall Street". The night before we left, we were attacked by some extreme weather, but unlike the yacht in the movie, we didn't sink.
Really, who sinks in the Mediterranean?
We were at anchor (see first shot) between Portofino and Santa Margherita. Most days I'd get off the boat and walk from one to the other, about an hour, along the coastal path.
On our last day I decided to have a good long walk and my goal was a bar on the south-eastern point that overlooks the bay. Although they've updated the singe on the paths, not all of them are marked and I guessed which one to take. It appears I was a couple of kilometres out. I headed for the South coast and could see (what I thought) my goal, the pub at the top of the cliff (shot 2)
When I got close enough to check the place out, I discovered it wasn't what I thought it was.
What I found was a house built on the point, 30+ meters above the sea, not the pub.
As it looked like a private house, I didn't enter. I had to use all my scrambling and rock climbing skills to get there, not a "walk in the park". Although you can't make it out in the photo, steps were carved out of the cliff face, with rope railings. So, the place was accessible by sea.
As I investigated a bit further, I discovered there were no real paths (only goat tracks), apart one that went from the front porch/verandah that wend down the cliff a little way. I figured that this was the way out and jokingly guessed that there would be a tunnel at the end of it, but hoped it would lead out of the property.
Just a short way down, there was indeed a tunnel with a small truck parked in it. Weird!
I ventured into the tunnel past the truck and then realised there were no lights and I couldn't see into the tunnel. At that stage I started to get slightly spooked. What was this place? Who owns it? and why do they have a secret tunnel? I left the tunnel and approached the building, although the doors were open, the place looked lived in. Washing was hanging on clothes horses, the whole building was in good repair and there was evidence of recent renovations, building equipment was lying around.
Then I saw movement come from inside the house, imagined or not I decided it was time to get the hell out of here.
If I were to be discovered, I couldn't explain in Italian what I was doing here. So, I legged it. back down the cliff path, along the water line and back to the paths that lead to Portofino.
Maybe the place was just an military installation that had been privately bought or maybe it belonged to the church, there was a small out-building with cross on the point, but it looked like a modest residence. Nothing ostentatious apart from the location and access - Secluded and inaccessible.
I still wonder, who needs a tunnel and where did it come out.
Maybe I read too many criminal novels, too many conspiracies.
Either way, I guess I'll never know.
Back to reality, my colleague Tim has just taken off for 2 weeks, Which hopefully means that I'll be able to take some time off later in the year, fingers crossed.
We're back in Monaco now, but I doubt we will be for any length of time.
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| A walk in the woods |
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| If you look closely, you'll see a secret hide-away |
