Sublime

$$$ Alla Marina is Riomaggiore’s most worthwhile splurge, with three rooms and an apartment (all but one with sea views) at the top of one of the very tall, steep, skinny buildings that rise up from the harbor. The furnishings are a stylish combination of modern and nautical, and friendly brothers Sandro and Andrea take pride in running a tight shi

First came my idea for The Three Marinas. I told the lawyer I wanted there to be three graves, in the three places I lived longest: Belgrade, Amsterdam, and New York. My body should actually lie in one of the graves—but nobody was to know which.

rooms—one spacious and basic on the harbor square (Db-€95), the other a molto chic split-level apartment located on a quiet side street (Db-€100, Tb-€120; tel. 339-834-2486, www.vacanzemanuela.it, manucap64@libero.it

One summer day when we were at the seaside, he took me out in a little rowboat, far offshore, and threw me into the water like a dog. I was six.