mid 90's and humid
My ankles are back to normal. Met in lobby and Igor said I'll teach you an Italian saying - A good start is a better start. So, Andiamo (another word he taught us-means let's go!) On the bus again.
He pointed out the rose bushes planted at the end of each vineyard row. A lot of bugs don't like roses, so those bushes stop them from getting on the vines. Maybe they should start doing that in America!
A mile from the hotel it started raining. One hour out it was only 17 deg celsius-most days it has been 31-36 (90's). Gas has been equivalent to $6.48 per gallon in most of the stations we've seen-even $6.52. About what we paid for the 5 weeks we drove in 7 countries last year. Hollyhocks are growing along the highway.
We'll go around Rome, so this trip will take about 6 hours.
Olives grow in this region - seems they grow most places here. Extra virgin means those that are grown where the acidity in the soil is about zero.
Igor told us a couple of stories about his growing up.
Someone asked the difference between a basilica and church.
Church is a gathering place. Basilica originally was like a courthouse. Now it means it holds relics.
It is pouring now. All the traffic has slowed and have their blinkers going.
Passed the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino-they invented mosaics, miniatures, wrote books. Some books had such small writing that a magnifying glass was needed. It was because they walked long distances to give them away.
During WWII the British ordered it bombed because the Germans were using it for observation of the entire valley below.. Turned out to be a mistake because they could hide even better in the rubble. After the war, the Allies rebuilt it at a cost of over 1.5 million dollars. Of course, Tom knew this story as soon as Igor mentioned what we'd seen. He is a walking encyclopedia about WWII, in case any of you don't know.
I asked what kind of buffalo are in Italy because we keep seeing "buffalo milk mozzarella" on menus. He said it is a river buffalo and the milk is very rich.
Today I have on a shirt on that I bought in Arizona. It has 4 wine bottles and says group therapy. Igor, the driver, and others like it.
One day I wore one that said Wine Lover and Igor kidded me because he had told me he liked it, and then that evening I was drinking a bloody Mary instead of wine.
POMPEII
Rows of vendors with cheap souvenirs down below the village in the parking lot. Igor pointed out huge lemons called oval lemons someone was selling - are used for lemon candy and the lemonade drink.
Walked along the bottom of the ruins, then up some stairs to the theatre. Then up ramps, stairs to the city at the top. Walked some blocks and could feel my ankles starting to swell every time we stopped to listen to the guide. I decided I'd better go ahead and walk down so I didn't have problems that required aid. Huge boulders formed the road, etc. Sure didn't want anyone to try to carry me or something. So I missed an hour of that tour. I walked into the art gallery at the bottom and told the owner I was on Igor's bus tour and showed him my ankles and he said take this comfortable chair. I had bought the coldest bottle of water the vendor had and just laid it back and forth on both ankles. The sitting and that helped. Tom got great pictures, of course.
I saw the old shop foundations, well, etc. Tom said they were shown the red light district (with suggestions on the wall) and some marble forming a walkway that shone in the dark.
I won't write anymore about this area, because everyone knows what happened here and google any other information.
Back on the bus
Passed Naples. Such a variety of vegetation along the highway-from the tall umbrella pines, palm trees, and all the deciduous trees, cacti.
Getting close to Capri Island ferry. Whirlpool factory or some big building of theirs in an industrial section. Docks full of container ships and containers - for those of you who haven't been to ports in America or any other country, these are the containers that ride on the rail cars - with all the Chinese names, usually!
Walked to the ferry. Our large luggage was taken to it for us. One hour ride to island. Walk a ways to the funicular that was long and took us up the hill to the city center. Our hotel is a few blocks away and we walked. The LaPalma Hotel - the palms. $500-1,000 per night on this very expensive island. Don't know what we paid as part of the tour-46 people stayed there from our bus. Our hotel is the favorite one of the Italian President on this island.
We went with many others to a tratoria (bistro) where they gave us such a good deal - right! But Igor said it was a really good price for here. Usually way too much food and late in the evening, so Tom and I split the meal and paid a small fee for the privilege. But, the wine was free! We just can't imagine eating pizza or some other big appetizer, pasta, meat and potatoes, salad, and dessert at 9 and 10 p.m. By the way, someone told me the Europeans eat the salad after the other main courses because it is supposed to help digestion. Maybe that's their secret! Every night's dinner hour is a social event. They walk so much compared to most Americans and almost every local we saw everywhere was thin.
I tried half a shot of the lemoncello drink. Oh my gosh-I sputtered and choked, chugged water, and was still coughing 10 minutes later as we were walking. Some people love it there and some of our tour people liked it.
Igor had told us he'd take anyone who wanted to go for a walk after dinner in the dark. We passed villas and private hotels in a very pretty area of town filled with vegetation. Stopped midway to look way down onto the ocean, the boats out on the water and all the lights in the buildings going up the hillsides. Most of the tiny shops were closed, of course. Capri is a very expensive shopping area, with some of the big name designers having boutiques there.
Back to the room. Almost ready for bed and the lights and a/c went off. Tom called reception and then opened the door and about 6 of the other rooms near us were the same. Men came right up - 10:30- and had it back on in a minute-sounded like it was probably a circuit thrown. Someone probably tried to use a hairdryer or something in the outlet that is only for razors. Their current and outlets are different there. Require adapters to use American items.
We said again tonite that it would be nice to have someplace to open 2 suitcases. Most of the time we didn't unpack.
Busy and tiring day. Up and down cobblestone streets, walked 5-6 blocks on a boulder road in Pompeii. Plus all the walking here on Capri. 422 stairs
One of the gals flew from Newark, N.J. to Rome, with a stop in Scandanavia, but her luggage didn't make it, so she's had to buy everything. No one could find it from Sunday to Thursday. They finally called her Friday and said they'd send it to someone in Newark.
One of the men on the tour, Keith, debated about coming on the trip with his family because his dad has been terminally ill. He passed away on the weekend.
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