One Year Away

Lora

We have added more photos to the Italy album!

After a week of hectic travel from Varenna to Florence to Orvieto and a day in Rome, we were looking forward to experiencing the slower pace Italian lifestyle of Sorrento and Capri. We first visited Sorrento, a small Italian fishing village nestled cliffside overlooking the Mediterranean. After arriving at Hotel Del Corso, where we made our home for the next two days, we strolled the small cobblestone streets of Sorrento. It didn’t take us long to notice that every store sold items that had to do with lemons: lemon dishes, lemon towels, lemon aprons, lemon oil, limoncello (Italian lemon liqueur), fresh lemonade, lemon everything! Turns out, Sorrento is the lemon heaven of Italy! All kinds of lemons are grown in Sorrento but the most impressive are the ones as big as a football. They may look tasty but we discovered that they are used more for show and decoration rather than for eating….they are much ìpulpierî than a normal size lemon and not as juicy. In Italy, lemons are mainly used to make tasty lemon desserts and liqueurs, which of course we had a sampling of during our visit. So our two days in Sorrento were spent eating, drinking wine, a visit to the ruins of Pompeii, and did we mention eating and drinking wine?!

From Sorrento we took a huge jet boat to Capri, which is pronounced KAHH-pree in Italian. After getting off the jet boat, we stood in line of about 40 people deep to catch a bus to Anacapri where our hotel is. The little bus came and we thought that there is no way we were going to make it on, especially with all of our luggage, and we would have to wait another half hour for the next one to come along. Oh no, we made it on, they pack people into these buses like sardines! Then there was the trip up the mountain, rather, more like a cliff, to get to Anacapri. The roads are so small that often two cars, not to mention two buses, cannot pass each other without some careful maneuvering. A horn is not an option it’s a necessity for survival. It is not uncommon to have to back up on the road to let another car pass! If you have a car in Capri without a scratch on the sides then you probably do not drive it!! The views from the bus trip were amazing as you can see in some of the pictures in the Photo Album.

Capri was made famous as a vacation spot of Roman emperors such as Augustus and Tiberius. And in the 19th century it became the vacation spot of aristocrats on their tours of Europe. Capri’s nickname is the Island of Dreams. Indeed, we found it dreamy. Our first night we ventured into the main piazza of Capri where we found every top designer store you could imagine. It wasn’t surprising that our most expensive meal was this night, but well worth it! We spent the next two days riding the buses all over the island to hit the main beaches of Capri. At last, some relaxation in the sun! It’s funny that they are called ìbeachesî as they are not like North American beaches which are full of fine sand and crashing waves, rather, Capri’s beaches are mainly rocks and cliffs with tons of cabana style restaurants and decks perched off the cliffs and overlooking the emerald colored Mediterranean sea dotted with huge expensive yachts.

We each agreed that Capri is one of our favorite destinations in Italy. Our two days came to an end and we are off to finish our site-seeing and shopping (Joe excluded) in Rome!!!