The Amalfi Coast, an Unforgettable Drive!

Once again it was hard to move on to our next destination, both of us loved Sorrento and we wished we had more time there, but who knew? We wanted to see Positano, the closest major town to Sorrento and we knew once we were in Amalfi, we wouldn't have a chance to backtrack since we only had two nights and so we took a day trip from Sorrento to Positano on the notorious SITA bus.

The Amalfi coast is an absolutely stunning stretch of Italian coastline stretching loosely from Sorrento to Salerno, a busy port city South of Sorrento. This area is steeped in history going back to Ancient Greece and beyond. It once was a colony of Greece known as Magna Graecia, Greater Greece, and at a location south of Salerno called Paestum, there is a magnificent collection of ancient Greek temples. Unfortunately we just couldn't make a visit to Paestum work out, but maybe next time.

I was a little nervous about taking this bus, people say how rugged and beautiful (narrow and winding) this road is and they aren't kidding. I guess I would have less of a problem with these roads if there was a proper barrier between the bus and certain death on the drop of doom, but in reality for most of the way it looks like an angry cub scout could kick this railing right over the edge and into the ocean.

Excuse me sir, should the road we just traveled on be beside us?

I have developed a deep appreciation for the heavy, interlocking concrete barriers that we use in Canada, especially since the drivers of these buses are often so nonchalant about the danger. We've taken these buses 6 times over the few days to various towns and so far I've seen the driver: seriously distracted by a passenger several times, just chatting and waving his hands all over the place, talking on the phone, and completely unable to see the mirrors because the bus was dangerously overloaded.

On one memorable occasion a woman (whose initials are Rose Petry) dropped her water bottle on the floor, said water bottle made a beeline for the front of the bus and for a moment seemed destined to lodge under the brake pedal, thereby causing the bus to careen through the the antique guardrail and over the cliff and onto the rocks far below.

But.....fortunately a swiftly moving fellow passenger snatched it up and with a somewhat stern admonishment to "hold onto this thing" I handed it back to my much relieved wife. Seriously, these roads are ridiculously curvy and fortunately for us there was very little oncoming traffic so it wasn't as bad as it could be, I don't think I would like trying them in the summer time, not one little bit!

Positano was lovely though and we enjoyed a spectacular afternoon exploring the narrow alleys and beautiful beach. This town is famous for shopping and every ten steps there is a woman's clothing store or an art gallery or antique store. Some of the art was just spectacular and we enjoyed browsing through the galleries and they were very laid back and didn't seem to mind browsers.

Positano

Of course it rained a bit (like every other day) but we spent an enjoyable few minutes sheltering under a rock overhang chatting to a nice lady from somewhere just south of Toronto. It was in Positano that I had a very special experience while photographing a beautiful spot on a raised walkway that happened to pass an ancient lookout tower now converted into a house.

Rose was well ahead of me admiring the view (and looking for a place to have lunch) while I was distracted trying to shoot this amazing scene. There was a tower, a rock wall, some trees and bushes, a little balcony on the tower, also some flowers lying around and behind it all, the cliffs and houses of Positano.

It was one of those great conjunctions of elements and light and subject and photographer and camera that absolutely demand and require a little extra care and attention to get it just right. I spent about ten minutes trying different angles and camera settings and moving flower petals around into what I felt was the right arrangement to make it as good as I am capable of doing. As I was working an older local fellow came up and said to me, "you, you are artist!"

Well, that is of course what most of us who love photography long to hear and are constantly striving to achieve, so I was greatly gratified to hear the appreciation in his voice from witnessing the care that I had taken in photographing the beautiful scene. Right behind him was his daughter who asked where I was from, "Canada" I replied. "Papa, Canadiansa, Canadiansa Papa!" she called out to her father. It was obvious they had been watching me for a while and wondered where such an "artist" could possibly be from. I guess Rose isn't the only "ambassador" for Canada! (Dear head, stop swelling!)

Art-apparently

We talked to another local who designed and made beautiful men's shirts right there in Positano, unfortunately the price was just a little too much for me, but he seemed to appreciate our comments about the quality and design of his shirts. We had a nice inexpensive lunch on the beach before visiting the church and making our way back to the bus stop.

The problem trying to catch the bus in Positano is that it is in the middle between Sorrento and Amalfi and when it stops it might be full or close to it already.

On this occasion it was very nearly full and even though we were fairly close to the front of the line it looked like we might not make it on. That's when we noticed a curious thing about taking buses in Italy. Even though you are supposed to validate your ticket at the box by the driver, when the rear doors open on the bus, people just start getting on from the rear, (making the line practically meaningless). OHHH, now we get it, good to know these things!

We did manage to cram on and I was not really super happy to be standing up in the wheel well looking straight through the front window (with a better view than the driver) as we made the return trip over the most ridiculous, scary, winding, narrow, switchback roads in the world! But I didn't have much choice but to suck it up and be a big boy, at least Rose didn't have a water bottle in her hand on this trip.

A couple of days later we made the same trip with our luggage as we moved on to Amalfi for two nights. We had a reservation at Residence Pansa B&B and when we got there I immediately saw a sign and leaving Rose with the luggage (in the rain again) I plodded up the stairs through narrow little alleys to our new lodgings.

There I met Margo, a very nice Dutch lady who checked us in and dispatched "the boys" a free porter service that the hotel subscribed to and I returned to the piazza to bring Rose up to the room. The porters are a great idea and I applaud the hotels of Amalfi for setting it up, (clap, clap) since it is so hilly and hauling your luggage up a bunch of steps is really a pain!

Our room was very nice and had a great sunny patio with a view of the marina and we were very comfortable there over our two day stay.

 The bronze doors of Amalfi Cathedral

Since the next day was a Sunday, we thought we had better scout out the famous Duomo of Amalfi, where the bones of St. Andrew the apostle apparently rest in a little room under an alter in a subterranean crypt. This church is amazing, from the imposing staircase leading up to it, to the cloister of paradise to the attached museum, to the crypt and the church itself with it's 1000 year old bronze doors, made in Constantinople.

A wedding at the Amalfi Cathedral

We both loved it and spent a couple of hours there before checking out a nice restaurant just steps from our steps that led to the other steps that took us up the steps to the steps to our room, where we rested.

The ceiling of the crypt, Amalfi Cathedral

We only had one full day in Amalfi so of course we used it up to take a bus to Ravello. I thought the roads of the coast were goofy but the road to Ravello is worse and we watched in amusement (because it wasn't us) as one poor guy was forced to back up quite a ways to get out of the way of the bus, while dozens of bus passengers and other motorists watched and waited.

Ravello was another beautiful town, a little away from the ocean but sitting up higher in the hills and commanding a lovely view. It was a Sunday when we visited and when we entered the town square where the church was located a service was underway and with the ancient bronze doors (famous for their 54 raised panels) wide open, we enjoyed the sound of music and voices raised in song. It was a special moment and we lingered a while, listening to the service until they eventually closed the doors.

From the piazza we noticed a stone walled alley leading down towards the bluff with the amazing views of the valley and ocean beyond and we headed down, looking for a good vantage point. We found some great spots to get good shots of the two towers of some old building, maybe a church or monastery lower on the hillside.

The view from Ravello

There is an ancient villa opening onto the piazza and after paying an entry fee of a few euros, we went exploring. Of course it started to rain but we ducked into a little chapel and watched a sort of time lapse slide show of many years of famous people attending the outdoor concerts held yearly on the villa grounds.

We really liked Ravello and Rose would have liked to stay there, she liked the "vibe" she got from the place and liked the fact it was a little harder to get to, so was spared the worst of the tourist crowds of Amalfi.

If you spend any time in Italy, you will likely come to loath (as we did) the arrival of the herds of tour groups, mindlessly following badly trained (it seemed to us) tour guides who would invariably pick the most inconvenient, congested area to halt their group and blather on about who knows what, seemingly forever.

From about 9:30am to 7:00pm they are everywhere, clogging up the works and barreling down the sidewalks and alleys like they own the world. There seems to be a mindless, herd mentality that takes over when you are on a tour, in a group, trying to stay with your scarf on a stick toting tour guide, VERY annoying for everyone else in the universe!

We kept saying to each other, "please, let that never be us." But of course it is definitely helpful to have a guide and there might be times when it makes sense to travel that way, but I wish people would just remember that rules of polite society still exist, even for members of a tour group!

So we liked Positano but we opted to head back before the big rush to return on the bus and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in Amalfi, visiting the paper museum where I got to help make paper. Way back when, before cheap cotton was available, they made paper in Amalfi from old rags, pounding them with water driven hammers until the shredded pulp could be collected and made into paper. It was interesting to see the caves and workplaces where they've made paper for centuries and still do for the tourist trade.

Making paper in Amalfi

Rose was ready for a rest but it had turned nice, (after raining in Positano) so I headed for the high ground in Amalfi to catch the sun going down, from the cemetery way up high on the hillside. It was a long way up but I love those treks through the back lanes and staircases far away from the maddening crowds.

The view from the cemetery, with a little  bit of my sunshade hat visible, oops

I passed an old lady and her daughter on the way up, laboriously making their way up the steep stairs and saw them once again at the cemetery, probably making the weekly Sunday visit to the grave of a loved one, perhaps the old woman's husband.

The locals are sometimes a bit surprised to see me in their midst, but are always friendly when I try my best to greet them with a badly mangled version of "buonasera" which I'm told means something like "good afternoon". The locals tend to shorten it further to something like, "sera" and I've tried that a few times but always feel a bit foolish when I do.

I got some great images from up high and started down to collect Rose and go out for our last dinner on the Amalfi coast. We opted for a new, ultramodern "steakhouse" restaurant but we both had pasta after looking at the price of steak. It seemed a bit pricey at $5 per 100 grams, or about $40 for a steak, yikes, we decided steak can wait until we're back in Alberta!

That was it for the Amalfi coast, except for another harrowing bus ride with a young bus driver with a half shaved head who apparently had a death wish and insisted on speeding, careening around corners on 2 wheels (it seemed) and scaring the baloney out of me!

Except for this one driver, I noticed that you never see young bus drivers on these routes, unless perhaps they really are young and the grey hair and worried look are a result of driving these crazy roads.

But of course, we did make it to Salerno where we hopped a direct train to the eternal city of Rome, and that for sure, is another story.


All Contents Copyrighted by the Author, Doug Petry

This is us! Feeling at home in Sorrento, Italy

Well, Rose called it this time, she just somehow knew even before the ferry docked that Sorrento is for us. We've been here for four nights now and today we're moving along to Amalfi but somehow she knew that we would love it and we do.

Arriving in Sorrento from the sea, you see a city of 20,000 people mostly perched up on top of a series of sheer cliffs and spreading back from there into the interior. Except for the marinas (there are at least three) and a cluster of houses, hotels and restaurants servicing the marina traffic, everything else is up above the sheer rock walls.

Sorrento

Fortunately we were just there for a holiday and had no plans to invade and were quickly in a taxi and on the way to the hotel, the Ulysse Deluxe Hostel. When we booked it Rose was a bit concerned about staying in a "hostel" but we needn't have worried. We got the scoop from a local fellow and I guess that the developer was refused permission to build a hotel but he had already done most of it and they let him open a hostel/hotel with hotel style comforts and hostel prices, nice for us!

Everyone was so nice and helpful at the hotel, we just loved the place, (good breakfasts) and they helped us get oriented and pointed out a great place for lunch, just a short hike away at Marina Grande. We found a little restaurant that is run by a fisherman's co-op and the food was amazing, there was a little confusion as to what exactly redfish are, (still not sure, but they were tasty little devils) mixed with linguine and Rose had mussel soup and we both loved our dish. Of course it rained a bit but we were snuggled under an awning so we didn't care.

Marina Grande

Our next stop was the "Valley of the Mills" that we had first seen on a friends Facebook when they visited Sorrento last year. The desk clerk had circled it on our map for us because I guess it's nothing special to the locals, it's not even on the tourist map but we loved it, what a beautiful place to stumble upon in the middle of a town.

Valley of the Mills

I took a bunch of pictures with my nex 5n vowing to come back with my big camera at least once and probably several times, (turned out to be 4 times) during our visit. 

Walking down our little shopping alley we came upon a little family run shop specializing in marquetry, (working with inlaid wood) making little boxes, wall art, furniture and various other things, all with traditional local designs.

We've found people here to be so friendly and welcoming and when you take a genuine interest in their work and show appreciation for their skills and talents, they love to talk and show off their products. Laura was just a lovely lady and proudly explained that the shop was a fourth generation family operation and many of the designs were her husbands grandfather's and now her teen aged son was starting to learn how to work with wood.

Laura's shop

At this point in the trip, we don't have a lot of space left in our suitcase so we picked out some small items for ourselves and for gifts, Laura explained how they were made, the wood used and wrote a little story on the bottom of the box that we bought. As we left her stall, the last thing we heard as we walked away was her just saying to herself, "what a lovely couple" awwww, it made us feel good.

Rose likes to say that we are ambassadors for Canada, (unpaid) so let's make a good impression wherever we go. People are always interested in where we are from, but the name, Edmonton doesn't seem to ring a bell with most Italians. Canada yes, Banff maybe, (the idea of meeting bears in the woods makes a big impression) but Edmonton is not well known over here.

Rose is trying to single handedly change that and seems to be succeeding on a small scale. I'm also doing my part, we have been back to the same small clothing store in "our" alley at least 4 times. The lady there speaks about twenty words of English, but we communicate just fine, she now has my size down better than I do and knows just what I like. Every time we leave the store I say, "see you tomorrow." 

Our Alley

We've never had to worry about paying duty before but on this trip we've begun to wonder if we're getting close to the limit. That makes a good excuse to stop shopping, I guess. But the problem is that the prices are so good here in Sorrento, much better than anyplace else we've been.

Our first full day we took the famously rickety and crowded "Circumvesuvia" train to Pompeii and it lived up to it's billing on all counts. On the way there we met a couple from Lethbridge Alberta who were on their way to Naples and the trip went very quickly. Of course at Pompeii it rained a bit, but then the sun would come out for a bit and on and on the cycle would go. I finally used my goofy rain poncho that I've been carrying around for the whole trip, but it would almost be better to get soaked, almost.

The Basilica, Pompeii

We were amazed by the extent of the ruins, of course we've seen pictures before but it goes on and on, this was a city of thousands of people before the eruption. We walked our feet off because as luck would have it, they were out of the free tourist maps and all we had was a few wrinkled pages torn out of our Rick Steves Italy book.Ricks little map was just not good enough all by itself and we would probably pay the $10 for a tour if we had it to do over. But all in all, we saw everything we wanted to, eventually.

The trip back was something else, the train was pretty full already when it reached the station and we just managed to squeeze on and find a little bit of wall to cuddle up to for a long, hot uncomfortable ride back to Sorrento. This was very much like the vaporetto ride in Venice, but about 4 times as long and with very little fresh air. Once you've experienced this particular train ride, you loose all fear of airport security checks, we were packed in there so close it was like getting a full body massage from twenty different masseuses.

The train station is a bit of a walk from our hotel so by the time we got there, Rose was ready for a good, long, foot massage and I of course, was happy to provide one. She quickly recovered her enthusiasm for walking and we headed out for supper at the Aurora Pizzeria. We had walked by the restaurant earlier and noticed their massive, copper hooded forno oven and since Rose absolutely loves anything to do with a forno oven, we had to go back.

It was very good and of course Rose had to let the waiter know, it was the "best in Italy" so that caused him to shout to the kitchen, "hey Gino, the best in Italy!" "Gratzie, gratzie, lady" smiles all around. Score another conquest for the unofficial Canadian ambassador to Italy.

My Pizza, Rose had her own.

On the way back to the hotel through "our" alley, the skies decided to completely open up on us. We never go anywhere without an umbrella in Italy, apparently it is the wettest May in 500 years or something like that. So when the heavens opened up, we were prepared, sort of. We ducked into a shop for chocolates, yummy lemon ones and coffee ones and had to buy a few, then into my clothing store for a few snappy ties (6 for $20), then pop in for a cappuccino, slowly zigzagging our way home until finally running out of stores. 

We decided to just go for it, ( how bad could it be?) and slogged the rest of the way through torrential rain, giggling like kids. When we came to the street in front of the hotel, what used to be a steep street was now a raging torrent, flowing down to the sea. Rose was actually happy that my shoes were completely soaked through and started to laugh at my soggy footwear.

I'm afraid I had been giving her a bit of a hard time about her 3 (count 'em, 3) pairs of similar, open toed sandals and she in turn had wanted me to bring a second pair of shoes. 

Fortunately I was able to use the blow dryer and dry them out so they were ready for the next day (na na na na na, Rose) thus proving, one pair is enough if you have a blow dryer.

The next day was our trip up the Amalfi Coast to Positano (a separate post) and when we returned that evening we asked the lady desk clerk where she would go to eat if she were visiting Sorrento. She gave us a great tip about a place a bit out of town that has a great view and they even pick people up for free, since there is so little parking. After a rest, I packed my camera, hoping for some night shots and a driver picked us up. 

The restaurant was called Ristaurante Il Borgo, and I didn't even stop to look at the menu, I went straight out to the patio and started shooting. Poor Rose was very understanding and waited patiently for the great lighting conditions to change and for me to give up or get hungry enough to return to the table. I'm afraid I was a long time out there in the wind, balancing my camera on the railing while I tried to capture a very spectacular sunset and the lights of Sorrento and Pompeii.

Sorrento and Pompeii

The manager Tony, was very interested in my pictures and asked me if I would mind sending him some of them for their website and so I did. We had a great fish meal and met some nice people, it turned out to be a great evening.

The next day was our last full day and we were really looking forward to it. You see, earlier in the week we had come across a great little gelato shop in our alley and after we got our delicious home made waffle cones stuffed with wonderful icey goodness, the smooth talking proprietor suggested we sit at the cute little table in the alley and noisily enjoy our treat (providing free advertising for the shop). 

We sat and watched this fellow work the passing crowd, he would say "gelato today? delicious homemade family recipe" or something like that and if the person said something like "maybe later" as they often did, he would come back with, "don't hurry, we'll still be here, we've been here 153 years, we're not going anywhere, take your time."

As we sat there enjoying the action, I happened to notice a sign advertising a cooking school and from that moment on, there was no looking back.

We signed up for a 7 course cooking class for our last night in Sorrento with our funny chef William, who also doubles as a stand up comedian often found standing in the alley and drumming up business for the gelato shop. But the tale of our experiences with William and Happy (his assistant) and the recipes from that evening, is definitely another story!

Rose has some fun at cooking class

All Contents Copyrighted by the Author, Doug Petry

Rose goes "shopping" on the way to Capri, Italy.

After a quiet relaxing week in the Cinque Terre we hopped a train to Naples, on the way to the resort island of Capri. Stepping off the train in Naples, you immediately know that you're in a big city; oodles of people, lots of hectic traffic and constantly beeping horns. They seem to beep just to say hi, to warn of an impending sideswipe or other collision, out of anger or maybe just for the fun of it.

We were only there for a night but our impression of Naples was not favourable. What we saw was a noisy, dirty, chaotic little patch of the city around the train station and our hotel, the UNA Napoli. Fortunately the hotel was easy to find, it was nice and close to the station and we just walked through the big square, Piazza Garibaldi, until we found it. Meanwhile, trying our best to cross streets safely, dragging our luggage behind, dodging scurrying locals, scooters and cars until at last, the soothing oasis of calm of a hotel lobby!

It seemed at first like a nice hotel with efficient staff, nicely decorated and modern with all of the bells and whistles that one would expect of a chain hotel. Of course there was an amazing special on for only $12, free wifi, upgraded room and you could suck the minibar dry, (all the aqua minerale with gas that you can drink) and that alone was worth $27 I was assured, very good deal!

Naples from our balcony

Ok, sure, we'll go for it, especially after I was informed the wi-fi cost is normally $5 an hour, ouch, that would definitely hurt. A porter took our bags, showed us the location of the safe, mini bar, and terrace, featuring a lovely unobstructed view of garbage strewn streets, loafing ne-er do-wells and peeling paint obscured by hanging laundry and colourful graffiti.



Sounds great, right? Well as soon as I tried to log in to the wi-fi, the spell started to unravel. No open wi-fi, but I figured "no problem" I'll call the desk, "hello, this is room 417 we paid for the upgrade with free wi-fi." "Yes sir, if you want to use it, you must come to the desk and sign a form." Me, "But I was just down there, you signed me up." Desk, "yes but if you want to use the wi-fi, you must come down to the reception." Me, "thanks, (with an unseen eye roll) I'll be right down."

Snatching the room card from the little holder by the door, (they never give you more than one key here unless you remember to ask for one) I returned to the lobby, signed a form saying the charge would be zero and returned to the room with a login password. As soon as I got to the room, Rose told me the power had gone out, "did it go out everywhere?" she asked. "Nope, did you do anything, move the little computerized light controller?" It turned out she had moved the little controller and there is a "do not disturb" button and an "override" and a "sleep" button and a bunch of other incomprehensible buttons, so we fiddled with that for a while, working on the premise that it was the problem.

Finally giving up, I called the desk, "the power has gone out in our room, all the lights just all of a sudden went out." Desk, "yes sir, I will send up a technician." "Ok, thanks."

As I went into the hall, a light went on, so to speak, "I wonder....." I took the room key-card and slipped it back into the holder by the door, click-lights on, "Ohhhh, nice of them to tell us about that feature!" Problem solved, I called the desk, wondering why that wouldn't be the very first thing they thought of when I called to report the problem? Me, "I got it fixed, the key card wasn't in the holder." Desk, "Oh, (duh) of course sir." Me, after I had hung up, "of course? Of course? What did he mean by, OF COURSE!!!?"

It got worse.
We were a bit reluctant to leave the sanctuary of the hotel, so we went upstairs to the "roof garden restaurant" big mistake. The view was actually nice, all you could see was rooftops, a giant dome and the mountains south of the city, none of the grunge of the neighborhood.

The place was empty, but we put that down to the time, it was 7:15 and it didn't even open until 7:30. Let's just say the food was not at all good and when the officious maitre de' asked how it was and Rose answered with her usual tact, "it was the worst meal we've had in 3 weeks in Italy." The poor fellow didn't know how to react, "very good madame, may I get you anything else, dessert perhaps?" "Nope, just the bill and a one way ticket out of here!" (She actually said, "just the bill, thanks.")

The next morning we fled by taxi to the port and a fast ferry to the island of Capri. It started off okay, it was supposed to be a one hour ferry ride, how bad could it be? Well remember Gilligan's Island? It was sort of like that, it seemed to go on and on, the boat rising and falling and rolling and plunging until many of the passengers started to go a little green around the gills, looking desperately around for something, anything that looked like a handy waterproof container.

Fortunately the crew could sense where all those desperate looks were heading and jokingly handed out little white bags "for shopping" (we took 2 and needed them both) Rose just loves "to shop".

She was the first to pop (and by far the loudest) and that seemed to kick off a tidal wave of puking that quickly spread throughout the boat. I did my good husband bit, holding the bag, patting her on the back and murmuring soothing dry land sounds in her ear.

When we finally arrived in Capri, Rose solemnly informed me that unless I was going to spring for a helicopter ride back, we were stuck on the island forever, she was definitely NOT in the mood to contemplate another ride in a boat of any size!

Capri harbour with the cliffhanger road in the background

Capri was beautiful though and with her feet firmly planted on terra firma, Rose soon recovered her positive attitude. The shuttle picked us up along with a mother, daughter from Colorado and we chatted the whole way to the Hotel Weber Ambassador.

The hotel was very nice, on the quiet side of the island overlooking a lovely little harbour, called Marina Piccola, the bay where they say Ulysses was seduced by sirens in Homer's Odyssey. Our room was quite adequate, a little dated  (about 3,000 years) just kidding, it was fine, with everything we needed, especially the terrace with an absolutely amazing view over the soft turquoise blue waters of the harbour and the "siren's rock".

Looking up at Hotel Weber Ambassador from Marina Picollo

After a rest we headed down to the marina and the many restaurants clustered around the beaches and rocks jutting out into the sea. I had my little camera so after lunch we explored the area, discovering gelato stands and bars serving the sun worshippers spread out on the sand.

Rose was tired and wanted to rest at the hotel and just read in the sun, but I wanted to explore the areas that she might not be interested in so we went our separate ways for the rest of the afternoon.

I jumped the hotel shuttle to Capri town and from there the local bus to Anacapri, the second town of Capri higher up and around on the other side of the island.

What a ride that was! I do not do heights, and I don't like the narrow windy roads that these people somehow manage on. It was a bit of a nightmare ride.

I like to think of the way they are forced to drive here as cooperative driving. The only way it works at all is that whenever two vehicles meet on these roads, most of the time one will be forced to pull right over against the wall, especially if there is a slightly wider area on their side of the road. Sometimes one vehicle will have to back up to allow the bigger one to squeeze through. There are blind switchback corners all over the place and most of them have mirrors hanging there so you can see if you might be about to have a head on crash. Often they beep their horn, grit their teeth and probably say a quick prayer before rounding the bend.

It's a game of inches and it amazes me that it works at all. Good for them that they somehow all cooperate and make it work because in Alberta where we have so little to complain about, road wise (except a few suspension crushing potholes) we would likely all kill each other if forced to constantly give way like they do here.

The trip to Anacapri was a bit like an episode of Worlds Deadliest Roads, except I don't think we were ever actually driving with half a wheel off the cliff (there is a railing) but it seemed like it.

A bus returning from Anacapri

Once we got there, I was feeling a bit lightheaded, invincible and a bit like superman so I searched out the craziest, scariest, most dangerous thing I could find to do.

There is a chairlift to the very highest peak of the mountain so I quickly forced down the fear and bought a ticket. No-one else seemed to be going up, "hmmm what to make of that?" I got into position on the platform standing on the green square, the chair came swinging around like a wood slatted juggernaut bent on taking me off at the knees, the attendant motioned me to be ready....and I sat down.

A "selfie" on the chairlift

I was pretty proud of myself as I zoomed up the mountain even though I was clutching the bar in a bit of a death grip, until I began to meet dozens and dozens of bored looking tourists off of some cruise ship or somewhere, coming down in a seemingly unending row. Every 200' I would meet another one, usually with a grimace or a stoic, bored look, "weird, what are their regular lives like if this incredible view bores them?" I thought to myself, "I must have run into a group of fighter pilots or astronauts, wow their lives must be REALLY exciting!!"

When I got to the top it was amazing. I was wishing Rose was there to see it, but I was pretty sure I never would have gotten her into the chairlift, not after the ferry ride that morning! And besides, the chairlift traveled over peoples gardens and yards and the chairlift didn't issue "shopping" bags to it's customers like the boat did so it was probably better she took the afternoon off.

The view from the top, looking towards Sorrento

The views were great and I spent a lot of time snapping pictures of the Amalfi coast and the bay of Naples. Eventually I made my way down and along the way came upon one of the great questions of life, at least for a photographer.

Picture this: there is an amazing view, but you're coming down the mountain in a windy chairlift, alone and.....the memory card runs out! Ahhh, what do you do, what do you do?

Passing the chairlift going up

If you're like me, you play it safe. I just couldn't imagine taking the risk with a memory card full of photos from a vacation of a lifetime and trying to change it on a moving chairlift dangling 100' above a lush carpet of trees and gardens and risk losing it.

Or I could just quickly delete a couple of bad shots (there are always a few) to make room for some fresh shots of the view on the way down and chock it up to a lesson learned? I'll take door number two, thank you very much.

That evening we had a great dinner at the hotel, listening to a live piano player playing old jazz and swing songs, very nice and romantic.

The next day we spent exploring the streets and alleys of the town of Capri, shopping, watching people pose for pictures in front of the Gucci store, and eating gelato. We took the funicular down to the harbour and admired the sailboats.

The Rolex taught sails into Capri

We heard rumors that Capri was gearing up for a big crowd of people who actually have a reason to wear boat shoes. Apparently the next evening there was a big party and regatta planned for about a thousand guests sponsored by Rolex and we watched them sail in over the evening, some anchoring below the hotel in Marina Picolla.

The next day we sadly said goodbye to Capri, not that we could afford to stay any longer, it turned out to be the most expensive couple of nights of the trip ( so far).

The Piazetta, in Capri town

Fortunately the day of our departure dawned clear and warm with blessedly calm seas. Add to that the fact that we learned never, ever, to sit anywhere near the front of a boat in rough seas (unless you're in the mood for "shopping") and we had smooth sailing all the way to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast.

Rose took one look at the cliffs of Sorrento and declared, " I love it, this is us!" But that's another story!


All Contents Copyrighted by the Author, Doug Petry

If the World Gives You Lemons, Make Linguine!

Well it was hard to leave Lake Como last Saturday, but what made it a little easier was the thought of our next destination, Monterosso al Mare in the Cinque Terre (The five lands) on the Italian coast between Genoa and Pisa.

We had heard a lot about Cinque Terre over the past few years from friends who have visited and also from Rick Steves travel series that we've seen on TV, and also his books.

We've had fun on the trip so far, asking "what does Rick say?" Or sometimes one of us will ask the other, "do you have Rick in your pocket?" Talking about his "Italy 2013" book that we use frequently and have taken lately to dismembering by ripping out relevant pages on whatever region we happen to be visiting at the time. Sorry Rick, but your book, while very informative, is really heavy!

http://www.ricksteves.com

You can check out his website by clicking the link above. We've found that his tips and information on a town or region is usually bang on the money and a big help in planning and finding your way around and avoiding the common pitfalls of first time visitors to a region.

Anyway, we tore ourselves away and set out by train for the coast and the time just flashed by. We had first class tickets this time and ended up in a compartment for six people, all English speakers from: Canada (Rose and I), Australia, Texas, and England. We had a great time talking and laughing and got quite noisy and boisterous at times, I guess it was extra fun because we all spoke the same language (sort of).

It was about 2:30 when we got here to Monterosso and found our way along the beach and through the tunnel and into the tiny little alley behind the church to Ely's Restaurant and our room above.

Of course the restaurant was closed so I used my trusty phone with the infamous Italian Sim card to call Ely and she sent someone over with a key. After we unpacked and settled in we went for a walk to explore and when we came back, the door wouldn't open. The locks are weird here and somehow we managed to lock ourselves out of the apartment!

The lock is probably about 200 years old and if you turn it all the way around once, it's good and locked, turn it around all the way again and it's locked even more, again, even more, you can rotate this thing all the way around 4 times!!!! (I thought it was broken, it just kept spinning and spinning and seemed to do nothing, goofy thing.

When the restaurant finally opened and we got someones attention, Ely came up and tried it but I had it so good and locked the owner couldn't figure it out let alone a burglar! Eventually she called out the window for her husband to come up. He tried it, banging and shaking the door and wiggling the key so much I thought we might have to get a locksmith, maybe from Genoa or somewhere far away and we might end up sleeping in the alley or something, but after a lot of spinning and kicking and banging it finally went click.
"It's safe, we don't need to double lock the doors here, just pull it closed and only turn the key in this direction to unlock, capice?" "Ok, si, capice!"

We liked  Monterosso a lot, of all of the villages, it was the easiest to get around in, lots of paved walkways with slopes but fewer stairs than the other 4 towns of the Cinque Terre. It also has the best beach and even though we had some good hot weather for the three days we were there, we just never wanted to lay around on the beach so we did everything but.

Just exploring, eating gelato, shopping and visiting the other towns took up the whole 3 days and of course I was bushed because I got up early every morning and took the tripod out after dark a couple of times trying to get some good night shots from the promontory above the town.

A shot of Monterosso from the church of the Capuchin Friars

This was the first time in the trip that we had an apartment with a kitchen (what, no free breakfast with incredible pastries?) But after scratching our heads a bit, I had an idea, "Rose, you could cook!"

Rose made a nice salad and bread with pesto, a regional specialty.

Strangely enough I didn't get kicked in the shins, mainly because we negotiated a deal.

Because the gas burners and Italian coffee makers are unfamiliar to us and a bit tricky, they ended up being my specialty and Rose, who is a great cook, did the cooking, (after I lit the burner) everybody wins!

Our second full day in Monterosso we took the ferry boat to see the other towns, but the waves were too high. After a stop in Vernazza where they managed to drop off a few people over the gangplank, they decided to play it safe and head back to port. They refunded our money so we decided to hop the train to the other towns instead.

Disembarking at Riomaggiore

We loved Riomaggiore and Manarola, they turned out to be quaint little fishing and wine making towns with very steep streets and lots of tiny little stairways going almost straight up.
The colours of the houses were lovely, usually soft pastels, faded and peeling in places, with lots of flower boxes, tiny balconies and lemon trees, very pretty!

Everywhere you look in the Cinque Terre there are amazing views of vine covered slopes strewn with wild poppies, narrow alleys with steep staircases going up to who knows where and of course, amazing little harbours filled with tiny fishing boats. And beyond the towns and marinas is the ocean, the Ligurian sea, filled with crashing waves and blue, green surf extending to the horizon.

A view of Vernazza

It's pretty easy to see why this area is so popular with tourists, in fact the economy seems to be just about entirely tourism driven in this region, at least during the spring-summer-fall tourist season.

The facilities and train connections are pretty good and you can get to the Cinque Terre easily from just about anywhere. Other services are also good. We had pretty good access to wi-fi here because the little coffee shop downstairs beside Ely's had free wifi for customers, so I would go down, buy a coffee and log in. They were very sweet and left it on overnight so we could use it after they closed, very nice people who also served an amazing fresh lemon granita. Lemons are big here and grow all over the place, they seem to get into everything, the art, the food, the drinks!

The little lemon store-coffee shop below us

Of course Rose loved their little shop with their delicious lemony slush drink and quickly befriended them, almost wrangling a cooking lesson from Veronica's grandmother, before settling for the recipe for lemon rind linguine, (it was delicious).

Recipe for Veronica's grandmas Lemon Linguine

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic (whole)
Saute together for 5 minutes-remove garlic.
Add, the rind -grated from one lemon.
Cook some linguine (al dente) and drain it and add to the butter mixture and garnish with parsley and fresh ground pepper, cherry tomatoes and grated Parmesan (to taste) squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over pasta, enjoy
Feel free to add chicken, gator, fish (or donkey) if desired.
Dictated by Rose-if it sucks, talk to her (or Veronica's Grandma)

Veronica and her boyfriend run the place and Rose decided to support their little shop by doing all of her buying there.
I have no problem with that....except she decided to buy about 40 pounds of what she says are olive wood cutting boards (I think they're more likely Ironwood, they weigh a ton!) Thanks a lot Barb, Rose says she fell in love with the one you brought back from here so it's all your fault!

Of course a little shopping wouldn't be a problem if this were our last stop, but we've still got a long way to go before we head home so I'm thinking we need to jettison at least half of Rose's clothes to make room in our suitcases, but for some reason, she disagrees.

After 3 days in Monterosso, we headed for the next town over, Vernazza on a nice sunny day burdened down with our suitcases, backpacks and two bags of groceries for the rest of the week, looking I'm sure like a couple of pack mules.

In Monterosso, we managed to connect with our host Cristina, who happened to be in town that day, it's weird how these rentals work sometimes.

Apparently she usually just has people pick up the key at the tobacco shop next door and when they leave, drop the money in an envelope in a drawer and give the key back at the tobacco shop and that's it. If you are expecting a warm and fuzzy welcome with a tour of the town or something, forget about it!

The room wasn't quite ready, with no clothes dryers, it's either hang it out to dry, wait forever, or iron the sheets, so the "maid", was busy there for hours ironing.

We spent some time at the marina and exploring the town, before settling in at the new place. This apartment is very bright and spacious with high frescoed ceilings, tile floor and an incredible view over the piazza and harbour from the living room.

Of course the trade off is that it's very noisy at night and since we are not partiers, it seems the rowdies are just getting started about the time we were going to bed, oh well.

Our suite in Vernazza

One of the other highlights of the area for us was of course meeting people. We didn't meet many Italians, for us the language barrier is pretty formidable, even with a lot of work beforehand trying to learn some Italian, between us we barely know 50 words.

Yesterday we were in Manarola having just a lovely afternoon, eating one of the best and most reasonable meals we've had in Italy, when a couple from Wisconsin asked what we were having and that led to an enjoyable conversation. We had ordered the lunch special, fresh tuna with linguine and also the swordfish steak and it looked pretty amazing on the plate, (food is always a good conversation starter).

Swordfish and fresh Tuna linguine, delicious!

After lunch we took our buddy Steve's, advice and went on the "don't miss it" vineyard trail that starts from the church up the valley a ways and meanders along the slope, through the vineyards overlooking the town and then down into the harbour area.

It was so nice out and so pretty that we parked ourselves on a bench in the sun for a while, still savouring the taste of our after dinner gelato (that was amazing) and who should come along but a retired couple from Vancouver Island. We had a pleasant chat with them about their trip, (five weeks, Rome first and Venice last) and of course our trip (a month, Venice first, Rome last) before going our separate ways once again.

Wild poppies over Manarola

We had seven nights in the Cinque Terre and it was great, but we both agree a perfect visit would be a little shorter, maybe 4 or 5 days, depending on the trails being open. A year and a half ago, disastrous mud slides shut down the two towns we stayed in and made a mess of the trails, and even today only one trail is currently open all of the way.

We enjoyed the Cinque Terre and would highly recommend a visit, we probably won't be back, there's just way too much of Italy (and the world) that we haven't seen yet. Next stop - the island of Capri and the Amalfi Coast!

All contents Copyrighted by the author, Doug Petry.

Hey, isn't that George Clooney?!!!

The train has stopped, I hope not for good because we haven't gotten far from the station and we just left Lake Como after a wonderful few days in the "pearl" of the lake, Bellagio. A little town that straddles a promontory overlooking all three arms of Lake Como.

The thing that strikes you when you step off the train in Varenna, just across the lake from Bellagio is the wonderful quality of the air, the freshness, the smell of flowers and the birdsong that is a constant companion for the whole time you are near Lake Como.

But I forgot to mention the train station! After Verona, we hopped the train to Milano the next morning. When you arrive in Milan, it has quite the effect! The Statzione Centrale in Milan is a huge  building, built by Mussolini in 1931 to awe the people and convince them of the need for a strong, (fascist) state.

We had some time to kill so Rose found a comfy spot to wait and read her book and I took my camera with the 8mm fisheye and walked around, it was fun standing amidst the bustle of a very busy station and trying a few different things. Black and white, a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of the people, looking straight up with the fisheye, bending the columns for distorted effects and things like that.

Milan Central Train Station

This was one of the few times that I didn't have an internet train ticket for the next leg of the journey, so we picked up a ticket at the machine and were more than a little confused by it. We spent a little time trying to decipher it, but there was no train #, no track # and no time of the trains departure! I'm sure someone somewhere could decipher it but we sure couldn't. The helper guy was nearby so we got him to figure it out for us and even he had to look it up in a handy little book that he carried with him.

But getting back to Bellagio, that could be our new mantra, every year, back to Bellagio! Lake Como is amazing, beautiful clear water, lovely gardens and villas and tiny picturesque towns every kilometer or two and gorgeous snow capped mountains in the distance, surrounding the lake. And if you like, you can hop a train for a day trip into Switzerland.

When we arrived in Varenna we made our way to the ferry landing and hopped on the first car ferry to Belagio. After a quick 15 minute trip on a nice clear day, (and about 200 images later) we arrived in Belagio. Trying to catch a taxi took a while, they're pretty laid back around here, but we soon managed it and in 5 minutes we were at Hotel Nuovo Miralago, a charming little 12 room, family run hotel on the other side of a promontory that we came to love, (and dread a little, as you have to climb over it to get to town) over the next few days.

Bellagio

You can't hardly take a step around Bellagio without hearing that the bigtime movie star, George Clooney likes to come here and he eats at such and such restaurant, and stays at this or that hotel. Even if you're like me and couldn't care less, you still end up catching a glimpse now and then of someone who just might be that guy, and find yourself thinking, "is that George Clooney?"

Every time we would see a Ferrari drive down through town it was hard not to stare through the windows to see who the fancy pants rich dude was, but later we discovered there was some kind of Ferrari rental outfit in town and any boob could rent one.

Alas, we never spotted anyone famous, but we loved everything about our hotel; from the very sweet lady and her son who run it, to the incredible view from our terrace, to the price of only $100 euros, to the yard/lounge area lit by candles in the evening, to the staff who brought us up a tray with tea and snacks when we arrived and especially, to the breakfast!
By far the best breakfast we've had since we arrived in Italy and probably for months before that.

The heavily laden table covered in home made cakes and pastries and pies, OH MY GOODNESS! Some of the best brioche we've ever tasted, covered with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and filled with jam or chocolate nuttella spread. It was hard to walk away from that table, but we tried our best to find some room for fruit and yogurt as well. I'm sure that everyone thought we were nuts, posing with the pastries, photographing the packaged toast (for contrast) as well as the beautiful table covered with fruit and pastries and other goodies.

Breakfast at the Hotel Nuovo Miralago!

Of course Rose complemented all of the staff and anyone who would listen, but when asked if the pastries were homemade, the lady replied, "oh, not so special, I make them at night."
Not so special! They were special enough that Rose couldn't get over these things and threatened to write a sonnet about them. "A sonnet, I'm not sure I even know what a sonnet is," I said. At that another gentleman who we had chatted with a bit, spoke up to Rose. "Maybe you should start with a haiku!"
So here goes,
"We love their dusted, suggary tops,
their filling and their flake,
our visit to Bellagio, better did they make!"

What did you expect? We're not Japanese and we're not poets, that's the best we can do!

The other highlight of Belagio, in a long list of highlights, was meeting a lovely couple from London at dinner that first night. We did the usual picture exchange, (which we've done a thousand times since) "would you like us to snap a picture of the two of you?" And of course being nice people they would offer back to snap a picture of us together and we started talking up a storm about gardening and anniversaries (our 30th and their 39th) and photography and their home in London. Some people, you just seem to have lots to talk about, and we enjoyed meeting Keith and Christine.

At breakfast the next morning, who should be there but the same couple, they were also staying in the same little hotel and over the course of the next couple of days we bumped into them twice more and enjoyed a lovely evening of pizza and conversation with a spectacular view, just a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Both of us now have a standing invitation to visit, them if they are ever in Canada, and us if we're ever in London.

One of the things that we had read about and also had recommended to us more than once was to take a tour of the Villa Serbelloni grounds.
Our first full day there was sunny so we walked over and signed up with Anna, a very opinionated, transplanted Brit, who met and married an Italian guy while traveling in Africa and thereby wound up in Bellagio, Italy.

Most of the time we walked the tour, (over 5 km) Anna and Rose talked, and talked and talked while I constantly lagged behind, in serious danger of being left behind and stranded in the super secure park, run by the Rockefeller foundation.
Apparently this wealthy American lady named Ella Walker married an Italian prince and loved this property and the town so much she dedicated herself to helping the children and people of the area. When she passed away, she left the property to The Rockefeller foundation but...she had a provision in the bequest that the town would always have access and that is how come we were able to visit the grounds.

View from Villa Serbelloni, looking back at our hotel. (dead center behind the marina)

We also loved walking over to the Villa Melzi, just outside Belagio, with their beautiful grounds sprawled along the lake, including a grotto and pond and all kinds of statues and a lovely little private chapel.

The next day was pouring rain so we got a late start but eventually made our way to town and hopped a ferry with a mid-lake ferry pass. First stop Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo, but even firster, lunch!

Villa Carlotta was really nice, crawling with tour groups and school kids of course, but very nice. It was kind of like a snooty Butchart Gardens (Victoria, Canada) with a bamboo forest and a misty valley that looked straight out of Jurassic Park, we kept expecting little curious dinosaurs to pop up out of the bushes and start gnawing on our legs.

From Villa Carlotta grounds

After checking out the Villa full of extremely ornate ceilings and beautiful art, we made our way to the dock and hopped a ferry to Varenna. We loved Varenna too, with it's beautiful little promenade lined with restaurants and Gellatto stands, ($2 for 2 scoops) and since the streets going up looked very steep, Rose found a shady spot to read and I went exploring. Of course I found my way to the main village piazza with the church, (I can never resist a church in Europe).

We were super sad to leave Bellagio, but for George Clooney, Rose and I, next summer it's "back to Bellagio, right George?"


All contents Copyrighted by the author, Doug Petry

An Anniversary to Remember in Verona, Italy

Well, the weather kept us hopping the whole time we were in Verona, bring the umbrella? bring a jacket? how to protect the camera, maybe just a plastic bag to tie over the whole thing?

Every time we left the room, we asked ourselves the same questions and always got it wrong, I guess a career in weather forecasting is not in the cards for Rose or I.

For all of our weather woes, it was still lots of fun. When we got to Verona on Monday afternoon we were a bit worn out from our last morning in Venice, hauling our bags to the train on the crowded vaporetto and getting to the hotel, unpacking and walking over to Piazza Bra (no, it's not short for brassier)

By the time we made it there, the rain started to drizzle a bit, so we opted for the touristy, hop on, hop off bus and we decided to just ride it around for the rest of the afternoon. They have 2 buses, the A bus and the B bus and they go to different parts of Verona so we did both and enjoyed getting the lay of the land without walking too much.

Verona from S. Leonardo

Riding the hop on hop off bus in Verona

We jumped off when the bus entered Piazza Erbe, it was so pretty and hopping with little sidewalk cafes and stalls selling fresh fruit cocktail, souvenirs and yummy gelatto and it was irresistible after our bus ride.

We spent a little time exploring and decided to check out Juliet's house which was nearby, but somehow we walked by it twice before finally finding it. Have you ever seen that movie, letters to Juliet? Well, now we have a little bit of an idea about how Hollywood does things, basically they create something that does not exist!

When we get home, we're going to watch it again, but I'm sure they filmed most of it somewhere else.

It's not that Verona isn't pretty because it is, but many of the alleys and streets are pretty straight and not quite as curvy and romantic as the director was thinking, and guess what, all those love notes tucked in little niches and crevices in the stone wall that you remember from the movie, uh-uh! Stuck to the wall with gross chunks of chewed up bubble-gum!

So much for romance.

But part of the disappointment with Juliet's house is probably related to the fact that every teen aged school kid in Italy happened to be on a field trip to Verona while we were there and about half of them were packed into the little courtyard as if there really was a Romeo and Juliet and the balcony, (added about a hundred years ago) was actually the one from the stories.

 The next day was great though, starting with a much better breakfast. We finally got some home-style cereal to go along with our super crunchy dry toast, yogurt and cappuccino at the help yourself breakfast bar.

We walked down to Piazza Bra, hopped the bus to the Roman theatre, and not knowing what to expect, we were really happy with what we found.

A bubble blowing mime entertains passersby

We had already heard from our host Luigi that you can hardly dig a hole in Verona without hitting some kind of Roman ruins or ancient artifact. He told us a story of digging at a property of his to change the sewer pipes and breaking into an underground chamber beneath his house. He did what most home or business owners would probably do in a similar situation in Verona, he covered it up and told on-one.....except us.....and now you, shhhhhh!

We weren't sure we believed him until we visited the Roman theatre that is built into the hillside with other later buildings built over top of it. "Discovered" in 1876 when someone began digging foundations for a new building is a beautiful ruin dating from 100 A.D. completely covered over with 1800 years of dirt and rubble.



Part of the Roman Theatre


Later we went for lunch in the Piazza Erbe and when we went to the washroom we found it was located downstairs in an ancient underground ruin with little arches and niches and stone steps leading off to who knows where. Now we believe, Luigi, sorry to have doubted you!

Ancient Roman bridge in Verona, (original stone is lighter coloured)

Since it was our 30th wedding anniversary and women are funny about that sort of thing and Rose wasn't in the mood for compromise with a quick pizza near the hotel, we took a taxi to a very nice local specialty restaurant that does traditional local cuisine.

The menu leaned heavily towards various different horse meat dishes that are apparently a local favourite. Neither of us were quite that adventurous though so we both ordered the fixed price menu that consisted of a first, and a second course, (basically 2 full meals each, I don't know how these people eat like this and stay so slim)

I wasn't sure what to order and the helpful waitress suggested.......pasta with DONKEY sauce! What? Who in the world eats donkeys?

All of my memories of donkeys are sentimental, when I was a kid, my sister and I would play a game about a fictional friendly donkey named Balello, somehow I always ended up playing that part, I wonder why?

Later when our kids came along we read them a little story book called Donkey, Donkey about a silly donkey who was ashamed of his big ears and tried all these different ways to hide them until he got some very good advice to just forget about looking like the other animals and just be himself.

Now, with all that baggage, this nice young lady was suggesting I EAT A DONKEY!
She assured me, "It's very good." So I of course said, "Oh, OK then."

I swallowed my guilt, (and the donkey) and we both thought it was quite good. We always do a little sharing of tastes and the pasta with duck sauce that Rose ordered was also quite good.

We had a nice walk back through the rainy streets and that was it for Verona, although we did pop in for a visit at their own version of a Roman arena, (third largest in Italy) and it's definitely worth a look. Verona was fun, but now it's on to Lake Como and the little town of Bellagio.

Roman Arena in Piazza Bra, Verona.

All Contents Copyrighted by the author, Doug Petry