Hats By Katrinka

On to Napoli

We set out early for Naples with more than a little trepidation. We were warned to wear our money belts and not to wear any good jewelry. I was more than a little tense when we arrived even though my friend Starr had been stationed in Naples during her career with the Air Force and had survived it.

Our first stop in Naples was at the Museo Capodimonte
where we had a guided tour of the best collection of Renaissance art in southern Italy.
This is a Titian of one of the Farnese popes.
This is a beautiful building,

once an 18^th century hunting lodge, with incredible art
everywhere you look.



We had the museum almost completely to ourselves. What a difference from the crowds in Pompeii.

After the Museo we walked through this Galleria
then headed to our hotel dragging our bags several blocks on a pedestrian street. By the time we got to our hotel I’d relaxed. Naples is no worse than living in NYC which I did for a dozen years! As soon as we’d dropped off our bags Mary and I set out to find pizza for lunch.
Just around the corner from our hotel was Brandi, the pizzeria that claims to have invented
Pizza Margherita. Of course, that is what we ordered and it did not disappoint. The wine did, however, given that Brandi  is a tourist destination this was the only mediocre wine of our whole trip. We drank it anyway and enjoyed ourselves.

After lunch we met Donato, our RS Guide, for an orientation tour and then most of us followed him up the funiculare to Castel St. Elmo,
once a fortress and now a monastery but with a spectacular
view of Naples.
That's Vesuvius in the background topped by clouds. We spent some time snapping pictures and enjoying the view when almost at the same moment, Mary and I and Mary and Bill looked around and realized we’d been left behind! The rest of our group had disappeared. We wandered back to the entrance but no group. So we set out on our own to find the funiculare again. We took a wrong turn but knew we were headed basically in the right direction. I pulled out my Italian and asked an old gentleman Dove e la funiculare? He pointed us in the right direction. Then just as we lost faith in ourselves a lovely young woman with several children in tow stopped us and asked us if we needed help – in Engish! She was an American, now living in Naples, and relished the opportunity to speak with us in English. It turns out the funiculare was just around the corner. By the time we rode down we realized that somehow we’d gotten ahead of our group and I decided it was time to try out those international minutes I’d bought from AT&T and call our faithful guide. So glad I did. They were searching for us.

We all headed back to our hotel for a rest. That evening Mary and I headed down the hill to Café Umberto (recommended by our hotel). I spotted a floral jacket in a store window and decided to try it on.
Loved it so I bought it…the best kind of souvenir. Every time I wear it I will think of Napoli. At Café Umberto we were ahead of the crowd. I ordered Spaghetti with Prawn and it was, of course, delicioso!

 

Isle of Capri and a Family Style Dinner

Our second day in Sorrento was free and most of us opted to take a boat out to the Isle of Capri to explore.
It was a hazy morning but a pleasant boat ride
out to the island.
Our plan was to go see the Blue Grotto but there were too many tourist-filled boats ahead of us even though we’d set out early. Our boatman said the wait would be at least an hour and on a hazy day we’d not see very much. It looked to me like our wait would be more like several hours. We’d already seen a number of beautiful caves by boat so we opted out and instead walked up the hill to Capri town and spotted this
fabulous Fiat 1500 taxi waiting there. This gave us an idea. We hired an open air taxi for E90 (there were 6 of us so only E15 each) to give us an hour-long personal tour. Our taxi was not as elegant as the Fiat 1500 but it was comfortable and we had a great guide in
Emiliano who was born and raised on this picturesque island of about 12,000. When we asked what it was like to live on Capri he said “Good and Bad. Everyone knows everyone so no secrets. If you are seen with another girl everyone on the island knows about it in 2 hours.” I guess that’s one way to keep the flirt genes in check! Or to keep the flirt in the jeans!

We stopped off for various picture opps.
A lighthouse.  It was fun to be up in the
crown of the umbrella pines (where the pine nuts come from).
What an ideal place for a pool at this seaside villa! We asked about the stories of Emporor Tiberius tossing his enemies off the high cliffs of Capri. Emiliano said he tossed his wife as well … “cheaper than getting rid of a wife these days,” he said. Ha!

After lunch Mary and I strolled the streets window-shopping.
Capri has been a high-end resort for centuries so
the shops are decidedly upscale. When we heard that Louis Vuitton was serving champagne with their purses we stopped in. I could care less about owning an LV purse (after all I’d already bought a purse this trip) but Mary is a fan and fell into temptation - a gal after my own heart! Out came the Veuve Clicquot champagne! Whooppee!

We had another scenic cruise
back to Sorrento after our Capri adventure.

In the evening we all met for a short van trip to the outskirts of Sorrento for dinner. We walked through what looked like a rather depressed area and knocked on a door in a wall. Luigi opened the door into a gorgeous atrium garden with loaded lemon trees, cacti and various other plants. We were treated to a family style dinner in their kitchen/dining area designed for such tourist feasts. The food was all from their garden and nearby farm. We were warned that Teresa had been cooking all day and this
was just our first taste of antipasto. There were SO many treats I couldn’t fit them all on my plate and didn’t get to try the cabbage (I’ve never had cabbage cooked Italian style) because that dish never made it down to our end of the table. Nevertheless, we had a delicious and festive dinner and a fine visit with this resourceful and generous
Italian family and their beautiful American daughter-in-law Cindy.

Now here is a romantic tale. When we asked Cindy how she came to marry into this gracious Italian family she told us she’d tagged along with her mother and aunts on a tour and came to this very place for just such a dinner. Teresa’s son took a shine to Cindy and courted her until she agreed to marry him. Yes, it DOES happen, ladies, but probably mostly to beautiful 20-somethings rather than elderly 60-somethings. It was fun hearing her tell of the culture shock moving from California to Sorrento but it is a happy story. We ended our meal with homemade Limoncello and were given the recipe as well. Another delicioso!!

Sorrento - Pizza and Gelato - then Pompeii

We arrived in Sorrento and dropped off our luggage at our hotel then had a quick orientation walk up the Via Caesari, the market street. We had some free time to explore and shop for souvenirs and we stopped at a pizzeria for a quick lunch. Hungry for peppers, I ordered my first pizza of the trip loaded with peperoni.
It was just what I was hungry for. After lunch several of us took advantage of the Ladies Room and on my way out I was abducted by the
pizza chef for a demonstration on “how we make pizza in Sorrento.”
It was a brief but funny hostage situation. Ah! These flirtatious Italians!

After lunch we headed over to
Gelato David for a
gelato lesson or in this case a lemon sorbetto lesson (and of course a sampling of the wares!)
Mark really enjoyed his!

Then we were off on the train to Pompeii. The train trip was an adventure in itself, what with beggars carrying Louis Vuitton bags, musicians hustling and adolescent amorous activity it was quite a scene.

We had Gaetano Manfredi for our guide,
a third generation Pompeii Tour Guide, who gave us a fabulous and entertaining perspective on all that we were seeing.

Five miles from Vesuvius, Pompeii was a busy middle class port town of some 20,000 people who were suffocated in hot gases and debris then buried in 30-45 feet of ash in 79 A.D.

The forum was the center of activity, political and commercial. That’s Vesuvius in the background (downsized since the 79 eruption but some 400 years overdue for yet another).
Pompeii was busy rebuilding after a prior earthquake so some of what we saw was unfinished construction.

The atrium of an elegant home in this middle-class city.

One of the public baths. 

The steam room. 

Casa del Fauno

a bit of color remains of what was all color in its day.

 

 
Some of the remaining artifacts along with plaster casts of victims. Most of the remaining fine art is in Naples at the Archeological Museum (more later on that). Pompeii escaped the invasion of the barbarians  as it was underground but the site was plundered by the Spanish invasion, 18^th century archeologists and WWII souvenir hunters. 25% of it still lies underground awaiting better science and restoration techniques.

More color.

Cave Canem – Beware of the Dog mosaic at the entry to the Casa del Poeta Tragico. 

A remnant of the lead pipes that formed part of the water supply system. Our guide explained that residents would not have been poisoned by the lead pipes as they were lined by calcium from the water and because lead does not easily dissolve except in alcohol. Hence it was a bad idea to drink wine from lead cups as in the late Roman Empire.

Hot and covered in volcanic ash we took the train back to our hotel, showered and cleaned up, then walked down to the beach for a lovely dinner at Ristorante Delfino. I had Verdura Grigliata and Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare which featured razor clams and a luscious local wine.

 

Positano - Amalfi - Ravello

We had breakfast on the terrace at
Albergo Savoia then enjoyed a blissful free day in Positano
starting with search for a working ATM (third try was the charm) then a walk down past the shops to the
beach where we caught a boat to Amalfi. It was a beautiful day and the 
sea air felt great after so many hours on the bus yesterday. We weren’t done with buses tho’ since when we arrived in Amalfi 
we caught a local bus up to Ravello. It was the quintessential bus ride on the Amalfi coast, sharp curves, stops for one-way traffic and squeaky close passes with other buses. Glad I wasn’t driving!

When we arrived at the top and Ravello, we had the piazza to ourselves for awhile so wandered around and found a
pricey ceramics shop where we spent a fair amount of time
examining the goods. Everything the sales lady showed us was 350 Euros including shipping, large gorgeous pieces I have no room for (even a spectacular tiled outdoor grill) but no pictures allowed inside.
I resisted the urge to buy. Mary bought a few little items and I think the sales lady was disappointed in us. Oh well.

We set out looking for a particular restaurant which we never found. We did wander down a
stone stairway for awhile bumping into a charming Italian gentleman on whom I got to practice my Italian. He pointed us further down but in awhile we realized we were likely on the stairway down to a restaurant in Amalfi so we reversed course and
found our way back up to the top and Hotel Rufalo. There we found 
a quiet terrace
with
una vista della mare and only one other table occupied by a Swiss couple 

Mary and I ordered a bottle of Prosecco and lunch (more melanzane for me) and just breathed it all in for a couple of hours. When we wandered back to the piazza it was mobbed with tourists so we headed for the bus down to Amalfi again. The bus was hot and crowded but we had fun visiting with a group of eight ladies from Atlanta who were having a Gals Week in a villa in Positano on the very cheap. I got the name of the villa with the advice that one needs to reserve a year in advance. 

We’d had enough of hot buses so took the boat
back to Positano and did a little shopping on our climb back up to our hotel. Tomorrow would be Pompeii and it looked like it would be hot…and summer clothes were on sale in Positano. So I bought a thin linen shirt and a pretty grey dance skirt. Mary found a glitzy Capri watch she’d had her eye on. 

In the evening we dressed up a bit for dinner and headed back down to the beach for more seafood, pasta and wine.

 

West to Paestum and Positano

We left Matera early to loop back to the west side of Italy this morning. We stopped along the way to see how Mozzarella da Bufala is made at Tenuta Vanullo. At the mozzarella farm our guide took us to a
 window where the cheesemakers were hard at work and one flirted outrageously through the glass
with our pretty guide. Then we moved on to see the
automated water buffalo barn where the cows actually milk themselves by walking into automated milking stalls, have massage brushes and all the feed they want.
Happy cows more milk. We ended our tour at the leather goods shop where some of us eyed purses on sale.
I succumbed to this one.

We had a lovely lunch of crepes stuffed with ricotta cheese, tomato, mozzarella and lettuce salad and gelato for dessert. I’m no mozzarella connoisseur but I must say the pistachio bufala gelato I had was the best I’ve had so far. I was too busy eating it to take a picture!

Then we were back on the bus headed to
Paestum and the
Greek ruins there.
We wandered these monumental ruins
and ended with a quick visit at the interesting museum. I loved the
sandal on this bit of statuary.
Also found this
fellow leaping into eternity quite whimsical.

Then we drove on to Positano, having to change buses as ours was too large to navigate the narrow roads and curves.
Watching the scenery go by did not disappoint. Can you believe the locals actually double park on these narrow roads?!? So far we’ve seen some pretty crazy driving but not a single accident. Lucky for us our hotel was not located at the top of the ridge but we did have an interesting trek down to the beach for dinner through lots of tempting shops. We dined at Chez Black and I had spaghetti con vongole.

Exploring Ancient Cities

We had an early start this morning headed to Puglia and the town of Alberobello, noted for trulli dwellings, odd little huts made of stacked stone (no morter) and topped with cone shaped roofs.
There are thousands of these trulli in Alberobello and some historians trace their provenance perhaps to a Turkish tribe? They can be found
singly in a farmer’s field or with
multiple coni in town for a larger family’s needs.

We even found one for sale
and our guide advised they are quite expensive! We wandered the pretty streets and found handcrafted souvenir items to buy.
We met at a trullo for an insider’s tour of what life was like in such a tiny dwelling. Afterward we headed over to Gino’s
for a delicious sampling of local appetizers and
wine pairings. I fell hard for something called crema di cima di rappa which turns out to be a kind of pesto made of turnip greens (a familiar taste from my childhood). After a little shopping at Gino’s we hopped back on the bus and headed to Matera.

Matera is the city of cave dwellings or sassi.
Humans have lived in this area since the Paleolithic Era when they crawled into caves in the hillsides carved out by the seas.
Eventually people began to carve out their own caves from the soft limestone and then build structures in front of the caves.
It’s an odd assortment of structures with over 120 churches
of various vintage. People lived here without proper sanitation and running water until the 1950s when the government became aware of the wretched living conditions - people living with and like animals and evicted them from caves and built proper homes for them.
 … and I  thought my kitchen was small!  Once “the shame of Italy” Matera is now a World Heritage Site.

A coffee break in our morning walk.

 … and a little prickly pear street art.

We had an interesting tour with our guide, Analisa, and saw Byzantine frescoes in cave churches as well as Medieval ones in the same caves. (No flash pictures allowed.) The spa hotel we stayed in was built into caves, as was the restaurant
where we’d had dinner the previous night. Needless to say, improvements have been made. There have been many films shot here due to the primitive environment, including Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.

After our morning step back in time a group of us had lunch at Il Terrazzino overlooking the sassi where I ordered melon and prosciutto as antipasto before my orrechiete di rapini. Instead of a slice of prosciutto over a slice of melon
this is what I got and no one wanted to share it with me. Mine all mine! Next year I am going to try to grow melons in my garden! I’ve never tasted such delicious melons as I have here and in Sicily. I wonder if I can import volcanic ash to add to my garden soil?

We had a free afternoon and I wandered around snapping pictures. After an afternoon rest a few of us had dinner at Nadi where I had my first taste of Tagliatelle con Truffalo Bianco. Delicioso!

 

Day 3 and 4 - Tivoli and Vieste

We left early Wednesday for Tivoli and the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa.
This is a huge site and we had it pretty much to ourselves.

 This villa, a country resort, once supported as many as 20,000 people (including slaves).
Most of it is gone now but one gets the idea of its splendor.
These walls were once colorfully painted or covered in marble. Our tour guides emphasized over and over again that what we now see as white statuary
was anything but in ancient times.

 
I loved this pool surrounded in rosemary
and another with Caryatids.

Next we were back on the bus for a drive east to the Adriatic and Vieste on the Gargano Peninsula (what I think of as the spur on the boot).

Vieste is a pretty little beach resort that was pretty much closing up shop in October so not crowded for our visit. We had a delicious seafood dinner with local wine.

Next morning we were treated to a boat ride along the Adriatic coast with numerous forays into caves
with interesting features…and gorgeous water.

I took this picture inside a cave with light filtering through holes in the rock above so as to seemingly glow from below. The stripes in the limestone rock are flint, prized for making sharp cutting tools from ancient times to the present.

After our boat ride we had lunch at our Hotel Seggio with a demonstration on how to shape various pastas.
I always love a cooking lesson and now
I know how to get that hole in the macaroni…not that I’ll ever do it but fun to learn!

The winning dish was Pasta Fagioli.

After lunch Mary and I took a stroll and met up with much of our group at the seashell museum, not large but with thousands of different types of shells. Who knew?!? Later we wandered down to the beachside park where we watched an old gentleman playing with his poodle puppy, ecstatic over a pinecone. Soon two adorable grandkids joined in the fun. It was a perfect way to while away some time in a sleepy beach town. La dolce fare niente!

 

First Tour with Francesca Caruso

Our tour this morning began at Isola Tiberna, a tiny island in the Tiber where a Temple to Ascelpius, the god of healing, was turned into a hospital by the Franciscans and it remains a prized hospital today.
We then crossed a footbridge into the Ghetto where the Jews were sent (from the Trastevere) by the Pope in the 15^th century.
We’ve already had two great lunches here and it was interesting to hear Francesca tell of this area’s history.

Here is a synagogue of 19^th century vintage.

During World War II there were some 12,000 Jews living in this small area. At the bitter end of the War 2,000 Jews were deported to Auschwitz and most never returned. Romans hid the remaining Jews in safety. At some houses today there are plaques
at the door listing the names of the deported, mostly women and children.

We wound our way past the beloved Turtle Fountain
whose turtles were said to be added by Bellini

We passed a villa with an open door and Francesca advised one should always go in as an open door is an invitation. It was a former villa, now a library, with pieces of
monumental statuary from
ancient times to the 18^th century.

We ended our tour at the Capitoline Museum where Francesca guided us through a spectacular collection.
This museum is worth a return trip. So much to see!

 A few highlights:

A gorgeous inlaid stone floor discovered when excavation began to build the new train station. Most of the villa remains underground but this piece gives us an idea of the glorious structure. Our guide explained that much of Rome’s glory is still buried underground.

 

 the famous Romulus and Remus said to be the founders of Rome.

Marcus Aurelius with a room all his own

 
 … and one of my favorites, a lad removing a thorn from his foot.

Our tour ended with a view from the balcony of the Forum.

Then I was off to meet Starr and Holger at Da Giggetto for a reprise of the Melanzane Parmigianna for lunch and then an afternoon nap.

 

Monday and the Tour Begins

At breakfast I spotted Craig and Lea who traveled Sicily with us last year. They were coming off another RS tour and this was to be their 14^th. I called Starr and Holger who came down to visit and we set out for a stroll after breakfast. We bought a bus and boat pass for the day which turned out to be a waste of money.
The boat goes along the Tiber with nothing much to see since the flood walls keep the city at bay. This is Castel Sant Angelo. The bus was not much better, being caught in traffic much of the time. No matter, we had no agenda today (except lunch) so spent the time catching up. Finally, we bailed on the bus and headed back to the Ghetto. 

We exited the bus on the other side of Teatro di Marcello which was the backdrop for our lunch on Saturday. The theatre pre-dates the Colloseum and the fortress on top of the theatre was built in the Middle Ages. The fortress now holds apartments. Rome recycles!

We lucked into an outdoor table at Vinando which had lobster on the menu. Starr ordered this beautiful salad

 and I ordered spaghetti with lobster
 with a side dish of Spinaci alla Romana – so delicious I’ve already made it at home – spinach cooked in butter with golden raisins and pine nuts. We all agreed that my lunch had “won” again.

Then it was time for a jet-lag nap and then at 4 our first meeting with the tour group. We were 26 and our guide was Donatto, a 20-year RS veteran. Starr and Holger did their own thing and the group headed off to a family style restaurant Der Pallaro where we had a nice dinner but not to compare with my lunch.

 

Revisiting Rome

I got off on the wrong foot with Rome on my first trip to Europe in 1970 so I decided to try again. That is one of the reasons I selected the South Italy Tour this year for my third Rick Steves tour. When I committed to going, my friends Starr and Holger (and Lily!) in Switzerland decided to drive down to meet me there. We arrived at our hotel in the Trastevere on Saturday within minutes of each other, got our bearings and took a stroll in the neighborhood. 
We settled in a restaurant overlooking the piazza, ordered Aperol spritzes and dinner and celebrated their 12^th wedding anniversary.

 

Sunday we headed out to explore, crossed the Tiber on a
pedestrian bridge into the heart of Rome. We wandered a bit then turned a corner and found ourselves
at Largo Argentina, a ruin of four temples, right in the middle of a busy modern intersection. Ah! The magic of Rome!
(We learned later that this is where Julius Caesar was murdered not in the Forum). We wandered on to
Piazza Navona with a beautiful Bellini fountain and lots of tourists.  We followed the signs to the
Pantheon
and even more tourists. This is an amazing example of Roman architecture but it was a bit hard to enjoy being herded like cattle in and out. I escaped to the piazza where a young and beautiful street musician was playing tango (and other) music for tips with her accordion. She was good and the people watching was great!

Then we headed to Starr’s favorite Roman restaurant in the Ghetto, Da Giggetto. Along the way a darling houndstooth coat with detachable petticoat (WHY did I not take a picture?) caught our eye in a store window. We went in so Starr could try it on. It was a bargain, she bought it and the charming store owner agreed to hold the coat for her while we went to lunch.

Pranzo was not a disappointment.
We ordered carcioffi alla Giudia (fried artichokes) and fiori di zucchini (fried mozzarella stuffed zucchini flowers) for Antipasto and I had the best Melanzana (eggplant) Parmigiana
I’ve ever tasted. It was so good that I returned to this restaurant a couple days later to have it again. I am already in love with Roma!

After such a big lunch we headed back to the hotel for a nap. Then we took a passeggiatta in the evening, had another Aperol spritz and watched the locals and another band of musicians playing tango music. One couple dared to get up and dance. Oh, For a partner!