Advertisement
Yesterday afternoon we returned to Sorrento after our 10-day sojourn in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the charming little piece of paradise we discovered on the Côte d'Azur in the south of France. To tell you the truth, we had become so enchanted with Saint-Jean during our stay that neither of us were particularly excited about returning to Sorrento. But when we opened the door to our apartment on Via degli Aranci, which had been vacant and shuttered during our absence, it did feel a lot like a homecoming! After all, we've spent more than five weeks here, so it really has started to feel like home.
Our concierge in Saint-Jean, Jean-Pierre, had arranged for a taxi to the airport yesterday at 8:00 AM for our 10:45 AM flight from Nice to Napoli. Just before the taxi arrived, he came to the apartment to help us with our luggage, and when we stepped out of the building the taxi was waiting. The driver graciously offered to take our photo with Jean-Pierre, the only one we remembered to capture of this amiable character who had been so thoughtful and kind to us during our brief stay.
All in all, our experience at the Nice
Farewell to Jean-Pierre in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
We finally captured a photo with the friendly concierge at our apartment building as we were about to board the taxi to the Nice airport.airport went better than we had hoped. The 45-minute taxi ride from Saint-Jean, with a very friendly and interesting English-speaking driver, included a drive past some landmarks familiar to us in the center of Nice.
When we arrived at the airport, we had but a short walk to the easyJet check-in counter, where we were then directed to a separate waiting area for passengers requiring mobility assistance. In a few minutes a spry young guy appeared with a wheelchair, and then whisked Dee away to the security checkpoint, while I struggled mightily to keep pace on foot!
Much to Dee's sheer delight, at the security checkpoint we received priority assistance off-to-the-side, thus avoiding the long line of other passengers. Shortly thereafter, the attendant delivered us to the easyJet gate with plenty of time before the scheduled boarding and departure times.
When it finally came time to board the aircraft, via a passenger boarding bridge, another attendant (this time a female) wheeled Dee through the gauntlet of boarding passengers, while all the while yelling "Pardon, pardon!" in order to weave her way to the entrance of the aircraft. It was quite impressive, and the priority treatment made Dee
feel like a celebrity!
We must give credit to easyJet for coordinating the special assistance requests we made when booking tickets, and for the efficiency of the Nice and Napoli (described below) airport attendants that provide the mobility assistance services.
The flight from Nice to Napoli was smooth and uneventful, although it departed 20 minutes late, and arrived in Napoli at about 12:15 PM. Since there are only a few passenger boarding bridges available at the Napoli airport, most passengers must de-plane via stairs down to the tarmac.
We were pleasantly surprised to discover that, when we tried to exit the packed aircraft (an Airbus 320), a member of the crew advised us that an attendant would come for Dee after the other passengers had exited. Sure enough, a most gracious Italian attendant soon appeared, assisted Dee down the stairs from the aircraft, and into a small passenger van just as a downpour began!
After a short ride to the terminal in the pouring rain, he went inside and returned with a wheelchair for Dee, and then proceeded to lead us through the terminal to baggage claim. Our bags were already on the carousel when we
arrived, and this energetic attendant loaded the bags onto a trolley, before leading us to the exit area where Francesco's lovely wife (Anna) was awaiting our arrival.
During the 90-minute drive from the Napoli airport, bumper-to-bumper traffic slowed us down to a crawl as we approached within 7 miles or so of Sorrento. We finally arrived at our apartment at 2:30 PM. A big 'Thank You' goes to Anna, who was such a sweetheart for greeting us at the airport, and then making the long and tedious drive back to Sorrento!
Today we took it easy, with Dee doing some laundry and unpacking, while re-familiarizing ourselves with the sights and sounds of the neighborhood. While sitting on the balcony, and watching the craziness of the traffic on the street below, we even had a brief conversation with the retired couple who live next door (they seemed somewhat surprised to see us back again)!
Around lunchtime we walked up the street to a seafood shop, where we bought some frozen shrimp, perch and some other goodies from the very friendly proprietress; then across the street to a bakery, where we bought some freshly baked bread before deciding to
Light lunch at the bakery
Via degli Aranci, Sorrento share a sandwich with a couple bottles of beer for lunch on their tiny terrace.
As we walked the short distance back to the apartment, we could almost hear echoes of Dorothy reverberating around us:
"There's no place like home, there's no place like home"!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.08s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0362s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
I have had to use mobility assistance several times...
it almost makes it worth being a bit disabled!