새벽부터 내리기 시작한 여름빗소리를 들으며 기대감으로 뉴포트에 도착했다. 여전히 내리는 소낙비에도 “리조트의 여왕” 뉴포트의 요트들은 즐비하게 떠다닌다. 백여년전 미국 부호들이 뉴포트에 지었다는 호화로운 미국식 궁전을 둘러보며 그 장엄함에 아름다움을 느낀다. 한적한 숲길을 내려와 대서양 바람을 맞으며 좁은 벼랑길을 따라 클리프 워크를 걷는다. 해안에 핀 이름모를 꽃들도 반가이 몸을 흔들고 햇빛이 구름속에 숨어서 걸어도 지치지 않는 날이다. 항구에 떠 있는 선상의 저녁맞이도 뉴포트를 기억하기에 좋은 곳이다.
Newport is a city set on Aquidneck Island in the New England state of Rhode Island. Its yacht-filled harbor hosted the America’s Cup, a renowned annual sailing regatta, for many years. Newport is also known for the Gilded Age mansions lining Bellevue Avenue, some of which are now museums. The most famous is The Breakers, an 1895 mansion patterned after a Renaissance palace.
Other mansions open to the public include the Versailles-inspired Rosecliff and the opulent Marble House, built as a summertime “cottage” for railroad magnate William Vanderbilt. Beginning at Easton’s Beach, the Newport Cliff Walk is a popular 3.5-mile waterfront promenade with views to the mansions it runs behind. In Downtown, the Newport Historic District is filled with Colonial, Georgian and Federal landmarks like Trinity Church. Fort Adams State Park, the site of a 19th-century fort, today hosts acclaimed annual music festivals and offers panoramic views over Narragansett Bay.
