Yesterday we laid low, venturing out only to visit the local butcher for a poulet roti (rotisserie chicken); the boulangerie (bakery) for a baguette and croissants; and a vegetable vendor outside our door for some zucchini flowers, fennel, potatoes, apples, tomato, green beans, white asparagus and some shallots. Apparently Chef Dee is planning something special for dinner? Feeling somewhat rejuvenated today, we decided to try one of the designed promenades, or walking trails, that hug the coastline of the Cap Ferrat peninsula where we are located. These walks are of various distances and degrees of difficulty, so we selected one of the least-demanding of them, the Promenade Maurice Rouvier, which runs in a northerly direction for about 1.2 kilometers starting from the Saint-Jean town hall. The path we followed was very flat, with only a few ... read more

We spent most of our first morning in Saint-Jean unpacking suitcases, and familiarizing ourselves with our new home-away-from-home, which may well be the finest rental apartment we've encountered in our many years of traveling around Europe. Comfortable, nicely furnished and very well-equipped, the apartment's location across the street from the port all contribute to making it the perfect situation for us. Our first order of business today, following a brief visit to the upscale tourist information office by the port, was to buy some provisions at the nearby grocery store, where we quickly discovered that we were now in a different world from Sorrento in southern Italy! The store itself, part of the Casino chain that we've encountered elsewhere in France over the years, stocks a wider variety of merchandise (and is much more spacious) than ... read more

The weather today in Sorrento started and ended on a high note, with the warmest temperatures (high 60s) we've experienced since our arrival at the beginning of April. It was a beautiful day to be outside (for a change), and for Dee to place sheets and other laundry outside on the balcony of our apartment to dry (there is a washing machine, but no dryer). We had no firm plans for the day, other than to go out for lunch, so we lounged around until noon. Late in the morning, Dee received a text message from a friend of ours, Cindy Pinizzotto (from Port Orange, Florida), with a recommendation for a restaurant she, her husband and son had enjoyed during their visit to Sorrento five years ago, the Tavern Allegra. We were not familiar with the ... read more

Throughout the past week, all of us had become aware of the local excitement that was brewing over the upcoming professional soccer match between the local favorite, Forza Napoli (a team from Naples), and a rival team (Salernitana) from the nearby city of Salerno. Many shops, storefronts and apartment balconies began to sprout banners and flags with the team's name and checkered-blue logo emblazoned upon them. Sorrento city workers even strung streamers on top of the streetlight poles, crisscrossing the streamers from one side of the street to the other. We decided to have lunch at La Maison Douce at around 1:00PM, two hours before the scheduled start of the match that was to be played in Naples. This was the first time John and Cindy had accompanied us to this restaurant on the Corso Italia, ... read more

Today was the day we had arranged with our old friend and guide, Francesco Ruggiero, to visit the Amalfi Coast and its popular tourist haunts of Positano, Amalfi Town and Ravello. Dee and I had made this day trip 7 years ago, and we were excited to share the experience again with John and Cindy during their stay. We could not have hoped for more ideal weather conditions, with clear blue skies and temperatures in the upper 60s throughout the day. The so-called Amalfi Drive, the two-lane road that meanders its way from Sorrento to Salerno, hugs the southern coastline of the Sorrentine peninsula adjacent to the Gulf of Salerno (part of the Mediterranean Sea, as is the Gulf of Naples in Sorrento). The breathtaking views along this route are world famous, while the switchbacks and ... read more