Category Archives: Italy

Day 16 – Amalfi Coast

14th June 2012

Maiori port, Italy

Maiori port, Italy

I love walking to the little port  in Maiori from our hotel. We pass some charming cafe’s on the way and once we arrive there’s all the pretty boats and old men sitting repairing fishing nets. Today  we’re off to Amalfi first and then Positano. We were early to Amalfi so it wasn’t crowded and didn’t feel terribly touristy.

Paper Museum, Amalfi Italy

Paper Museum, Amalfi Italy

I was keen to have a look around the paper museum so headed off in the general direction and ended up there with Rita, Tony, Jenny and Dorian. The young man who took us around was a real treat. He had some curious twists to his English that took a little understanding but was an absolute treasure trove of information. We made a piece of paper in the mill using the same setup that’s been there for hundreds of years. It was wonderful to see the original hammers, vats and water wheel still in place and working.

Positano Italy

Positano Italy

Another short ferry ride and we were at Positano which was far busier but just as gorgeous I think. There seemed to be good shopping but I only bought a couple of postcards, I figure there’s too much to see to spend all my time inside shops. A few of us had lunch and a couple of wines together up in the back streets before heading down to the port for our journey home to Maiori.

Good old Jenny  helped relieve the boredom on the ferry ride back. I have photos of her trying to pole dance and do the Titanic pose at the same time – Gilberto is in the background looking at the pair of us as if we’re idiots. He could be right, but it kept us awake and laughing and that’s got to be a good thing I say.

Limoncello tasting this afternoon in Maiori – all I have to say is YUM!! I bought a couple of little bottles to take home for the kids to try – or maybe for me to enjoy between now and when I go home, whichever!!

It’s almost the end of our tour, tomorrow will be our last day on the bus. If I think about it I start to feel sad so I’ll just not think about it yet. Off to dinner now and then the dreaded packing again, thank goodness we’ve had stays of more than one night everywhere.

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Day 15 – Isle of Capri

13th June 2012

On the way up to Anacapri

On the way up to Anacapri

We were entertained last night at the hotel while we had welcome drinks by our tour guide and the maitre’de singing up a storm. They had good voices but the maitre’de looked like someone out of a mafia movie with his white suit coat and bow tie and our tour guide was hamming it up big time so it really was quite comical. Some of us then adjourned to the rooftop terrace after dinner  where we demolished quite a few bottles of wine and talked and laughed until the wee hours. It was a terrific end to a truly great day – another one!!

The boat trip to the Isle of Capri  was  a bit of an adventure at times. Jan & I were sitting out the front of the boat having a good old chat to another small group of people and we almost all got blown away when we got up to speed. Everyone was hanging to to hats, bags, sunnies and each other for dear life and then the water started spraying in as well – we were absolutely soaked but laughing fit to split. We got some lovely pics of the two of us, all windswept and gorgeous – not really, we looked like a pair of drowned rats – but it was great fun and we dried quickly once the spray stopped.

View from Mt Solaro

View from Mt Solaro

The views on the road up to Anacapri, at the top of the island, were simply breathtaking and the village itself was lovely but so crowded it was uncomfortable at times just walking along the streets because of the crush of people. I didn’t have a lot of time in the town as I took the chairlift up Mount Solaro with some of the others. I thought the views earlier were amazing but it just got better and they kept coming. I only walked a short way from the chairlift station and I was at the edge of the lookout, speechless again – it’s all so beautiful. There were also intriguing sights beneath us on the chairlift, I saw some of the wackiest garden ornaments ever, obviously a few people with a quirky sense of humour around.

Back down the hairpin bendy road to Capri where I had a quick window shop at a few boutiques but I’m a bit over shopping at the moment. Jenny, Dorian and I had lunch together at a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea and we then sat with Margaret and Ron people watching until it was time to leave. We must be showing our age I think, being happy to sit and talk instead of running around like mad things shopping and sightseeing. I’ve had so much fun with everyone on the tour it’s going to be hard leaving the group when we get to Rome. Best not to think about that though, we’ve got a few more days yet.

Gardens beneath the chairlift

Gardens beneath the chairlift

It was a much more sedate ride back this afternoon, I had my first nanna nap of the trip – all that fresh sea air must have tuckered me out. I could get used to the siesta thing though, I was full of beans again when we got back to Maiori and had a nice wander around this evening. It seems a less touristy place than most others we’ve stayed at, with more Italian families holidaying here than foreigners. All the oldies were out for their afternoon session sitting around together chatting and laughing – I’d love to know what theytalk about every day – but they sure do make great photos.

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Day 14 – Pompeii!!

Pompeii ruins

Pompeii ruins

12th June 2012

Today we’re heading to Maiori on the Amalfi Coast but first we get to explore the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Now this is one place I’ve been looking forward to visiting for a VERY long time. I first read about Pompeii when I was about ten or eleven and have been fascinated ever since. I dragged my two daughters down to the Melbourne Museum to see “A day in Pompeii”   a few years ago, well, maybe not quite dragged as there was shopping involved too. They were keen to see the exibition but couldn’t believe how long I stayed inside. I happily missed a few extra hours shopping in exchange for more time soaking it all in and anyone who knows me would agree that happily missing out on shopping is highly unusual.

Oranges and Lemons - fresh lemonade at Pompeii

Oranges and Lemons – fresh lemonade at Pompeii

We had a great guide today, both knowledgeable and entertaining, I am definitely coming back one day to visit the museum in Naples. Apart from actually being at Pompeii at long last the next best thing there was the freshly made lemonade from the stalls just outside the site – really hit the spot being such a hot day.

I don’t know why but I just can’t find the words to describe today’s visit like every other day, for me it was just special. I felt terribly silly, but on the way there I was almost in tears a few times because I was so happy. Suffice to say – it was excellent.

Oops! On the Amalfi Coast road

Oops! On the Amalfi Coast road

And then – the road along the Amalfi Coast – amazing! Just driving on this road is an experience not to be missed. I’ve been on some pretty narrow, windy roads but this one was particularly crazy. As usual, Andrea was superb, calm and relaxed, which is more than could be said for some of my fellow passengers. There were a few clenched hands on the seats and anxious faces at times, but I was too enthralled by everything we saw along the way to be worried.

The funniest thing was that when we reached a normal road again the tour guide thanked and congratulated Andrea on his performance and informed us – it was the first time he had ever driven it – wow!!

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Day 13 – Assisi & Spoleto

11th June 2012

View from outside Assisi Italy

View from outside Assisi Italy

Nice late start this morning – 9am. I asked the tour guide this morning if it mattered if I didn’t go on the tour of St Francis’ Basilica today, he said no but thought I should give it a try to get “a sense of it”. I don’t know what he meant but I stayed with them – guess it wasn’t too bad but I can’t reconcile the story of St Francis forsaking his wealth with the scale of the basilica let alone the wealth in the church as a whole. I will say I took some photos of the square just below the church that I’m pretty pleased with – the terrible weather really helped.

Artist at work Assisi Italy

Artist at work Assisi Italy

After our tour of the basilica it poured rain for a while (was that a message, hahaha?), so I ducked into a café for a coffee and caught up on some messaging. It eased off after a while and the cooler change was nice for walking. I liked the town of Assisi and found plenty to keep me occupied for a few hours. For all my whingeing about tours of churches I ended up buying my grand-daughters a guardian angel bracelet each and my eldest daughter a tin poster with a drawing of an angel and “I believe in angels” on it. I know they will love them so that’s what matters – plus they don’t take up much room – I’m beginning to wise up to the finer points of gift buying when overseas.

on the Ponte delle Torri, Spoleto

on the Ponte delle Torri, Spoleto

On the way back to Spoleto we stopped on the other side of the viaduct so we could walk across it to the town. It’s humbling to think we’re walking across this bridge that is 80 or 90 metres high that was built thousands of years ago,  just gives me shivers at times to contemplate the fact we’re walking in the footsteps of so many others. On a more touristy note Margaret has assigned herself as my own private photographer, she is horrified that I don’t have many photos of myself everywhere we go.  I have started to give in and let her take a pic of me sometimes  even though I dislike posing for them, so today’s one was on the Ponte delle Torri

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