Signing off

 Ciao.   The dishes are done, the bags are packed, and the last pop of Prosecco has come and gone.   Ahead lies a 2 hour flight to Rome, then a 10.5 hour to Calgary, then another 2 hours to Victoria.   My iPad is armed with about 10 hours of movies, our seats are chosen, resignation and depression have set in.   I can’t believe it’s over.

Brindisi was lovely today.  We found a pedestrian mall with some tempting stores (no room in luggage, too bad), strolled the waterfront again, explored the innards going south and found a few fascinating nuggets of history.   By far the most intriguing was the St. John the Baptist cathedral, which is actually a museum featuring the most fantastic antiquities from the 16th and 17th century.  Originally build in about 1100, the church was redesigned 600 years later after a fire, but the treasures within are fantastic.   Sadly there were no descriptions of the artifacts in English and so I translated a few when I got home.  The books are from the archbishop’s writing in about 1720, but their ornate covers were so beautiful that I wished I could have touched them, even just once.  Beautiful goblets (Prosecco, anyone?), more bits and pieces of people/saints or the venerated stashed here and there.  And the frescos, always so stunning.

It was a grand way to spend our last day in Italy.  Tonight, we are winding down, double-checking passports and tickets and figuring out where the hell are the liquids and how much olive oil is under 100 mL?  I guess I’ll find out, maybe the hard way when they confiscate my Amalfi garlic olive oil.  This adventure has been beyond comparison and exceeded my expectations and hopes a thousand times over.  Italy, you are in my heart forever.

                                           In the courtyard at St. Anna’s… Roman columns just lying there.  Gasp!

Easy, Breezy Brindisi

 It’s officially our last full day in Italy.   I can hardly believe the past month, the things we have seen, the places we have traveled, the adventures and the misadventures.  But, all good things must come to an end and I prefer to think of endings as simply the transition to new beginnings.

Brindisi is relatively flat and yesterday’s walk around town was easy and fast.   This is a mariner town for sure, there are fountains and statues and tributes to the men of the sea and those who fought to defend the shores for a thousand years or more.   It is a quiet place, especially during afternoon siesta, when the streets are folded up and all is quite silent.  What a change after the hustle and bustle of Milan, Naples or Firenze. 

A few shots taken under a brilliant blue sky:

I’m not sure how we’ll spend these last 24 hours in Italy, but the sun is out, the sky is blue, and we’ve got more exploring on board.   Avante! 

Chaio, Bella Salerno!

 I’m composing this off line, while sitting on a high speed train from Salerno to Brindisi, about a 5 hour journey.   We caught our first connector with ease and now here we are, with not much to do except for look out the windows and admire the scenery.  And wish they would wash the train windows more frequently.  This train is from Rome and was pretty full when it pulled into the station, so it was lucky that we bought our tickets on line when we did.  Guaranteed seating for a long trip is the only way to go, even if Dave and I are in aisle seats, facing each other.

                                          All are welcome on Trainitalia!

Anyway.   Yesterday was a 30G step day, and every one of them a joy.  We revisited the beautiful shoreline walk in the morning, pushing further along the harbour for quite some time until we ran out of sidewalks.  It’s a busy, pretty port, with a couple of gargantuan cruise ships in and many expensive private yachts.   The “passeggiata” walk is a sweet Italian tradition, families and lots of dogs join the young and the old on a lazy, relaxed stroll.   It’s so utterly non-North American in its simplicity and pace.  We eventually wound up St. Mathias church, where the tomb of Matthew, one of the disciples is.   Such ornate beauty and attention to detail left me gasping.  What a tribute to the hand of man, and what can be created through faith and inspiration.

Eventually we found our way to another church, some ancient Roman aqueducts, and then a courtyard with a sweet little restaurant, where we split an amazing smoked salmon and avocado salad for our lunch.   A lazy stroll back to the hotel and an hour to rest our feet - while eating limoncello babas (gift from Enza), and then off we went again, this time up, up and more up to the most glorious views of sparkling Salerno.   We could not find the one church that we wanted to, and two more were closed thanks to it being late Sunday afternoon.    In our wandering though we did manage to find the exquisite Minerva gardens, dating back to Medieval times.   More climbing, more vistas.  We did get a little turned around on the way back as the cobblestone streets were somewhat reminiscent of Naples (thankfully, without the buzzing motorcycles), and that managed to add quite a few more steps.  Believe me when I say my legs have never been so strong.

                                 Totally lost, but what a view!

                          For a thousand years a spring has run through this grotto.

                                      The busy, friendly, sunny harbour

Dinner was at Pinocchio’s, a great discovery near the waterfront, and we celebrated the day with spaghetti and grilled fish and veggies.   Some sort of wild celebration was going on in the park on the waterside, but unfortunately most of the restaurants were closed.  Again, Sunday.   No matter, this was a great find and we really enjoyed our meals.   It was such beautiful weather, mild and warm, so we decided to stroll up and down the pedestrian way that our little hotel is on.   It was buzzing with action and chattering people, vibrant and engaging.   It was so tough to finally stop for the night but a long day of travel demanded it, so it was back to our rooms and to a fairly respectable sleep. I’ll miss beautiful Salerno very much.

                                This fresco, from the first century, is still beautiful.

                                     Somewhat macabre reminder of the fragility of life.

                                              Part of the Roman aqueducts. 

Twenty-four hours

 It is mind boggling how much can be crammed into a single day.   Yesterday we awoke to the thickest, darkest fog I have ever seen, and yet, it was warm.   We went for a walk anyway, being extra careful not to waltz off any cliffs, let alone get lost.  And get lost we did, but not for long after we reversed our direction and successfully found the tiny piazza.  By then, the sun was working hard to break through the clouds and we could finally appreciate some of the beauty around us.

Our very special dinner began in the early evening, after we met Enzo and her boyfriend in the piazza, to have a glass of wine and a pre-visit visit.   When we returned to our hotel, it was to find that the owners had pretty much knocked themselves out to make our dinner a night worth remembering, including the most exquisite floral arrangement on our table for four.   We were the only guests.  The food was indescribable, and every course was more sumptuous than the last.   I knew I was in trouble after the pasta course and I still had three courses to go.  But, the portions were elegantly small and by taking a few hours to leisurely savour every morsel, and every sip of wine that went along with every course, it seemed natural to fall into the European style of dining.  Slow, appreciative, with frequent fork breaks to sip wine and really take in the exquisite food that was presented.   All four IPhones were kept busy translating Italian to English and vice versa, Dave managed to keep up pretty well and our lovely hostess swooped in to translate if things got particularly complicated.  Laughter was abundant and we easily bonded our friendship as the hours passed.   I will never forget this feast as I can truthfully say, it was the best meal I have ever had in my life.   I have only included a few pictures from the many courses that we savoured. 

                                                Stunning, fresh floral display

                                                 Seared tuna, capers

                                                 Perfectly cooked black bass

Our decadent dessert

We parted with great affection, many kisses and enthusiastic promises to return to Enza’s next year, or to bring her back to Canada with us.   Pretty much the sky was the limit, at that hour of the night, LOL. 

Needless to say, we were a bit quiet by the time morning rolled around, and both of us sighed knowing we were in for a long bus ride to Amalfi and then to Salerno.    If we only knew…

We had done our research this time, and we knew exactly where the bus would stop. We even did a surreptitious recon earlier in the day.  And so it was that we stood with our fully packed suitcases, backpacks and equally large heads, precisely at 9:15 to catch the 9:30 bus.   

Nine-thirty came and went.   No bus.   No matter, another was due at 10.   No bus.  We listened to the church bell forlornly tolling our hours.   One bus came by, and we leapt up only to be told, no, not going to Amalfi.   Sat down on the stairs, watched the little village dogs roar around by themselves as they did every morning, seeking treats from trekkers.

Finally, the Sita bus roared into sight about 10:30 and of course of course of course, it was packed to the hilt.   I managed to get on and got the very last seat, right at the front next to the driver.  Poor Dave, who was struggling with our bags, got the aisle and a very long, twisty, bumpy ride.   Or so we thought.

Just as we were leaving the little town, we came to a grinding halt behind two other Sita buses.   Small traffic was moving, but buses were not.  The driver erupted in a string of frustrated Italian and left to go and join the other drivers to have a smoke.   We were perched on the edge of a cliff, the view was stunning, but no one knew what was happening.   The minutes dragged on.   I heard rumours of an accident somewhere on the road and sure enough, someone had ran into a barricade or done something that incinerated their car.   Necessitating, of course, fire control and road clearance and all of that stuff.  I plugged in my Spotify list and tried to relax.   Nothing to do, so why worry?  

It was getting close to 11:30 when we finally got moving, and we crawled our way into Amalfi with the three other buses.  Because of all the delays, the bus depot was complete bedlam, people pushing their way onto buses and zero room in the aisles, let alone a seat.   And so, one of the really really smart siblings said… oh look, there’s the ferry station!  Let’s go see if we can catch a boat to Salerno!

Like magic, five minutes later we had our tickets in hand and were on the dock in less than 10.  The boat arrived, emptied it’s load of tourists and we boarded our half hour cruise to Salerno.   The views were absolutely gobsmacking.   It was a beautiful warm day, the seas were choppy and we sat right at the very front of the boat in the sunshine, hanging on tight, loving every second.   To see Amalfi from the sea is unforgettable, the beauty, the starkness of the cliffs and the utterly amazing engineering that it takes to carve a city out of a mountainside.  

                                                    Switchbacks, hairpins, hair-raising turns on the bus

                                     Views of Amalfi

There we sat, on our own private “yacht” cruising the Amalfi coast, watching the buses that were packed like sardines snake their way along the road as we merrily bounced our way across the Mediterranean to Salerno.   Only a half an hour.   For 8 euros.  Worth a fortune.  I could spend an entire day just riding back and forth on the ferries.  Positano, Amalfi, Salerno, Capris.   Would be so much fun.

I got an an instant good vibe from Salerno, and I can’t wait to explore this beautiful city.  There was a welcoming dude helping tie up the boat, who was a gent in his 70s (I believe a “town character”) and wearing a postage stamp-sized Speedo bathing suit that had seen better days.  Everyone was happy and calm.   Without too many back/forths, we found our little boutique hotel, less than 1/2 km to walk this time.   It is lovely, new, the rooms are small but everything is pristinely clean and best of all it is located on a beautiful pedestrian street, packed full of charming restaurants, intriguing stores and aromatic perfumeries.   Tomorrow will be a wondrous day, unless you’re my Visa card.

For now, a little siesta after an eventful day, and then we’ll grab dinner out and go exploring.  No cooking on this leg of the trip, and we are feeling quite spoiled (because we certainly are).

Agerola

 This beautiful, tiny little hamlet is known as “Little Switzerland” as it is tucked high up into the mountains.   It is quiet, clean and friendly, and we are staying at a cozy family-run hotel in the village.  We are the only guests so far and yesterday we had a wonderful time meeting the owner, Magdalena and her husband, a talented chef.   Indeed, there will be a very special dinner this evening as we entertain some friends of Dave’s that he met last April.   Designed by Dave and the chef, it is going to be a three course feast that features the best of the regional riches.  We have already been treated to appetizers with our welcoming wine yesterday - local anchovies, creamy Gorgonzola, peasant bread with slices of parmesan, olives.   And they make their own red wine, which Dave pronounced as delicious.

Although our trip here went without a hitch, it was a long one and involved many changes.   Beginning in the chaos of the Naples train station (took the subway to get there as linea one was finally open, thank God)….

We caught a high speed, direct train to Salerno, first stop.   Managed to find the bus station without too much of a problem, and to our delight, the bus to Amalfi was waiting.   The delight was a bit bruised as we crammed onto the bus with a hundred other people and were left standing in the aisle for the next hour as the bus negotiated the almost unbelievable mountainous roads, twists, turns and jaw dropping climbs.  Not once was I afraid, these drivers are experts and several times we passed other buses going back to Naples, and I swear there was about 2 inches between the two buses.   Didn’t faze them a bit so it didn’t faze me either.   As we trundled along for the next hour or so, enough people left that I was able to sit for the last 5 km, which took us about 25 minutes.  At last, Amalfi appeared and we repeated the process for the next bus to Agerola, another hour or so but this time, blessedly sitting down.  Higher and higher we climbed, and the lush valleys below were all tiered and actively growing various types of produce.  The rain held off, blessedly. 

We kind of got off in the wrong spot in Agerola, which we realized when Google said it was a 25 minute walk and not a 3 minute one.   Called Magdalena and said, somewhat sheepishly… we’re at the Blue Moon bar, do you know where that is?   She laughed and said she would be right over to pick us up and sure enough, about 15 minutes later there she was.   We told her about our many travels and she looked at us and blinked and said… why didn’t you just take the bus direct from Naples?   Only 90 minutes!   Oh, we said.   Oh.   How about that.

By the time we tucked into our rooms and had our welcoming wine and goodies, we were laughing at ourselves.   No harm done, and the bus ride was one I will never forget.  (I can’t, since tomorrow we will be on the same bus, back-tracking to Salerno)!

First views of this lovely spot were marred by heavy clouds and mist over the mountains, but I will try to get some better pictures today.  The weather is still not on our side but everything is looking splendid from tomorrow on, right until we leave on Thursday.   I might even get a chance to wear my new hat again!

                                    A wonderful, hand-crafted menu, and really reasonable

                                   First view of Agerola, taken while waiting for our pick up

                                         Never stop dreaming.  Only those who dream can fly.

Moving on to Amalfi

 Yesterday was another good wander, and having visited the same piazza now three or four times, the way around the warren is become a little more clear.   We found a decent market (sadly, a day too late to buy things to cook).   Had an enjoyable time watching hundreds of children, who were in the piazza to meet some of their decathlon athletes and to be inspired by them.  Picked up more cheese and some roasted artichoke with olives dish that was purely amazing.  The weather held until after our mid afternoon break and then just as we were going to go to Sophia Loren’s corner for pizza, the skies opened.   No matter, I was stuffed full of luncheon goodies and so gratefully called it a night and managed to get a good, solid 8 hour sleep, which will put me in good stead for today’s adventures.  Fast train to Salerno, bus to Amalfi, bus to Agerola and to our next few nights as cliff dwellers.

                                                 Ciao, complesso Napoli.   

Making Friends with Naples

 Yesterday we walked the morning away, took a brief rest at home, and then continued to meander for a few more hours.   Somehow we wracked up 25G steps, and a great deal of them were going up staircases. The walk alongside the Napoli harbour is truly lovely - wide and for pedestrians only, which gave the mind and heart a rest from ducking Fiats and motorcycles.   This place makes you feel vibrantly alive and highly alert, sometimes that is a great feeling and sometimes the adrenalin rush that is needed to cross traffic or step carefully over broken roads leaves you a bit depleted.  The energy is frenetic and yet there is such beauty in the old buildings and in the plants/trees that must have floated over from Africa on the wind.

We found a wonderful market in the afternoon wander, and picked up pasta, cheese, stuffed eggplant and roasted peppers for our dinner.   And two ricotta cheesecake pieces!  It was a feast and one that would have been easy if we had a microwave (still don’t know why we don’t) or a functioning oven (simply does not light).   Dave created a water bath type of pan on one of the burners and we easily used the aluminum containers to warm it all up that way.   Easy.

I have also discovered the magnificent Napoli olive, expertly brined, at exactly the right ripeness.  The bag of about 20 that we bought didn’t last an hour, and we’re going back today for more.  Much more.

Streetlife around here is fascinating.   In the late afternoon, as I was giving my toes a much needed breather, I heard a loudspeaker moving through the neighbourhood.   I thought it was someone spouting propaganda but a peek over the veranda revealed the fruit & vegetable vendor.   He announces his presence, snaps open his panels and doors to display his wares, and then baskets start dropping from the higher apartments and verandas.   These obligingly get filled with the proper order and then it’s hauled back up to the window.   Payment’s in there somehow, maybe at the start.   

One of our major scores yesterday was to buy two rain ponchos for 3 euros.   Mine’s pink, bro’s is blue.  We hoped this might appease the rain Gods and that Murphy’s law would apply, but I’m afraid not.   Rain will return this afternoon and be a part of our travel day tomorrow, but at least this time we will be staying high and dry.

Tomorrow, we take the fast train to Salerno, and two buses further on to get to our next destination, Agerola, on the Amalfi.   Two nights in our own rooms in a hotel there, then two nights in a Salerno hotel, and then another long train trip to our final destination in Brindisi.  The days are getting short.

                                   We discovered the Basilica Reale Pontificia during our afternoon wanders

Today is another laundry day, because we’ll be hoteling it for the next four nights.   And right on schedule, the rain has made another appearance, but at least it is not heavy.   And the glittery Galleria Piazza Garibaldi is not a long walk from here, so that promises to be a pleasant and dry place to spend a few hours, and probably quite a few euros!

Naples

 I thought Venice was a rabbit’s warren of confusing and twisted streets.   Ha!  Naples makes Venice look like a well organized, alphabetized, logical roadmap.   But!  We are here and our apartment is quite lovely, tucked away in the Spanish quarter of this mind boggling city.   Twenty-four hours ago we were still waiting for the rain to calm down in Sorrento so we could make our dash for the train station.   It didn’t, and we were soaked again in the process.   But, we made it, caught our train, and arrived in Naples to find the metro line one was closed, due to flooding.  Obviously they got the same rain we did.   No cabs.  No choice but to Google walk our way (approximately 45 minutes, said Google) to our BnB and this we did, taking more than double that time and getting hopelessly lost as we tried to find our place, which Google insisted, was in the middle of a brick wall down an alley.

                                            “Somewhere, down there… is our apartment.”

Dave finally called our host and through another series of merry adventures involving another thousand or more stairs, somehow… we made it.  Whew.  It took us more than 5 hours to go less than 30 km from Sorrento.

Today, Tuesday morning, we have mutually chosen an easy day, and there is apparently a beautiful walk alongside the marina that sounds soothing to the soul.  And, we noted an abundance of fresh vegetables being sold at little stands all through the neighbourhood, which means we will make up a big batch of our favorite roasted vegetables for dinner tonight.  Best of all, no rain!

Thunder, lightning, heavy rain and laundry day

 This was the vista at waking hour:

Those grumpy-looking clouds were in a bad mood, and heading straight for us, after getting holes poked into them by Vesuvius.   I dithered about whether we could make it into town for a quick shop but it was so early, and it’s Sunday today.   Instead we elected to do battle with our Italian washing machine, who decided to wash our load of clothes for upwards of three hours.   And not an agitating wash, just the occasional, spin, stop, think.   Spin, stop, think.   After a few hours of this we wondered whether we’d have any zippers or buttons left on anything and so consulted the Goggle manual, which was about as helpful as a novel written in Sanskrit.   Instead, we just pushed a lot of buttons and finally, voila, she went into a paroxysms of spins and spat out all the clean duds in about 15 minutes.  Bonus.   By then, I had hauled our dryer rack back from our sun deck  (there are no dryers in Italy, everyone dries out in the fresh (ha) air.   So, dryer rack needed drying first and then we loaded her up and used every hanger and doorknob for all the rest.    Kinda looked like a Chinese/Italian laundromat.

The rain continued to pour, sometimes so heavily we couldn’t even see the road below us.   And so, wrapped in my favorite Italian scarf, we attempted Italian TV, which was actually pretty good because it was all about polar bears and you don’t really need much translation to understand what “I’m gonna eat that seal” means.

Around 2 pm, the not-smart-sibling brightly offered that the rain was lessening and that if we were going to do a provision run, now was the time.   Backpacks were loaded, coats on and our single umbrella (still working fine despite the Siena blowout) and off we went, down the windy long road to the market, almost 2 km.   Ground zero turned out to be much wetter than what I judged from our lofty perch and it took no time until we were soaked, and I mean right down to the intestines.  Dave’s ponytail was a conduit for an elegant little waterfall, but I didn’t dare tell him that at the time.   After surfing our way around the last corner, there it was, our favorite market and we all but cried when the man standing outside of it shook his head and simply said… chiuso.    WHAT?  Per quanto? We asked, water dripping off our noses.    He shrugged.   Tutti il giorno.    All day.   Domenica, he shrugged again.   Sunday.   Oh.

In fact, thanks to the storm, so were all the trattorias in the area, chuiso.   There was nothing to do but to head back up the hill, our packs dripping and our spirits with them.   But!   I remember spying a tiny pizza place, tucked into a corner about halfway up and low and behold, they were open.  We bundled in the door, effectively washing their floor for them, and asked plaintively “takeaway?”   And thank God, he took pity on us as we shivered and dripped and watched them make our two pizzas.    I’ll tell you something, there are worse places to wait in a storm then about 2 feet from an open brick pizza oven, watching the owner as he crafted a perfect crust over wood coals.    He felt sorry for the two dumb, wet Canadians who lived “high up on the hill” and double wrapped our hot pizza with plastic bags.   I spied two large Peroni beers and added them to the pack, along with a package of salted peanuts, circa 1945.    And up the hill we went again, dodging washouts and car splashes and watching our feet as we sloshed through the mud mixed with fallen fruit, nuts and grapes.   But we made it.   And we added our shoes, socks, coats and packs to the Chinese Italian laundry, poured a Peroni each and tucked ourselves in for the rest of this tropical storm.   The weather does not bode well for our trip to Napoli tomorrow, but it is what it is, and we will survive it.

Sunshine and lemons and many, many steps

 We had the most wonderful morning, exploring the inner harbour and marina as we weighed our decision to go to Capri.  In the end, we decided to give it a pass.   The tourists are everywhere, often being led by a flag-holding guide who shepherds her flock more enthusiastically than a border collie.  Maybe it was because it’s a Saturday but the ferry line ups were long and the price was steep.  So, we shrugged and decided to keep our exploring through the magnificent markets and streets brimming with temptations.  Climbing back up from the harbour, some 400 stairs or so, lands one back in the town square and from there, you wander through pretty little parks and narrow lanes, part of a slow moving but happy bunch.  We stopped for a cannoli (overdosed on the chocolate for sure) and, much later I was treated to my first, but hopefully not last, limoncello spritzer.   Made with fresh lemons, a splash of limoncello and a twinkle of Prosecco.   Icy cold with slush, it was refreshing and delicious.   We found a park and watched the marina below, admiring the intense blue of the Mediterranean while listening to a busker play some traditional Italian guitar.

Mediterranean blue!

Looking up at the Excelsior, where Caruso spent his last days.

Busy harbour.  Zillion dollar toys of the rich & famous..  

Ancient columns and tunnels in hills, untouched and mysterious.

Wall painting downtown.

Parts of Sorrento feature steps cut into walls and cliffs, and they were there long before Christ.  And there is a Moorish aspect to some of the design, I am sure a carry-over from battles of yore.   We are not far from the coast of Africa and the jungle-like lushness reflects that, beautiful cacti and vibrantly healthy flowers are everywhere.  It’s like living in the middle of a fruit bowl.

This morning (it is now Sunday), the clouds have settled in.   We’ll go back to Sorrento for a little more serious shopping for souvenirs and perhaps find a church or two to explore.   And figure out whether to take a ferry to Naples tomorrow, or to get back on the train.  We have four nights in Naples to explore that big, busy city, and we are staying quite centrally in the Spanish quarter.   It will be a change after sleepy Tuscany and touristy Sorrento, but a nice bit of hustle before we return to the Amalfi coast, Salerno, and finally, Brindisi on the Adriatic side, our last port before catching the big bird to Rome/Calgary/Victoria.