Arrivederci America, Ciao Italy!

A long day of travel!

CLT Airport pre-departure

I went on my first ever international flight today! We arrived at the airport 4 hours prior to departure, waiting for out 8 and a half hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany where we have a 3 hour layover until the 2 hour flight to Naples, Italy! I didn't have the best luck on the plane with the sound on my tv system not working, but enjoyed a small bottle of wine and couldn't sleep at all.

French Alps

We made it to Frankfurt on time where I enjoyed my first legal beer with German sausage, potato salad, and a vegetable panini. The flight from Frankfurt to Naples was only 2 hours, we flew over the French Alps (see picture) which was what I got to wake up to on the plane after a nap. Upon arrival in Naples, we were welcomed in the airport by our driver, John Paolo holding a sign with our last name on it. He took us on the hour drive to our hotel in Sorrento, Parco de Principi, speaking some English, we got to act like the typical American tourists picking his brain with questions.

Sorrento peninsula & Procida Island from our balcony

Our hotel is absolutely magnificent! From our balcony, we can see both Mount Vesuvius and the Island of Capri across the water as well as many Italian towns on the coast between Sorrento and Naples. Pictures cannot even do the panoramic justice but below are a few from our balcony of our view! The first thing we did was get a bottle of local Sorrento wine to drink on the balcony trying to take it all in. I felt like I had just stepped into a postcard, it didn't seem possible that I was actually here in Italy and getting to see this beauty God created. 

Mount Vesuvius

We headed out for dinner with no place in mind, and ended up stopping at a place called Bar Capriccio and getting shots of espresso which were to die for! We were starved (the last meal we had eaten was at 7:30 am in Frankfurt), but the problem was that it was only 4:45 pm and in Italy restaurants don't usually open for dinner until 7, when siesta time is finished. Luckily there was an open restaurant we found right on the water, La Terrazza, with an absolutely beautiful view similar to that from our hotel. We ate Caprese Salad and a Prosciutto, Mozzarella, and Basil pizza layered with out of this world sauce, Paired with Chianti. A few hours later we headed out to downtown Capri, stepping in a few shops and trying some local Lemoncello (Sorrento is known for its lemons and the best place to get Lemoncello), it was to amazing! We got the center square and there were so many restaurants to choose from, but we found this gem and got to sit outside on this balcony that overlooks a quaint but busy and windy street from 200 feet up as well as a view of the center of the city on one side and the ocean on the other (picture left). We enjoyed an arugula and shrimp salad, asparagus soup, and homemade gnocchi with sangria and chianti! By the end of this meal, we were so exhausted from the time change and travel because we had been awake since the day before at 7 am (American time) and had a 6 hour time change upon arrival in Italy.


I cannot believe that I am actually here in Italy!! End of day 1...49 more to go!

Ciao,
Tarra