Monday. It's hard to believe that the big gathering has come to an end and we are all off on our travels again. On Saturday Lorraine and I went to Portofino - train to Santa Margherita and ferry from there to Portofino. Thank goodness we took the ferry because it was a lot further than we thought and pretty darned hot in the midday sun. Portofino was certainly more up-market than the other towns we've visited. There was a cruise ship in and lots of very expensive boats moored around the tiny harbour. On our return to Santa Margherita we found a nice little waterfront cafe where we simply had to have a cioccolato caldo con pano(?). We had quite a relaxed day until it came time to climb the steps back up to the station in Santa Margherita. That ordeal was followed by a long train delay which meant standing on the platform for 45 minutes - no seats to be had. The trains are always pretty crowded with tourists so it's a race for a seat when you climb aboard. We returned to La Vigna in time to put our feet up for an hour prior to the big birthday party. Then it was on with the glad rags and wigs and downstairs. Valeria and the staff had made one huge table for us to sit around. It was decorated with flowers and a big 50 balloon and they had put out the extra special crockery. Nibbles and drinks were followed by another huge meal - 4 courses as usual and mostly fish dishes. Dessert was a huge birthday cake with a map of Italy showing Moneglia and Roma. Then there was a little band, a boy and girl, who had chosen all the right songs for our age group. I have never seen Joe dance quite like that. He had certainly lost his inhibitions. Maybe it was the wigs, but everybody was really letting their hair down. Bed at 1.30. Sunday was our last day at La Vigna and Alan and Denise drove us down to Moneglia where we checked out the Sunday market before the rain came down and sent us into a waterside cafe. Lorraine went down to the water to dip her toes in the Ligurian Sea and then we drove along the coast to Chiavari for lunch. We decided to keep going and we noticed a lot of police ad people along the road. We were soon stopped by a policeman who sent us up a side street to wait while the riders in a bike race came through. We had a great view of the race and wondered if Simon Clark, an ex-student of mine, was one of the riders. After most of the riders had passed we were allowed back on the road but there were still a couple of bikes behind us and we let them pass. Somehow we ended up driving all the way to Portofino, largely because there was nowhere to turn around. A final huge meal and a few farewells for those who were leaving very early. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open during dinner. The final farewells were said on Monday morning and we were on our way again. Train to Genova, Genova to Milano, Milano to Varenna. This was one place where I hadn't been able to check the route/distance from the station to the hotel , but Phillip had said it wasn't far so we set off walkin. It looked as if it was all downhill but it wasn't, and it was a long way. But when we got up to our room ... Ooh la la la la la la la la la la la la!!!!! What a view! A big room with high ceilings and French doors opening onto a tiny balcony overlooking Lake Como. The day has been misty so what we could see we shades of blue fading into the distance with each layer of mountains. Oh, to be able to paint! I spent the rest of the afternoon Flaked on the bed looking out at the view while Lorraine had a swim in the pool. For dinner we had pizza over the road, or rather, the piazza. The we tottered down steep, cobbled steps to the waterfront to look at the lights across the lake and eat a gelato. Home to bed. Exhausted again.