Betti C

The girls woke up by 9:30 am and got dressed in their jogging clothes. They took a short jog in the pinetta after breakfast, while I went to the beach and read and swam. The water was once again calm and clear, and with a bonus--it was slightly warmer than it was yesterday. I went for another long swim and observed that there were some jellyfish, beautiful ones with long tentacles. They tended to stay near the bottom, so it was safe to swim. When I got back from my swim, Liliana and Chonsa were at the beach. We tried using the Capitano’s windsurfing board as a standup paddle board, using Liliana’s kayak’s oar as the paddle. It worked! The board doesn’t have any rudders, but it still worked. Liliana went a long way down the ... read more

Another lovely day on the water. Today we were on the Cassiopea boat for our trip to Amalfi. Stefano was our pilot again, and while there was less wind today, the seas were very high. The fun thing about these rubber boats is that they can hug the shoreline very closely, which is what we did all the way to Minore, the next little town past Amalfi. Along the way we saw Praiano and some other little towns, many of them with old Roman or Norman walls and buildings. It’s really beautiful to see the view from the sea, where the waves were pounding against the cliffs. This part of Italy seems as if it’s like a giant cliff that continues straight into the water from the land, with huge vertical drops. The waves crash against ... read more

Another early start for a day: we traveled from Florence to Positano today, catching a 9:10 am train that went directly to Naples. We were met by Ottavio, the driver organized by our hostess at B&B Villa Mary in Positano. The train ride was relatively short -- just two and a half hours on the high-speed train. Once in Naples, we had another hour in the car, and Ottavio pointed out the sights along the way: Vesuvius, Pompeii, the Bay of Naples, Capri, Sorrento, and finally Positano. Positano, like the towns of the Cinque Terre, is perched on a steep hillside, with lots and lots of narrow passages and stairways leading through the residences. There is just one main road that curves through Positano, and residents park in a car park in the lower part of ... read more

We woke up to a cool morning in Florence. The rains from the night before brought in cooler air, and it was fresh and almost chilly when we went out to get our breakfast at the local bar. Our train departed at 10:28 am, so we were at the station by 10. I’ve found that it helps to have an extra bit of time to make sure we know where the Binario (track) is for our particular train, and then lug our suitcases to the track. Speaking of suitcases -- although I told the girls to pack light, I didn’t pack as lightly as I should have. My rolling suitcase weighs about 1000 pounds, and lugging it in and out of train stations and up the inevitable flights of stairs we find separating the binarios is ... read more

We left Verona today. Miguel had a very early flight, and I woke up with him at 4:40 am so that he’d be ready for his taxi at 5 am. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to sleep after he left, so after a while I gave up and decided to get outside and take some early morning photos. I walked from the center across one of Verona’s bridges and then walked along the opposite side of the river (Aldo Adgio) to take some photos of the Ponte Pietra and the town. It was a beautiful morning -- cooler and less humid today, with crisp, bright air. It was just lovely. I got back to the hotel for a breakfast with Italietta, Giacomo and Francesca, then waited for Italietta’s taxi to take her to the airport. Giacomo and ... read more