Arrivederci Italia!

Arrivederci Italia  

(Goodbye Italy)

Thirty mile per hour (30 mph) winds blew all day long on our last day on the Amalfi Coast.  Water travel became too big an adventure even for the ferries and jet boats and all boats remained docked.  We were fortunate to have traveled to Capri the day before.  As we always do, we adapted and played cards in a great card room and had the wind as background noise.

One of our favorite new friends was Alonzo who was genuinely friendly and helpful everyday.    He and others we met on the trip were some of the reasons the four of us enjoyed our travel together.

We know there are mosquitos in Italy and some are super-sized.  Unfortunately for two of the four of us, they were the preferred ‘food’ for the mosquitos.  No matter where we went, there was one, maybe two mosquitos.  I guess living in Utah makes you immune to mosquito bites.

Fortunately, the weather improved enough to get out.  Jan and Debbie went to one of the many beaches and floated in the warm and wavy Mediterranean water while Shari and I wandered around town for some last views of Sorrento.

While on the Amalfi Coast, we found a flower shop with what we thought was a new flower I called the Colored Pencil Flower.

There are exotic flower varieties in Italy we’ve never seen in the U. S., but, this was a new one on us.  When I asked for the name, I also asked if they were real.   It turned out they are real except for the paint applied to the tips of the flower.  I renamed them the Painted Pencil Flowers.

Speaking of flowers, I was lucky to have three beautiful and fun-loving women to accompany me.  The four of us had a good time together for three (3) weeks in Italy, and I think we were excellent traveling companions.    A special thanks to them for making me laugh and keep me on my toes!

As the day turned toward night, I took my last pictures of Sorrento.  Arrivederci Italia!

Footnote1:  After our last day in Sorrento, Jan and Debbie traveled to Rome for an additional two days of vacation before heading home.  We were to fly out the next day, but, for the first time I can recall, our plane had mechanical problems such that we had to stay an extra day.  It was a bit challenging, but we survived.  It was one of those ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ moments.  Unlike most of the people of Pompeii, we ‘survived’ the extra day and traveled well on our way home.

Footnote2:  On the following day, the plane did leave Rome.  Un-expectantly, an older passenger tried to force his way into the cockpit half way over the Atlantic.  Shari was coming out of the nearby bathroom when a stewardess yelled to her to get help because she couldn’t get the older gentleman to let go of the cockpit door knob.  She got help and the crew escorted him to his seat.  Unfortunately, the incident resulted in an unplanned detour to Boston to remove the man from the plane.  As a result, we were late getting into Chicago and missed our flight home and ended up staying the night in Chicago.  We weren’t the only ones.  

The incident was quite a game changer as we were to have had a 5 hour layover in Chicago.  It was to be a one day journey home that turned into 3 days.  It’s amazing what you see and deal with when the unexpected happens - but, we are even stronger for it!

Isle of Capri

Isle of Capri

We had some great weather for the Isle of Capri which is about a 25 minute ferry ride from Sorrento.  It’s was a pretty popular place when we visited 10 years ago.  When the ferry landed this trip, it seemed there were crowds everywhere in the port.  But, one thing has not changed is the beauty of the place.

We didn’t stay long in port as we wanted to get a boat tour around the island.  This is a must-do activity.  Once in our boat, crowds and lines disappear and the striking beauty is easy to get to.

Getting a good seat for filming was the only problem.  Even from a marginal seat, there were still lots of photo ops.

REMINDER - Double Click on the picture if you want it to fill your screen.

The water is amazingly clear and blue.  In a contest with the sky, the sea won hands down.

There is a photo op almost everywhere on this island.  It looks like three person selfies might be a little harder than singles and doubles.  

After the island boat ride, we were going to use the bus system to get us to the other side of the island and do some other things.  Unfortunately, the large crowds made bus travel too slow.  So we took the town funicular to climb above the port and visit the city center.  It is a bit chaotic when there are too many people for the transportation systems to handle.  We did make it back to Sorrento as the sun was going down thinking we had a very good day in Capri.

Ancient Cities

Ancient Cities

Over the last two days, we have visited two ancient cities.  One you probably have heard of is Pompeii; the other is Paestum which is a two hour car ride south and east of Sorrento.

Paestum was founded by the Greeks as a colony city between 600-700 B.C.  It was a walled city on the coast that never was buried and preserved by the affects of volcanic eruption.

We arranged to have a guide to ourselves.  Being so old, we needed some imagination and our guide Silvia helped.  Paestrum was sacked by Germanic tribes in the 5th century, and then abandoned.  Nature took over for more than a 1000 years with the area becoming part of large swamp.  

Like Paestum, Pompeii was founded between 600-700 B.C.  Mount Vesuvius did a much better job of preserving the ancient city of Pompeii, and what we saw requires little imagination.  The city was buried under 13-20 feet of volcanic ash and pumice in 79 A.D. 

Here is one of four entrances to the city.  Back in the days of protecting your city from invasion, you limited entry points to a few.

Much of Pompeii’s streets and building walls were excavated starting over 200 years ago and today you walk through a small city. It is amazing what is now Pompeii with the all of the volcanic ash removed.  If you look hard, the streets show the small ruts where the chariots frequently passed.

Much is preserved such as this set of murals of this house where the owner either appreciated art or was an artist.

The more powerful citizens had bigger homes and more art.  Art often was on the floor as well as the walls and ceilings such as this home.

Their churches were called temples.  Services occurred just outside the temple such as sacrifices of animals to the particular god the temple was dedicated to.  The high priest was the only person allowed in the temple.  The roofs were made of wood and obviously are long gone after 2500 years.

As you likely know, people were trapped in Pompeii by Vesuvius.  Some were preserved by the ash and archeologists found them well over a 

century later.  Those found were parts of a vast collection of what was  Pompeii in 79 A.D.

During our visit, it was easy to show Vesuvius in the background.  It’s about 5 miles away.  It seems to remind us of what it did to this city.

It is really amazing that so much has been kept as is was 2000 years ago.  There is much to see here and never enough time in a day.  

As you leave the ancient city, there a huge bronze statute probably meant to signify the strength of its people.  They probably didn’t suspect their real enemy was the mountain to the north.

Sorrento - La Tonnarella

La Tonnarella - Sorrento

We thought September would be the perfect time to visit Italy, but have been surprised by the number of tourists.  The last of part of our trip is based out of Sorrento and we were sure September would be the perfect off-season for this southern Italian city that is beautiful and near places like the Amalfi coast, Pompeii, and the Isle of Capri.

Unfortunately, our friend here told us this September is high season, so everywhere we visit, there are large crowds.

We are staying at Hotel La Tonnarella which is perched on a cliff about the Mediterranean Sea with great views.  For instance, this is the breakfast room that looks out at both the seas and Sorrento below.  The windows frame the view.  

The patios are also special.  From one of the patios, you look across the Bay of Naples at Mount Vesuvius.  

Every time we come here, we are amazed at the beauty of the flowers and trees with the sea as a backdrop.  I wish I could hire the guy that plants and takes care of the landscaping here.

The staff here including Mattia, Lorenzo, Catia, and others are attentive, friendly, and look out for you when you have problems.  It's a wonderful place to stay in so many ways.

As one of our new things to do, we went to an Italian music show to hear traditional Neapolitan songs in a live performance.  The singers and dancers were great and very entertaining.  The language wasn’t much of barrier other than trying to sing along.  

Below the Streets Where We Live

Below the Streets of Orvieto

One of the amazing things about Orvieto is how much goes on underground.  I’m not sure how many of you visit caves but, we rarely do.  We got a tour of a few of over 1200 mostly hand built caves that lie below the streets and houses of this small city.

It is geologic ‘luck’ that the people of Orvieto could build the caves.  The city and the ground immediately below it is unique volcanic ash.  Outside Orvieto, this layer eroded and disappeared thousands of years ago.  

For the above ground owners, the caves offered a great deal.  Instead of raising chickens, they kept pigeons for food.  Pigeons can find food for themselves and yet roost in a cave with a small opening to the outside world.  Water was provided in the cave, but, food was foraged.

Olive oil manufacture was also conducted below ground.  

One of the biggest caves took almost 10 years to dig and reinforce.  The cave is the Pozzi di San Patrizio (Saint Patricks Cave), and was built to ensure water for the town when under siege.  It is 175 feet deep, 45 feet wide, and has a double helix set of stairs that allow separate routes down and up for man and donkeys carrying water.

There are ‘windows’ from top to bottom.  If you looks in the windows without occupants, you’ll see the steps.

After 298 steps, we reached the bottom of the well.  Notice the expressions of Shari and Debbie.

It’s hard to imagine building this well.  I suppose the engineer was as impressed as we are when we look up from the bottom.

The caves offered great storage for several things.  Many private caves now store vino.  

Remember from the previous Orvieto post, Orvieto sat well above all around it.  Armies wishing to claim it had a major challenge to scale.

Back in Medieval and early Renaissance times, one common war tactic was to lay siege to your enemies home.  

With all the pigeon holes, water, and storage units, Orvieto could out wait any Medieval army.

They lived in peace for many centuries and enjoyed the beauty of their city.

There is much to see and do in this small Italian city.

Orvieto, First Glance

Orvieto First Glance

I am obliged to show you what Shari and Debbie ate last night in Orvieto.  It is pigeon with a pigeon sausage sauce.  Now they can ‘brag’ that they ate it.

Orvieto is very ancient with evidence it existed back in 800 B.C. which means it existed before the Romans.  The art of the time was very advanced as evidenced by the following.  

Notice the teeth!  Not a normal feature in ancient art.

But, the main reason people come here is the Cathedral.  It was built in the 1300’s A.D.  and the front facade is very striking when the sun hits the inlaid gold in the paintings.  (This is a hard cathedral to capture - double click if you wish to enlarge)

It’s easy to be impressed today, even easier in the 14th century as a poor peasant seeing such an amazing building.

Orvieto is a small city on an isolated hill with precipitous sides.  (More tomorrow on the geology).  We entered the city by funicular, used to access very steep locations.  This is a city protected for centuries by its steep sides.

It is fairly flat in the old city of Orvieto, but the area immediately outside the the edge of the city are much lower.

In medieval times, this would help greatly in controlling access and protection of the citizens.

Like Assisi, it’s easy to find places that are photographic.  I don’t know the name of this church, but, found it wandering along the edge of the city.  Notice what is below the church.  

The last picture is from a tower Shari, Jan, and I climbed at the end of the day.  They said we only climbed 240 steps but it seemed to be many more.

Here is the cathedral from Torre del Moro.

Roberto

Birthday Celebration

Happy 70th Birthday Shari

Assisi owes much of its reputation to Saint Francis.  He was born in 1181 and became a simple friar.  He was professed a love for the poor, peace, and Christ, something new in his days.  Many became followers, and eventually the Pope had to recognize him and the Franciscan Brotherhood he founded.  When he died in 1226, the Church made him a saint and started to build a basilica (similar to a cathedral) in Assisi.

The basilica seems unique to us when compared to other cathedrals we have visited.  Maybe it is due to its medieval appearance.  

Back in the day, some saints and other important figures were buried in churches.  Over nine centuries, people come to Assisi to visit the basilica and the resting place of Saint Francis.  His tomb in the lower basilica.  Many are here paying homage to him and what he stands for.

We toured the basilica using the several pages of Rick Steves Italia 2018.  It added greatly to our appreciation of Assisi and Saint Francis.  Pictured is an inner courtyard.

It’s amazing what was built almost 900 years ago.

Saint Francis founded the Franciscan Brotherhood of monks which survives today.  A couple of our major cities were named by his brotherhood - San Francisco (named after Saint Francis) and Los Angeles (named after the town Saint Francis often worked).  Santa Clara (California) was named after the woman friend of Saint Francis who also was made a saint.  Below is a representation of Saint Francis.  He and his brothers of the day had a special ‘Sun Roof’ haircut.  I’m thinking I have the modern version of a sun roof.

The medieval town of Assisi is very picturesque.  I was about to take a picture of this flowered house when the owner walked out with walking sticks he had carved and would be for sale.  On the tops of his latest two sticks are condors.  He had watched a travel show of the Grand Canyon and was happy to know we live but a few hours away.  His name is Roberto which guaranteed his picture in the blog.

Assisi has two basilicas.  The second is named after Saint Clara, and when we visited there was a large wedding taking place.  Not often recognized by people today are the symbols on the outside of the churches.  The figures at the doorway are lions and the one is feasting on a Christian.  The inside of the church was the sanctuary from a brutal world.

Shari loves Lucca, but, she found the town of Assisi much to her liking on her birthday.  She was fortunate to have some of her good friends help her celebrate.  

Happy 70th!