Porto Rafael, the dream
Few places in the world offer at a glance a naturalistic vision of such strength and intensity, the one that in the 60s, after a vision had in dream, pushed Rafael Neville, Count of Berlanga, to build here the village bearing his name. Even Italian writer Guido Piovene, noble as Rafael, novelist and journalist author of famous "Journey to Italy", in the same years wrote: "The strange is that such a country of rocks, instead of giving a sensation of real, seems made by impalpable material of imagination", confirming a suggestion that Sardinia evoks in many, certainly in most sensitive souls. After all, what do dreams look like, if not imagination? Porto Rafael born from a dreamlike inspiration is entirely credible, given its enchanted atmosphere and the particularity of its history. Holiday destination for show biz personalities, artists, industrialists and nobles from all over the world, it still maintains the visionary and aristocratic spirit of its founder, guaranteeing guests exclusivity and discretion in a landscape setting of rare beauty.
Rafael, son of a producer of Charlie Chaplin most famos movies, landed in Sardinia in the mid-60s, more or less in the same period in which Aga Khan began constructing Costa Smeralda. One of the most famous entertainers of the parties held by VIPs in this corner of the island, where for years the jet set met, moreover for buying summer residences. Eclectic, outgoing, ready for any adventure, at his birthday parties, Rafael opened his villa inviting hundreds people in the Piazzetta. Common boys and girls, in holiday between Santa Teresa di Gallura and Palau, found themselves toasting with Marquise Dufferin and Ava, or served of pasta by a descendant of the House of Savoy. The chronicles of the time report the presence of celebrities such as Shirley Douglas, Philippa Davenport, Harvey and Mary Rose Renton, countess Be Larisch, Alessandra of Kent with her husband Angus Ogilvy, the Hon.
Peter Ward son of the Earl of Dudley, Sir Alan Chobham, "Merrie" Andrew, Gilda Bujalski, Lady Cadogan, Billie Hamilton, Alfonso of Savoy with his wife Sveva Colonna, Maria Visconti sister of director Luchino, the Crespi family, Leslie Caron and many others also more recent, which deliberately escape this list because of privacy.
Rafael had the ability to amalgamate most heterogeneous backgrounds, without rhetoric or paternalism. Surrounded by his disparate guests, he probably felt strengthened his deepest ideals, a sense of human brotherhood typical of stateless souls, with great visions. Maybe those parties corresponded to a Rafael’s new dream, that was seeing sooner or later a fair world, with no inequalities, welcoming each individual uniqueness and beauty. We imagine that during parties Rafael sometimes moves to the litte beach observing from far his guests dressed in white, while laughing and talking together.
Touched by melancholy thoughts, Rafael pushes them away, since he probably cannot share them with anyone. In those minutes perhaps he feels lonely, with a lack of strength, maybe even doubting of his own motto
“Dreaming is living”. Then someone perhaps notices him hidden in the night and calls him loudly, asking to join the others. Rafael suddenly smiles, tearing darkness with a newfound good humor, and as an old ruler called to his responsibilities, he starts dancing until morning, promising happiness to everybody.
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