Sorrento

Fruit stall in the old part of Sorrento.
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Arrived in Sorrento to discover our fantastic apartment.  The view from the 5th floor is out to the sea and is wonderful.  There are 3 small decks to sit on and enjoy the view over the lemon grove opposite or to people watch on the busy street below.

Day 2 was up early to catch the train to Castellamare di Stabia, where Kathy spent 6 years as a child.  Had a wonderful day with her old friends, who were so pleased to see her.  We had wonderful Italian home hospitality, with a fanstatic long Italian lunch, lasting until at least 5pm.  Firstly pasta, which I though was the main, but no, then a full meal, with lovely wine and then a lot of fruit.  Then it was off to someone else's house for coffee and dessert.  Had a lot of laughs and enjoyed communicating with my limited Italian.  We then walked back to the apartment block where Kathy used to live.  It was very moving and nostalgic to see these places, where so much of the family history took place.  It was extremely moving to see the people who loved her father so much and to still sense his influence over their lives to this day...  At the end of that day, we arrived back at the apartment, and no dinner for me..  We had had a full meal that lasted over 5 hours!!

Parking in Rome was one thing; this is another in Positano! Sheer drop of hundreds of feet below...
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The weather is hot, but not too hot for us.  The locals are complaining, but it is not too hot for us, but you need to keep out of the sun in the afternoon.

Day 2 was off to Pompeii, leaving early to avoid heat and crowds.  Just as well, as we arrived soon enough to see many of the sights before the hordes.  My impression was of the sheer size of the place.  20,000 people lived here until the eruption in AD69.  It is great to see the ruts in the streets from the chariots and the stepping stones (see photo) for crossing the streets as the streets were flowing with water from the fountains.  We were exhausted as much by heat as anything by the time we departed.

This was the view that greeted us, when the shutters were pulled up..
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Started the day today with a lovely swim in the Mediterranean.  The water was crystal clear and very refreshing at about 0730 before the hordes descend.

Visited Positano and thoroughly enjoyed the day.  Went over on the bus and I enjoyed the cliff hanging road.  The huge American guy next to me, sweating profusely could not even look out the window and was leaning in towards the aisle on all the corners and narrow bits!!  The town itself is very picturesque and tourists, hordes of tourists everywhere clicking on their digital cameras.  It was oppressively hot in the sun.  We took a boat back to Sorrento and that was also a great experience.  Only 7,000 residents live in Positano and there are no big tour buses that can get in to the town due to it's steepness and narrow roads.  However, this does not seem to stop hordes of visitors descending daily and many staying in the picturesque hotels and homes perched on the cliff.

Ruins right behind the main square in Sorrento. People were active here in the 5th century BC, but not now...
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Italians love to dress up despite the weather.  We regularly see smartly dressed business men in black suits and ties (often riding Vespa's) in the hot sun.  Fashion wins over practicality here big time.  Shannon did not wear her shoes one day through sore feet and blisters and she got so many disparaging looks from the locals.

It has really been a bit too hot.  Some nights with no sheets or blankets and waking up regularly just plain hot and sweaty.  However, the days are just blue with no clouds, but there seems to be quite a major heat haze.

Our greeting when arriving in Amalfi. They really shouldn't have bothered, but we loved it all the same...
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The other ubiquitous thing here is the Vespas and other mobile chainsaws.  They are everywhere and very noisy.  That combined with the huge tour busses belching out tourists everywhere is just Sorrento.  It has been this way for many many years and understandably so.

23 June – Exploring Sorrento

Today did a bit of exploring of Sorrento. Firstly to take in the roots of this town. Just behind the main square are the remains of buildings from the people who lived here in the 5^th century BC. Amazing to see these simple steps and buildings (now in ruins), of people who lived here before they filled in the ravine to form the piazza. Then off to a local street to see another ancient back street, with a house built for a very scary time. No balconies, doors set in with little inner doors in the main door etc. Streets so narrow only motorini (scooters) and very small cars can enter. Too narrow to take a meaningful photo. The cathedral is at the end of this street and it to was quite memorable. The inlaid wood doors were worth marveling at and inside the church, the statues and decorations are fantastic. I then wandered off down through more of the old streets to Marina Grande. You walk through the ancient Greek Gate, which reminds you that for centuries has been a separate town, with it’s own local government etc. Even the cats are different here they say. It certainly has a different feeling to bustling main Sorrento. The pace of life is slow and more rustic. You can feel the local culture coming through more. Want to come back here for dinner….

Do you reckon they work??
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24 June - Una passeggiata grande

Loosely translated into “A Big Walk”!! It certainly was. I read up in one of the guide books left in the apartment that there were some great walks around Sorrento, so while the others took a siesta day, I set off from the apartment at 0630 to avoid the heat. Heading out of Sorrento, I firstly climbed some steps adjacent to the Sorrento Palace Hotel, which have 13 stations of the 12 stations of the cross. Each station has a little ceramic graphic of the particular scene for that station. A photo of one is attached. It took your mind off the steep ascent, so that was a good thing. At the top is a mini church, all set up with chairs and recorded music playing. It was of course deserted and only accessible to the fit and healthy!! No coach buses here, which was a good sign. From there I followed the walking paths that were used for 100’s of years before roads were put in the 1930’s. These wound their way through olive groves, lemon orchards, meeting very few people. The ascent was enough to get the heart rate up though and I arrived in St Agata sui Golfi, so named because you can see both sides of the coast from this high point. From there the guide book suggested carrying on to Marina di Crapolla. I had to go there simply for the name to say I had seen the real Crapolla. The descent was described as “torturous” and they weren’t kidding. The steps down were exposed to the sun, which was starting to get some bite and there was little wind. I decided to go for it and noticed the ceramic tiles on the odd step starting at “600 scale” (600 steps). These steps were made from the local rock and relentless. There were beautiful views up and down the coast and to a lovely island just of the coast with a nice “bach” on it (see photo). Also a church in the middle of nowhere, which I took a photo of myself at. I finally arrived at the Marina and it was truly beautiful. Completely deserted, but for a few boats and nicely in the shade of a deep ravine for a beautiful skinny dip, as no one was around. The water was clear and refreshing, but I knew I had to be back on the trail soon, as the sun was getting higher and hotter (over 40 degrees at mid-day). I used up all the stored carbohydrates from several days on the ascent, and was as drenched from sweat when I reached St Agata again as I was from the swim!! Stopped there for a nice coffee and croissant and a refill of some chilled water…. Hmm.. nice. Then back down to sea level again on the other coast to Sorrento. Bumped into Kathy and Shannon as they were just off for a coffee and had another one with them and then left them to explore Sorrento, while I went back to the apartment for some rest after a fantastic 5 hour walk over some steep, but beautiful country.

Marina Piccola, Sorrento.
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Late that afternoon, the landlord from our apartment, who Kathy has become friends with offered to take us to see someone he had met who produced ceramics, (which we are interested in becoming involved in). So off we set in his car. He is 77 and has lived in this area all his life and used to walk to school for 8 years from St Agata to Sorrento over the very paths that I walked earlier in the day. He was a lovely southern Italian guy, but his driving was white knuckle stuff for us. He seemed to wander all over the road on blind corners and his mirrors missed other cars and walls and other obstacles on the unbelievably narrow back roads we went on. He was generally pretty good, but once accidentally changed into 1^st instead of 3^rd which gave us all a bit of jolt. He simply grinned at us. Other drivers coming towards us shook their heads and carried on. Everyone is very tolerant. Anyway, the guy with the ceramics was a lovely chap, a true artisan, with a totally shambolic workshop. He produced samples of his work from the various piles of stuff around and was really nice to us. His specialty was made to order art work, which was not what we were looking for, but a great contact. He actually had relatives in Nelson!! Great experience. They talked about the America’s Cup and our driver was convinced that Luna Rossa had lost because the Kiwis on the team deliberately want Team NZ to win and threw the race. He could not be convinced otherwise!! Our driver had a relative working for Alinghi and he knew everything..

On the boat on the way back from Positano to Sorrento.
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25 June

Another great day spent in Castellamare. It was wonderful to catch up with these warm and friendly people again. Silvio spoke to me in Italian as if I could understand. This trip has taught me how far I have to go in understanding and speaking the language. There is a huge gulf!! It was a little sad that Lidia could not come to lunch with us at Elio and Rina’s as she was unwell and has been battling cancer. Still we enjoyed a Passegiata with them along the water front again, looking for shade everywhere, in the 40 degree heat. It is unseasonably hot here at present. The lunch was a similarly fantastic Italian affair, commencing with traditional pasta, with fresh bread bought on the way home. Then it was skewered pork fillet with roast peppers in olive oil (mmmmm….), then lettuce salad, then lovely fresh fruit, then espresso coffee. Then was the highlight for us to watch Team NZ come from behind to win Race 2 of the America’s Cup. Fantastic, we were all barracking for Team NZ and hooted when they crossed the line to everyone’s amazement here. They were written off by the locals after the first race. After enjoying our gelato (final course), it was a bit sad to say good bye to our friends and head back to Sorrento after a 5 hour lunch. We hope that they will visit us in NZ.

Pompeii backstreet. the streets were originally flowing with water, hence the stepping stones at intersections. Two stepping stones = two way street, one for a one way.
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26 June

Woken during the night with gusts of wind and opened the windows in the morning to find the temperature several degrees warmer outside than in!! The wind, while strong is very hot. Shannon and I decided to head down for a swim straight off and soaked in the Mediterranean in Marina Piccola for enough time to get cooler. It was lovely and refreshing. After a lovely cool gelato in Marina Piccola, we stayed down there to enjoy the ambience and have a coffee right by the water. We took the walk back very slowly to avoid over heating on the climb to the town and our apartment. Were derailed a bit after seeking some cool in an air conditioned shop by some lovely bronze castings. They look great, but the freight cost is 160 Euros!! We will ponder on this.

No one here, but the boats and the beauty. Marina Crapolla
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27 June

Off to Amalfi and Vietri on the bus today. We got on the 0830 bus to find it already mostly full by 0815 and by 0830 some people missed out. It was full. Sitting beside me was a young Ameican girl, with her parents, brother and sister around her. It was already hot in the bus, and she was complaining bitterly and breathing through her sun hat! As the bus started, there was some air movement and I was having less of a complex about my BO.. after she removed her hat from her mouth…. (Had only just showered…). As the bus began its journey around the steep hillsides, with sheer drops of hundreds of feet on one side and cliff face on the other, our fellow Americani were increasingly alarmed, as we wound around tight corners until the alarm and accusatory filled “PLASTIC BAG!!!” rang out from my fellow traveler on behalf of her younger sister. There was further commentary about why her parents had brought her here, the heat, the journey, blah blah blah… Personally, I would have saved a bundle of money and left her at home… Thankfully, they alighted from the bus at Positano, while we carried on to Amalfi.

This is the ravine that is the inlet of Cropolla sits in. You can see why it is a haven for fishermen in a storm..
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Amalfi for our morning coffee was lovely. Still plenty of tourists, but a different feel to the town from Sorrento. Bit more relaxed, Viagra freely available (see photo)… Then, it was onto another bus, bound for Vietri Sul Mare. Vietri is a lovely classical Amalfi coastal town, specializing in ceramic production. Very few tourists in Vietri. After spending 5 hours in a ceramics factory and being spooked by the prospect ahead of us in setting up a business in this area, but also excited by the idea at the same time. Shannon was very patient and at 5pm we enjoyed a traditional Italian lunch in a narrow street, pulling our chairs back from passing cars and being dive bombed by local pigeons. After a mooch around the many ceramic shops in the town, it was back to Amalfi for dinner. We were surprised by being welcomed off the bus by a brass band (see photo). It was a celebration of St Andrew, whose remains were transferred here from Constantinople by one of the popes in the 13^th century. After our dinner we were entertained by them again performing “La Traviata” in the town square. Lovely memory of sitting on the stone steps to the cathedral that were still so hot from the day’s sun that it felt like a low level oven element!