Kate's Fantastic Adventure - The Island of Capri

The day we planned to go to Capri we woke up to threatening skies.  Nonetheless, we at breakfast and then made our way down to the ferry dock.  By the time we reached the harbor it was pouring.  We bought our tickets and then ducked into a nearby bar/ristorante for cappucino and the use of the toilette.  Kate was obviously happy but the rest of us were a bit concerned about the weather.  Luckily, it turned out to be a passing squall and by the time we reached Capri the sun was shining.

After reaching Capri we stood in line for the funicular, rode it up the hillside and reached Capri town.  Here are the ladies framed by Monte Solara, the highest point on the island.  The mountain gives one a good idea of the topography of the island.  Almost everywhere the rocky ground drops precipitously into the sea.  This made the island highly defensible but the inhabitants made a poor living from the land and were mostly fishermen.  However, since Roman times it has been a beloved spot for a holiday and certainly for the last several hundred years that has been the island's main industry.

We started out by walking through Capri town.  The shopkeepers were still in the process of opening up and it was interesting to see them washing windows, sweeping the street in front of the boutiques and chatting with each other.  All the major designers have shops that were fascinating too look in but too expensive for us.  Eventually our strolling brought us to the old monastary on the far side of the island.  Apple and cherry trees were blossoming and other trees leafing out.  The grass was an incredible shade of green.  One advantage of being there early in the spring is that the lack of foliage on the trees allows one a better view.

Emily had a purse that Cherie and I thought just screamed out to the pickpockets, "I'm easy!"  In this photo you can see that Cherie is trying to teach her daughter a lesson.  Unfortunately, Emily exhibited great reflexes and tried to break her mother's finger. 

The girls seemed unphased by the attempted pickpocketing.  Emily was able to block out Cherie's whining about her finger.

We finished our stroll at a beautiful park that was being readied for spring.  The gardeners were just in the process of planting the annuals and the color was marvelous.  The park is a frequented by tourists as it has beautiful views of the cliffs and the town of Capri.  We explored the different terraces before setting off for Villa Jovis.

From the park I could see the back side of the monastary.  Dom and I explored it last fall and parts of it are in good repair and are used by a school and as a museum.  It was interesting to see that parts of it are obviously abandoned, covered with vines and slowly disintegrating.

We decided to hike to Villa Jovis, the Roman emperor Tiberius' palace on the south end of the island.  It is a 45 minute walk along paved pathways set between houses and fields.  Along the way there were some lovely views such as the one at left.  Unfortunately, I did not emphasise the "45 minute" part and some in the group were surprised at how long it was taking.  It was also quite an uphill hike.  Kate and I blythely strolled ahead whilst behind us some (who shall not be named) were in danger of collapsing.  Luckily at about that point we stopped to buy sandwiches at a little alimentari (grocery).  The proprietress, while not as friendly the one in Atrani, made us delicious panini with mortadella, fresh mozzarella and tomato before we set off for the rest of the hike.

A little before we reached Villa Jovis we decided to stop for our picnic at an open area that offered a spectacular view over the Bay of Naples.  The surroundings were not the more "romantic" but we found some steps to sit on and Cindy even stretched out for a little snooze in the sun.

The view from our lunch time perch was much better than these pictures reflect.  Or, perhaps it was just our ability to look beyond the gritty foreground to the beauty beyond.  We never did figure out exactly what the area was--there were several more open terraces below this one.  However, we hypothesised that it could be a campground in the summer months.

On our way back into town we made the acquaintance of a couple of cute dogs--possibly a mother and child.  They followed us all the way back to the middle of the shops.  Cherie and Emily were plotting how to bring the puppies back to the U.S.  I managed to dissuade them by telling them yes, they could bring dogs into the U.S. but no, they could not bring a dog in the rental car. Eventually the dogs took off on their own and left us behind.  I am sure they are well-loved Italian pets.  They were certainly friendly enough.

We were back in Sorrento by late afternoon--time for a little shopping and lazing.  Kate and Cindy cut up one of the giant lemons they had bought the day before.  It was fascinating to learn that the huge lemons are mostly rind.  The lemony part is actually not much larger than a regular size lemon.  The two of them thought it was quite good.  I let them have it all as I am not a fan of eating a lemon like an orange.

It was that afternoon I believe that we found the BEST gelateria of the trip.  Gelateria Davide II (recommended in Rick Steves and other guidebooks) had the most delicious gelato fo the entire trip.  We ended up going there three times in two days.  If we could have gone for a last dish the morning we left Sorrento we would have.  Unfortunately they are not open that early in the morning!

Kate's Fantastic Adventure - Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast

On Sunday, March 28 we set off for Sorrento by train.  This involved taking a train from the main station in Rome, Stazione Termini, to Napoli Centrale.  From there we took the local train called the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento.  From Rome to Naples we had five seats in a six seat compartment.  The poor Italian man who sat with us had to put up with a lot of hilarity, including Cherie pulling up her pant legs to show how badly she needed to shave.  He was a good sport and when we reached Naples he helped us get out suitcases down from the overhead racks.  Maybe he was just eager to see us go.

The Circumvesuviana is a local train that stopped at every station along the route and took over an hour to reach Sorrento.  The rest of the girls were fascinated by the groups of "gypsies" that were on the train.  They looked to me like family groups out for the day but I did such a good job of warning the rest of the group against them that they clutched their bags and kept a wary eye on the gypsies until they got off about halfway to Sorrento.

Sorrento is a lovely town that makes a good base for exploring the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii.  Its pedestrian friendly medieval core is full of shops selling all sorts of things but the two main specialties of the area are lemons (and all associated products including Limoncello) and sandals. 

Our hotel was a small guesthouse located right in the historic center.  The Palazzo Marziale was a great find.  The rooms were nice as was the location--only a short walk from the train station.  The breakfast was also good.  Being very small it had no front desk and we rarely saw any staff while we were there.  We also never saw any other guests.  Every morning we were the only ones at breakfast and we heard very little in the way of noise from other people.  On the last day we had to ask the breakfast staff what we had to do about paying for our rooms.  It turned out one of took care of it.

While not right on the seaside bluff, the hotel is separated from the water view only by a park.  Our rooms were at the back of the hotel but the streetside rooms probably have lovely vistas of the water.

After getting settled in our rooms we went to the nearby park and took lots of pictures.  Then we headed off for a little exploration of the Sorrento streets.

After exploring for an hour or so we sat down for a little snack at a cafe on Piazza Tasso, the main square in Sorrento.  It was cappucinos and a little food all around except I had a glass of Prosecco.  We had been breaking for "elevenses" most mornings so Kate christened our late afternoon stop "fiveses."

The next morning we headed back to the train station and found the bus to Amalfi.  This is the main town along the Amalfi Coast.  The bus ride is a must for any tourist to this area.  The road is cut right into the side of the cliffs that line the coast and in some places the rock drops thirty or forty stories to the water and even further to the tops of the mountains above.  Both coming and going from Amalfi we snagged the five seats along the back of the bus.  On our way there this turned out not to be the idea spot.  About three rows in front of us several small children had bad cases of motion sickness and upchucked in the aisle.  Where I was sitting I could not really see the evidence so when I saw that Kate was turning green I made her climb over me and sit next to the window.  Cherie and Emily spent much of the rest of the bus ride with kleenex over their mouths and noses.  It wasn't bad when the bus was moving but when it stopped the odor was pretty bad.

One of Amalfi's claims to fame is a nice sandy beach.  It was also one of the great Italian maritime republics of the Renaissance (along with Pisa, Genoa and Venice.)  Its great wealth is evident in the beautiful church in the middle of town and other lovely buildings.

As you can see from the pictures we were incredibly lucky in the weather.  The day was spectacular and warm enough that we were soon in shirtsleeves.

The church has a number of lovely features including the broad stairs leading up from the main piazza, a secluded cloister, the old church that is now a museum and the new church with its beautiful facade. 

In the Rick Steves guidebook we read of a trail (lane) that leads from the middle of Amalfi to the next small town on the coast, Atrani.  The latter was advertised as charming and lacking in tourists.  As it was only a fifteen minute walk we decided to stroll over and have lunch.  The route led up some stairs and a series of narrow paths between houses and rock.  It was a lovely encounter with back street Amalfi.

As we came out of the narrow lanes the view opened up and we could see down into Atrani and further along the coast.  With weather like this it is easy to understand why sunglasses were much discussed as an essential fashion item.

Charming as Atrani is, there is not much in the way of tourist services.  We opted to get sandwiches at a local alimentari (grocery).  The woman who made our sandwiches was charming and just buying the food turned into quite the experience.  We made our way down to the water's edge and settled down onto the rocks for our picnic.  It was not the most comfy of seats but the view was spectacular and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Afterwards we made our way along the sandy beach and back towards the path back to Amalfi.  At a gelateria we spotted earlier we bought dessert.  The gentleman who served us was quite good looking and took a lot of pleasure in having his picture taken with several of us.  He was nicknamed "Arms" and was talked about off and on for the rest of the trip!

I should have taken a picture of the water view but for some reason the view up into the hills behind us fascinated me.  In particular, in the middle of the left side of this photo can be seen a white building--a church.  It must have been a monastary but all I could think of was what a trek it must have been to get anything up there, including all the building materials.

Back in Amalfi we saw a number of spots where someone has built tiny versions of Amalfitani towns into various nooks and crannies.  We also saw more of this along the road on the way back to Sorrento.  The why of this is a mystery although someone suggested they might be some sort of ghost villages to divert the evil spirits from invading the real houses.

I could not help taking this picture at an alimentari in Amalfi.  Who new spicy peppers had such properties?!?!

Coming soon:  Capri and Pompeii.

Kate's Fantastic Italian Adventure!

The 2010 Girls' Trip to Italy was a wopping success!  This was my niece Kate's Italian adventure and we were joined by her mom Cindy and my friend Cherie and her daughter Emily.  The above picture was taken our first night in Rome.  Over the next few weeks I will post the details of our trip but for now here is a quick overview.

We started in with two full days in Rome.  The first day we focused on Ancient Rome.  Above you can see us at the Colosseum.

From Rome we took the train south to Sorrento where we had three full days.  The first was spent taking the bus to Amalfi where we walked to the nearby town of Atrani for lunch.  The bus ride itself was quite the adventure (urp!).

Then we took the boat to Capri and explored the little island.

We also spent a day at Pompeii.  The weather in Rome and Sorrento was spectacular.  The Italians might have thought it was still chilly but 65-70 degree weather was a delight for a bevy of Seattle area women.

From Sorrento I drove the gang to Partigliano.  We managed a flying stop at the Prada Outlet near Florence but it was a bit of a disappointment.  A lot like Nordstrom but pricier. 

Our first day in P. involved laundry, groceries, a stop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and picking up Dom at the airport (yeah!).  He put up with the gaggle of girls superbly.

Actually, Dom got left at home his first day here.  The rest of us went to Florence for a visit to the Uffizi and SHOPPING!  Italy's economy got quite a boost as can be seen from the shopping bags.

We also spent a day at the Cinqueterre in spite of MY whining. It turned out the best idea as the weather in P. was damp but it was sunny and warm on the coast.

Everyone was flying out of Bologna so we packed up and spent the day in Venice before overnighting in Bologna.  The next day Dom and I dropped the gang off at the airport and headed back to Partigliano. 

It was a REALLY fun two weeks but we did do a LOT.  So, I am sure all my dear friends now need a vacation from their vacation.  Meanwhile, Dom and I are getting back in our Italian groove.  More tomorrow.