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Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823
Spring is such a delicious time of year when the season of new life blossoms and glows in bright greens, purples, yellows...well, all colours. There aren't many places on this earth where spring is more beautiful than in Italy. Arriving in Naples (from India), I was ecstatic; I made it safely out of India on the day my visa expired, my sister-in-law Brenda and I successfully rendezvoused without mishap at the airport and the sun was shining with cool, fresh air after being in transit (indoors) for 24 hours.
I suspect Naples never looked more inviting than it did through my eyes - it appeared to be uncrowded with clean streets, reasonable drivers, and unpolluted air. Life took on a reasonableness that India lacks. Who ever describes Naples like this? I noticed that fashion was pronounced; women were wearing the wildest, bling covered running shoes - some with wedge heels - and black was distinctly the colour of choice for all clothing. All this so unlike the vibrant clothes of Indians with their reds, turquoises, and yellows (among others) which I not only love, my eyes had become accustomed to after 4 months. Curry no longer the
flavour of the day, pizza from da Michele was heaven on earth.
Brenda, and I settled into our historic centre hotel (Hotel San Pietro), making use of the rooftop garden as we recovered from our long journeys. My night in a sleeping pod in the Milan airport had proved to be surprisingly restful, reminding me of a cabin in a ferry crossing I had done from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland years ago. Tucked away in a hidden corner of the airport, the pod had just enough room for my backpack and the narrow bed. With my trusty sleeping gear (a silk sleeping bag liner, an eye bag and earplugs), I dozed off for a solid 6 hours. Looking for one of these on your travels? I googled 'sleep pod in airport Milan'. Different companies offer them in a variety of airports around the world.
Back in Naples, the best amongst the many 'bests,' was our night at the opera. We walked to the Teatro di San Carlo area and nestled into an outdoor cafe to get a snack before the show. Even though I had read about the Italian practice of offering nibbles when you buy a drink,
I had forgotten. We watched another couple eating these lovely treats along with a bright orange drink. We tried to communicate to the waiter that we wanted the food. To our delight and confusion we ordered the 'Spritz' - aperol, prosecco and club soda - and got the nibble foods for free! Does the country get any better?! Turns out, yes, it does. Never have salads, pizza, pasta and wine tasted so good.
The Teatro - the oldest continuously running opera house in the world active since 1737 - was what I had imagined, with cherubs hanging from the walls and art painted on the ceiling. The gold and red boxes provided snug little rooms for patrons to watch the opera in privacy. The opera, Lucia di Lammermore, was a breathlessly beautiful experience of voice, costume and acting. I found the projected lyrics, in English and Italian, above the stage guided me through the story while it did not detract visually from the performance.
For 6 days, we wandered the streets of Naples, took a tour to Pompeii and Herculaneum, shopped for a few fashion necessities as wearing my backpacking clothes for India did not cut it in Italy. Along
with hundreds of other tourists and locals, by chance we decided to go to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale on the free first Sunday of the month. I was gobsmacked by the history and beauty of the marble sculptures.
Proudly, we navigated our way to Sorrento on the local train. Thank goodness for rolling bags as we made our way through the blossom-filled streets to our hotel (Grand Hotel de la Ville). This was my favourite spot of the whole trip.
We visited the Amalfi Coast with tour guide Francesco, visiting Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, the Emerald Grotto and other stunningly picturesque spots hanging onto the cliff edges over the Tyrrhenian Sea. I drank in the bright energy of the yellow lemons, the blue water, the multi-coloured houses and the sea air.
Cantinaccia del Popolo, a hidden family-run spot with great house wine and their specialty of meats and cheese antipasto (which we didn't like much) became our go-to restaurant in Sorrento. We wiled away the days, wandering the streets of Sorrento, taking a ferry to Capri, and hanging out sun-bathing on the roof of our hotel. And since we had discovered the infamous Spritz, we enjoyed them
everywhere!
On April 8, we took a ferry to the small island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples for a 2-night stay. Our hotel was a stone's throw away from the ferry landing. The island is a lovely spot with narrow streets lined with buildings erected long ago, beaches, a medieval castle and plenty of of trees and flowers. My energy was waning so I took a day to rest and get a mud wrap while Brenda took the local bus around the island. The rooftop hot spring pool was just the place to rejuvenate and relax!
As I write this, I realize it could take me pages and pages to describe our four weeks in Italy so I'll bullet a few highlights instead:
A Fast Train to Florence a beautiful city but packed with tourists given it was the holy week before Easter SundayUffizzi Gallery Museum is a 'must' where you will see many pieces of sacred art from the masters and more 'madonna and child' paintings to fill your lifetimeof course, Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo and David are not to be missed, although truthfully, we did miss seeing the real David.Siena, a Jewel in Tuscany we knew that Easter would be busy and didn't imagine how crazy busy it would be, but planned accordingly to hunker down in one spot during that time we stayed at the centrally located and delightful Siena VIP B&B at the bottom of the hill down from Piazza Del Campo, the famous square where there is a horse race held twice a yeartwo, day-long Tuscany country/wine tours and a cooking class on Easter Sunday kept us happy and busy the Easter Sunday service at the duomo (cathedral) with an ethereal choir, awe-inspiring architecture, beautiful stained glass, statues and art brought me to tears.
The City of Cities - Rome feeling travel fatigued after 5 months of travel, I was less than enthused about doing all the sightseeing available in the amazing city of Rome. However, Brenda was able to keep me going, encouraging me along as we visitied the Coloseumm, the Forum, the Palentine, Il Vittoriano, the Vatican (we didn't go inside), Piazzo Navona, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps...oh my! Brenda's Fitbit tracked our steps, logging in about 15,000 steps each day the food in Rome was to die for...everywhere we went we had a great meal. We found a cozy little spot called Barzilai Bistrot where we ate twice, enjoying a picci (pasta) with tomato sauce and chunks of thick bacon on top accompanied by a Pinot Grigio that we bought by the bottle because it was so goodto top off a great trip, a Montreal childhood girlfriend who now lives in Vancouver, Kathleen Murphy, and her husband surprised us on our last night in Italy. Through Facebook we knew we were both in Rome for only one evening but had concluded we could not swing a rendezvous. She showed up at the restaurant where we were eating! We shared some wine, a few stories and lots of laughs. I had three goals in Italy: 1) to see an opera; 2) to do a cooking class; 3) to get red shoes. It wasn't until our last day in Rome when I had all but given up finding any pair of shoes wide enough for my feet - let alone red ones - when just outside of Piazza Navona, I saw a store that looked promising... Much to my delight, I walked out of there with red shoes! Now, the fact that they were red plastic Birkenstocks, which
weren't exactly the fashion statement I was dreaming of bringing home from Italy, I'm sure I'll get lots of travel wear out of these lightweight sandals.
Even though Brenda and I have different styles in our approach to life,
we travelled together famously, each complementing the other in many
ways.
Photos are courtesy of Brenda Neale and Donna Scotten.
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Wendy Santo
non-member comment
I LOVE the 'end of dinner' entry. That says it all. Being the same Meyers-Briggs letters as Brenda (BZQV) I am confident in my interpretation. Hahahaha.