All posts tagged: Italy

To Capri and back by boat

Published by

Amalfi, Italy Up and at ’em today, with a full days boat trip along the Amalfi coast to Capri. No time for coffee, as we rush around trying to find an ATM that both worked, and didn’t take 5 minutes to process. Success, and off on our 36 foot cruiser with 8 others to see the coast from the sea aspect. We headed back towards Minori, where we walked to from Ravello yesterday, then on to the largest town on the coast, Maiori. Back whence we came past Amalfi, and on to the Emerald grotto for our first taste of the Italian sport of hitting up the dumb tourist for a tip! After paying €7 to go into the grotto and be paddled around the cave by our friendly pilot, who spent half his spiel telling us to remember how good he was, we finished our 10 minutes to be reminded, again, how terrific he had been, and “don’t forget to tip”. Here’s a tip, my fine young friend….’be good to your Nonna!’ The Emerald …

Ravello and Minori explored

Published by

Amalfi, Italy Well rested after a day off the helter skelter of travel, and we are ready to rumble! First port of call was a run to rid ourselves of a LOT of carbs. Now, Amalfi is built into a cliff and flat ground is at a premium, so we did laps of the marina area dodging tourists, nonna’s, and old china’s fishing, for 30 minutes or so in the heat and humidity. Redeemed,we had breakfast, then headed out for a serious coffee. Caffe latte just doesn’t cut it in Italy, and espresso may blow my head off, so we settled on cappuccino…..not bad. Macchiato tomorrow. Bouncing, we booked a bus to Ravello and prepared for a bit of exploring…Amalfi style. Ravello sits up the hills above Amalfi, and is a peaceful area with a small population, offering stunning views of the Mediterranean. In 1996 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town is just beautiful, with a peaceful piazza, tiny alleyways filled with shops and restaurants, and one amazing villa. Villa …

Rest Day

Published by

Amalfi, Italy As with all athletes, we too scheduled a rest day from our holiday to take stock and re group for the next few weeks. Being on the Amalfi Coast it was a tough ask to sit and read or sleep on the beach or the balcony as we wiled away the hours. After a glorious sleep in til 9am we had brekky then headed out to walk around the town of Amalfi and take in all that there is to offer in this picturesque town. One word comes to mind……Lemons. They are everywhere. The Italians have managed to make everything out of lemons, hand cream, pasta, pizza, emboldened them on everything from tea towels to fridge magnets to ceramic tiles, whatever is in this town it has a lemon attached to it. The best of all is the Lemoncello, drink this ice cold as an digestive after dinner, in fact any ole time of the day, it is so refreshing. After lunch we headed to the beach, which had smaller pebbles than Nice …

Great ocean road on steroids!

Published by

Amalfi, Italy Welcome to Italy. We stayed  in a delightful hotel in Naples last night, in a slightly grungy area full of people hanging around the local piazza drinking beer. Rachael fitted right in!! Quick pizza last night to fortify us for a busy day today. Up early in anticipation of a full day being chauffeured to Pompeii and down to Amalfi, very excited as we waited for our 9am pick up. 9.15…checking watches…9.30, Rachael getting antsy…9.45, Me realising I may have buggered up…10.00, went back to reception and luckily got another company to take us. Oops, didn’t verify with first mob, so they dumped us. Regroup! Aldo, the life (read ‘Hugh’) saver, came to our rescue….and we’re off to Mt Vesuvius which is about 1 hour away through some of the most horrendous traffic you are likely to see. The traffic in Naples is NUTS. No discernible road rules at all, indication optional. Traffic lights, what traffic lights? It goes something like this, accelerate at high speed, brake suddenly, repeat, hit every pothole, too …

Nice to Napoli

Published by

Naples, Italy Our last day in Nice started with a sleep in (8.30!!), brekky, and packing. As our flight isn’t till 7.10pm, we were lucky enough to be allowed to leave our luggage in the apartment until 4pm. The alternative doesn’t bare thought….dragging suitcases around Nice in 30 degree temperatures. We wandered into the old town for the last time, then headed for the beach for a swim, and a chance to stop for a couple of hours. It seems like we have been going flat out ever since we hit London, so to be sitting on a beautiful beach looking out over the Cote d’Azur was pretty special. We got to the airport in plenty of time and went thru customs to enjoy a beer or two at the bar before our flight…..except, no bar! The third largest airport in France, in a country with very liberal liquor rules, and no bar! One last ****** coffee instead… So, as we wait to depart France, a few thoughts on this most beautiful country. 1/. Paris …