If anywhere on this trip merits dressing for dinner, the Hotel Emilia in Portonovo is the place. I must admit that this stop had passed me a little, as Ben had found and booked this place and actually I’m quite glad that it did. It made the impact all the greater on arrival!
This is a place that was made for the practice of La Bella Figura – literally cutting a dashing figure! And so we posh up and head down for dinner. The starter is a choux bun filled with whipped ricotta and drizzled with basil oil. It’s light as a feather and gone in a moment – but what a delicious moment! The rest of the meal follows in a similar vein.
We spent our time here swapping pool for azure sea and back again; heating up on the land, only to cool right off in the water. It’s blissful. Also worth a mention is the little beach hut on the Spiaggia Mezzavalle. We weren’t expecting much given the vertiginous path down from the road, but the beach bar had all we needed; coffee slushy, focaccia for €1.50 and plenty of shade.
Another fantastic food stop was Il Molo right on the beach for a bounty of seafood. The waiter’s expression was one of ‘you have way over ordered’ and he was proven right as even Ben couldn’t finish it all.
A word of warning to the uninitiated to staying in an Italian room facing the Adriatic, if you have blinds, use them! We were woken at 5am to a blinding sunrise, beautiful but seriously, unless you are on a fishing boat there is no need to be awake at this hour!