With the new Avanti II, the Italian renaissance is alive at the Piaggio factory in Genoa, Italy. And the art and alchemy spun at Piaggio Aero is but a small part of the rich arrazo, or tapestry to be woven on any visit to Italia.

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The Ferrari name has been synonymous with performance motoring since 1947. But since 1998, Formula 1 and gorgeous street cars haven’t been Ferrari’s only high-performance interests.

That year Piero Ferrari, son of Ferrari patriarch Enzo, and José Di Mase, now Piaggio Aero’s CEO, acquired the assets of the aerospace business once known as Rinaldo Piaggio S.p.A. and formed Piaggio Aero Industries. The P.180 Avanti, Piaggio’s turboprop thoroughbred, had caught Ferrari’s eye, and like Victor Kiam so famously said years back in his signature Remington commercials, “I liked it so much, I bought the company.”

Of course Ferrari was already intimately familiar with the creation of highly desired, sexy, high-performance machines, so it’s no surprise that he recognized the P.180 Avanti as another machine worthy of the Ferrari and Maserati names.

The old adage “Getting there is half the fun,” often rings true in personal aviation, but it doesn’t come close to describing the wonderful journey I took on this passage to Piaggio Aero in Genoa via Milan and the paradiso of Portofino. When in Italy one would be remiss to neglect the opportunities to be had at the exclusive art and antiquari dealers in and outside of Milan and around the Italian countryside. And you’d find no argument that to witness firsthand the art, science, and alchemy of the construction of your Avanti is reason enough to make your own passagio. Indeed because though I’m getting ahead of myself a bit, screaming across the skies of Genoa and the Italian Riviera in a Piaggio Avanti is the aviation equivalent of roaring down the autostrada of Maranello in a high-revving red Ferrari.

No passagio per Piaggio would be complete without a visit to Portofino and its famed Hotel Splendido. Milan of course is also wonderful, though much more business than holiday. On this whirlwind circuit through northern Italy, I managed a few days at the five-star, ultra-luxe Grand Hotel et de Milan, centrally located on via Manzoni in one of Milan’s most chic districts. I stayed in the Tamara de Lempicka Suite, the preferred room of the famous artist during her numerous stays at the hotel. Prints of her work decorate the room, and the view, overlooking via Manzoni, was terrific, with La Scala down the block to the right and the Duomo cathedral rising in the distance.

Portofino on the other hand is truly a town plucked from a fairy tale. Before lunch on the day I arrived, I took a short walk from the Hotel Splendido to its famed piazzetta, Portofino’s wharf so achingly photogenic, though it is all trompe l’oeil facade, it seems more like a movie set constructed on the Paramount lot than a town dating back to the 10th century, when it belonged to the Benedictine monks of the San Fruttuoso monastery. The Hotel Splendido, set among stands of tall palm trees on 4 acres of tropical gardens, overlooks the bay of Portofino and its juxtaposition of 100 foot-plus yachts and modest fishing boats.

Of all the holiday destinations in Italy, the one most associated with nobility and the international jet set since before there even were jets is Portofino, and over the years the Splendido has welcomed Bacall and Bogart, Taylor and Burton, Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, Liza Minelli, and more recently Steven Spielberg and Madonna. Back in 1951 Edward, Duke of Windsor, and his wife, Wallis, were the first to sign the Splendido’s guest book.

The one-time hilltop monastery was transformed into a hotel in 1901. In 1985 Orient-Express Hotels acquired it, and the property underwent an extensive renovation. The hotel’s common areas and 65 rooms have since been exquisitely refurbished and redecorated in first-rate Indian carpets, olive wood parquet floors, black and white marble, and Venetian drapes gathered with ornate tassels.

Though Piaggio’s plant is located about 23 miles to the north in Genova Sestri Levante, the Hotel Splendido and Portofino are magical places not to be missed on any trip to either the Italian Riviera or Piaggio Aero.

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