Pompei & Positano (leave me here)

Pompei

Pompei

Body of Stone

Yesterday we took a train to the city of Pompei. Upon getting off the train, we saw this huge stone structure on our left which I thought to take a picture of and ask some tourists what I was looking at. They had a few laughs upon informing us that this was the city of Pompeii that we had to buy tickets for. We spend about 3 hours walking around Pompei, which is ancient ruins made of stone that existed around 300 B.C. and existed until 79 A.D. which at the time, makes it older than the United States is now! We saw all of the old living quarters, trying to imagine what life was like back then and picturing what everything standing today was actually used for so long ago. We opted out of the audio tour and personal tour, and forgot to get a map of the site, so we spent over 3 hours walking around aimlessly, exploring all the different parts of the archaeological site, including the bodies that were turned to stone. It was such a neat experience!

Positano

Positano

Today we took a ferry from Sorrento to Positano (near Amalfi Coast)! It took about 45 minutes and was actually a pretty dangerous ride, the swells of the Mediterranean were very close to 5 ft, which is their cutoff wave size for canceling the ferry for safety. Positano was such a beautiful town where we were amazed by both the shopping (linen especially) as well as the architecture involved with building the island. We shopped a lot and ate a local restaurant which was recommended to us by a young boy working an art shop. The restaurant was called Da Vincenzo, named after dad's middle name, Vincent. We started outside, enjoying a cuttlefish and arugula salad while overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and beautiful Positano). It got too chilly after that, so we moved inside to enjoy our appetizers of lobster linguini and pan seared local fish of the day. It was so delicious to enjoy seafood in such a way with such a magnificent view! We tried the lottery for our second time, with the guarantee that if we won, we would buy a house right then and there! We didn't have much success, which of course didn't help my awe of the linen found in town and how delicately beautiful it all was. On the way back down from town, we accidentally found ourselves in the middle of a funeral procession outside the beautiful Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Positano is one of our favorite places we've been to and found out Posso Posso means 'leave me here', which is where the town name derived from.

Giovanni and I on the bongos!

    Around 5:00, we boarded the ferry back to Sorrento, went back to relax at the hotel and headed out for dinner around 8:30 at the restaurant we've been trying to go to since our first night here, a few blocks down from the hotel. They had live Italian music and the food was absolutely amazing. I even got to play the bongos with the pizza boy and lead singer! For dinner, I orederd the linguini with saffron, clams, and zucchini, and dad ate eggplant parmesan. They served flatbread and house wine in a carafe the size of a double bottle! To top if off, they brought a huge pitcher of their Lemoncello, made locally in the restaurant, to aid our digestive system and the meal. It was so wonderful that we told them we would be back for lunch tomorrow! The video to your left is of a customer singing with the local italian band, he was wonderful, and after he finished, I went and played the bongos with Giovanni, the pizza boy!

Ciao,
Tarra

Island of Capri...the most beautiful place on earth!

Today we woke up at 6:30 am because we are still messed up from the time change. We were the first ones to breakfast in the hotel and since it was buffet style, ate way too many pastries and sipped mimosas overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We took a ferry from Sorrento to Capri which took about 20 minutes and upon arrival had no idea where to start. We thought about walking into town but a nice taxi driver named Carlo Orazzo warned us it was all uphill and he would drive us. On the way up he suggested that if we wanted a true experience we couldn't miss out on seeing Anacapri and the South Side as well. He drove us up to Anacapri, stopping along the way a few times for us to take pictures and explaining the history of the island. We owe all of our credit for the most wonderful day of our live to Carlo, a native of the island, who was our driver for the whole day, recommending the non-tourist places to go and restaurant to eat at. He also kept us alive on the roads, since the driving there is absolutely ridiculous, with you only earning your license after 100 scratches on your car, which we found very humorous. Also, the taxi cars that drive everyone around, there are only 27 made in the world and they are all specially made for the roads of Capri!

View from Anacapri

on top of Museo e Casa Storica

St. Michele Cathedral

Our first stop was Anacapri, which is the highest city on the island. We walked around the streets doing a little shopping, eating pistachio gelato and toured the Museo e Casa Storica where we got to go on the roof. We also went to St. Michele Cathedral which was a beautiful place where they wouldn't let you walk on the sacred painted floors or use a flash on any cameras. Saving the best for last, we took a ski/chair lift up to the top of Anacapri which was the most magnificent and relaxing 15 minutes riding to the highest point on the island while overlooking the entire island of Capri. At the top, we got to enjoy a glass of wine while looking over the island and the Mediterranean Sea, and met a nice couple from Boston who was on their honeymoon. We were enjoying it so much that we ended up being 30 minutes late to meet Carlo, but he was very forgiving. This is where I saw the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever seen. To make it even more surreal, I looked up at one point and saw a rainbow in a circle around the sun! I literally felt like I was in heaven looking down on earth, I was so in awe! Pictures and words cannot even do it justice, it was by far my favorite place and I will be very surprised if anything could ever outdo what I saw today.

Dad and I on the chair lift down

Next was the South Side of the Island. Carlo brought us to Ristorante Onda d'oro da Maurizio which is where his girlfriend and he go to eat because he is friends with the owner. He introduced us and we were warmly welcomed and made us feel at home and like familia (not like typical annoying American tourists). There was only one other family there and we sat outside overlooking the sea where we could sea the Blue Gratto (the famous blue cave that you can go in by boat) as well as the castle on a point of the island owned by a businessman from Venezuela, and the area where Bill Gates parks his yacht on visits. Our waiter recommended the whole bay shrimp appetizer which still had their shell and head attached. We learned the proper way to eat them and ate everything from the shell of the body to the legs. Next, we ordered the entree that was the special of the day for two of Rockfish, linguini, mussels, and clams. I have attached the picture of it, which was prior to them preparing, deboning, and serving it onto each of our plates. We also enjoyed red wine, lemoncello, cappuccino, and the infamous grappa. It was both of our first times trying grappa which is a clear, Italian grape-based spirit made from the distillation of pomace. It was very, very strong and not very enjoyable tasting, but it is very popular in Italy, so we had to at least give it a try. This was the best meal both dad and I have ever had in our entire lives, I wish it was possible to share the taste of it on here!

In the south of Capri

Our last stop was the actual town of Capri, which was very touristy, but had amazing shopping. It was all very high-end and but interesting to see the similarities and differences between Italian and American shops. I could tell that everything local was way overpriced because it is a tourist spot and storeowners know they can get away with raising their prices. The view from the town of Capri was also very beautiful, as it was from the rest of the Island. We enjoyed coffee gelato and saw young girls that had just gotten out of school running around the town on their own with no parents, which you would never see in America in such a public place. We took a ferry back to Sorrento around 6 and then ended the day with getting pizza for dinner around 10. It was one of the best days of my life and Capri is my new favorite place in the world. We decided that if we win the lottery we are buying a house there without a doubt (but found out that a place there is 20,000 euro...per square foot)! It was a blessing to be able to experience something so miraculous.


Ciao,
Tarra

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