Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 14

Wet, windy and gloomy weather returned to Sorrento throughout this past weekend, leaving us confined indoors much of the time. We finally got a break yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, when the rain stayed away for awhile. So we decided to have lunch at La Maison Douce. We had not dined here since we departed Sorrento for our interlude on the French Riviera two weeks ago, so we wanted to pay our respects to Nello, our favorite head waiter and consummate schmoozer. As we've mentioned in previous blog posts, Nello is quite adept at schmoozing his guests. In fact, he's refined his technique to such a degree that he full well deserves the sobriquet of ‘Romancer of the Stone’! He now greets Dee with kisses on her cheek, and me with hugs, while cheerfully catering to our every ... read more

Today was the warmest day in Sorrento since our arrival on April 1st, as the temperature soared to 72° Fahrenheit by the time we went out for lunch, and to do some shopping in the early afternoon. This veritable heat wave, under mostly sunny skies, was a novel experience for us as we strolled along the Corso Italia with the other tourists, who were obviously enjoying the balmy weather after suffering days of torrential rain. According to several locals with whom we've spoken since our return from the French Riviera, while we were away Sorrento and the rest of the peninsula were inundated with rainfall, so much so that one day earlier this week local schools were forced to close. We had seen wet weather forecasts for southern Italy on BBC television during our stay in ... read more

Lake Como is about as famous as the celebrities who have frequented it over the years; Madonna, Alfred Hitchcock, Richard Branson, Gianni Versace and even Leonardo da Vinci are among the illustrious names to have holidayed in this idyllic neck of the woods. Perhaps most er, famously, George Clooney - amongst many other luminaries - has a lakeside property here. Littered with lavish and opulent villas built by aristocrats and wealthy Milanese merchants over the years, Lake Como has been known as a glamorous getaway destination for the well-heeled and privileged since the times of Ancient Rome. A place that has been attracting big names for this long must have something about it and it's this mythical air of the debonair, that has always intrigued me about visiting the place one day. Well, that day has ... read more

Needless to say, it was cakes and homemade marmalade on toast for breakfast. There was a bottle of Prosecco, which I thought it would be rude not to try, albeit mixed with orange juice as I'm not a complete alcoholic. The plan for today was to go to the island of Capri, so we headed off for the harbour. It was a surprisingly long way down, so it involved a long set of steps. Down was easy, although we're not looking forward to the climb back up later. Of course, we bypassed all the touts selling boat tickets and tours, and found what looked like the official ticket office. All the windows were closed, which was worrying as it looked like we were going to have to go back, with our tails between our legs and ... read more

Oh how different it was today to our last international flights (see )! "Excuse me, but where is the Business Class Lounge? Why are you laughing?" "You do realise that this is Luton Airport don't you? You can get a pastry from Pret if you like." "Where's my complementary whisky cocktail as I'm getting comfortable in my seat? And why are you laughing?" "You do realise that this is EasyJet don't you? You can have small tin of Diet Coke for £20 if you like." The bag-drop at Luton and at Heathrow are the same though, with that annoying self-service machine and the worry as to whether I had done it right and whether we would ever see the bag again. There was then the absolutely humongous queue to get through security. To be fair, though, ... read more