Worldwide Travel Program

Report on the Alumni Trip to the Italian Riviera
April 14–22, 2007
Michael Wellner '64, Tour Program Coordinator

On Saturday April 14th, 2007, a group of twelve Alumni and friends and family* (along with twenty-one others, not affiliated with RPI) departed the U.S. aboard a modern Lufthansa Airbus to spend a week on the beautiful and a bit less-traveled Italian Riviera region of Liguria.

After an uneventful flight and an easy change of planes in Frankfurt, we arrived under brilliant blue, sunny skies at the Florence airport mid-day on Sunday. From there it was an easy ride to our hotel, the Vis-à-vis, spectacularly situated on the top of a hill between two bays of the Ligurian Sea in the small town of Sestri Levante. Here we spent the next seven nights, with daily excursions to the surrounding areas. The weather gods were surely smiling on us, for it was 72 degrees and sunny when we arrived, and every day for the full week thereafter. Hard to beat! And we quickly learned that Sestri is a favorite week-end home for the Milanese – Milan is located just a two hour drive from Sestri (think of The Hamptons and New York City).

After a welcome night’s sleep, the first full day treated us to a walking tour of the small town that was to be our home for a week. Here we saw the town’s two beaches, the beautiful Gothic Basilica (we were all actually invited to a local wedding in the town’s church!), and a myriad of shops and restaurants. Then, after lunch, we traveled by coach to the town of Santa Margherita, where – after a short sightseeing walk, we boarded a ferry for the short ride to the picturesque village of Portofino. As you can see from the picture below, Portofino is easily one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, with a picture-perfect, sheltered harbor lined with historic buildings and quaint little shops – many selling high-end wares.

The next day we were off to Genoa (a city of 650,000 people located 50 km. north of Sestri Levante) and its bustling waterfront. Genoa is the second most important seaport in the Mediterranean (Marseilles is first), and is filled not only with commercial docks but with a huge shipbuilding area as well. A good number of the cruse ships that we all see cruising in the Caribbean and other areas were built by Fincantieri (and other yards) located right in Genoa. Of course, Genoa is justly famous as the home of Christopher Columbus, and we were treated to a view of the house in which he grew up.

The beautiful town of Portofino.

From here the trip only got better each day: on Wednesday we boarded our own private boat for a cruise to the small town of Portovenere (the Port of Venus), with its famous stone church situated on a promontory at the harbor’s entrance. After a tour and some free time in this beautiful port, it was back aboard the boat for a cruise to Vernazza, one of the magical five coastal towns that comprise the world-famous Cinque Terre (five lands). Truly these little villages are like nothing we had ever seen – perched right on the water (see the photos), barely accessible by road, with a mountain railway running between them, and a very elaborate and often difficult hiking trail that the physically fit and hearty use to actually walk from one village to another. A number of our travelers actually did hike a small portion of the Cinque Terre – a relatively easy walk long the Via dell’Amore – a truly spectacular trail evocative of the cliff walk in Newport, RI.

Carrara - where the famous marble comes from.

Then the next day an equally impressive excursion brought us to the world-famous mountains of marble in the town of Carrara (from which the famous white Carrara marble comes). We actually drove up to a working quarry high in the mountains – a chance to see “heavy industry” – up close and personal. Here the Italians have been quarrying marble since the Roman times – which is hard to grasp when you realize that they had none of the modern mechanical equipment that we take so much for granted. Our excursion allowed us time to visit an actual sculptor’s studio, where we could watch the “raw” marble being converted into finished pieces – truly remarkable. Many of us brought home marble souvenirs that were crafted right from the mountains that we had just visited.

Then on Friday, our next to the last day, we boarded our private coach for a trip to the ancient walled city of Lucca – arguably the most upscale of all the places that we visited. Lucca dates back about 2,000 years, to the time of the Romans, and many of the buildings that we see today are five or six hundred years old – or more. Lucca is a walled city, with beautiful wide walls on which you can walk or ride bicycles, which are ubiquitous in the city. With upscale shops, spectacular churches, wonderful restaurants, friendly people, and so much more, Lucca is filled with history and is a treat for all the senses.

Saturday, our last day, was thankfully a day of leisure, which some spent enjoying the beaches and sights in Sestri while others ventured off on their own to nearby towns and villages. All in all, the trip was just about perfect – the people were very congenial (the youngest was 31 years old and the oldest was 91) – quite a group. And a wonderful, wonderful trip. We all agreed that a holiday in Italy is hard to beat! * Rensselaer travelers included Dick and Barbara McDowell (Albany, NY); Bob and Debbie Kessler (Foster City, CA); Al and Eileen Clark (Fredericksburg, VA); Kay Henry and Kit Wilson (Shelburne, VT); Stu and Judy Teitelbaum (Wellington, FL); and Michael Wellner & Sheryl Linden (NYC).

In Sestri Levante at a "private" wine tasting: the Wellners, the Teitelbaums and the MacDowells (with the wine shop owner)