As bad as yesterday was, today was great. My travel buddy was shocked when I suggested we tackle Vesuvius. I am the girl who he had to practically drag up the stairs to get to Bergamo Alta last time (that felt like forever to get 440 meters to the top). But he was all for the Vesuvius hike.
He was so excited, we even got up early in order to be at the base at 9:15 a.m. The road up was horrible. I am aware of government corruption, but the roads here shocked me. Savage had no problem driving up the switchbacks here, I guess because there were no dropoffs. I didn’t get car sick either. This was a major tourist attraction and a very historic place -- you would think they would maintain the roads.
Also there wasn’t really anything on the way up -- no convenience stores but there were quite a few closed restaurants.
We had water and set off. The base was very primitive, the restrooms scared me. I must have looked a sight --- in my pigtails, hat, sports bra, ratty t-shirt and tennis shoes (not trainers). Anyone who knows me would have been very surprised that I wanted to hike to the top of this dormant volcano. I had a permanent excuse from PE when I was younger. But as I had finished 2 half marathons in the last few years, I KNEW I could do this. It was on my bucket list.
Savage (in really good shape) got to the top, way before me. I trudged up, as I am not to keen on steep places, I took it slow as not to risk falling down. I was patient and kind to Savage while he was sick, but he is a man and I didn't foresee the same treatment if I had fallen and sprained an ankle or twisted a knee. They had a very decent path -- wide and in some places wooden beams in the ground to help with traction. But it was very steep and had a weird gravel mix as the path. I walked very carefully and purposefully up the mountain.
After taking a few breaks on the way up, I made it -- YIPPEE!! I was so happy. But a little freaked out to see some French tourist up there smoking their cigarettes -- they had passed me on the trail. I felt like the tortoise in the old story of the tortoise and the hare. Slow but sure, I got there.
Savage was waiting at the very top by the “dirty big hole in the ground” as he so eloquently put it. We took photos of the area -- there was a great view of Naples and the bay. Then trekking back down was much easier. I am very glad we got here so early so we could make it up and down in just a few hours before it got unbearably hot out. Felt like I had truly accomplished something !!! I can do it. Mt. Everest is not on my list but the Grand Canyon is....
I was just joking with him about where to eat lunch, but I love him to death for taking me where I wanted to go -- McDonalds. I found it on my iphone -- they had one in Naples :) Talk about making my day (that is so sad -- we are in Naples where they are famous for so many different foods and where does this little Southern Belle want to go? I guess I was just tired of Italain food and needed a breather).
So off we went for Naples. I knew he was stressed about driving in the cities there (remember he is from a country where they drive on the other side of the road so he had been doing amazingly well so far on the right side), and I was very thankful he braved Naples crazy drivers and traffic to take me to McDonalds. (He wanted to go too, so this wasn't a selfless act on his behalf.)
Driving in Naples traffic was awful, and the iphone GPS wasn’t a great help. We ended up stopping in a very dangerous looking under roadway. I got in the driver’s seat and took us to the Holiday Inn (on the map it looked close to the restaurant). When in doubt just go ask, right? We valet parked --yes, remember I am a princess. After asking at the front desk, we were told that the iphone was wrong, the location and closed up and moved to the train station. UGH, well we did have our hiking clothes on... man up.
So off we went, in the lovely tropical weather in the lovely picturesque city of Naples (not). We had gotten a map of the city and had quite a few city blocks to walk. I felt like I was in NYC but without the clean streets and english speaking homeless people. In some places it felt so deserted. But on we went.... we passed the old McD’s and it was only a short distance from the Holiday Inn. C’est la vie. This ended up being an ordeal.
interesting Naples site -- is this supposed to be Earth?
yes another men's store :)
We made it to the train station -- construction of course - someone was making money off the government. Walked all the way through the train station and by the tracks. Saw lots of backpackers there. I was thanking God for letting me be in a car and on a road trip, instead of waiting on the Italian train schedule. Fighting for a seat on an Italian train is not the best ever experience. Been there done that. I work now so I don't have to do that again. (In high school I had a poster that said "Inspiration for Higher Education" and had a painting of a Malibu beach house with a five car garage and exotic sports cars in the garage. For me the inspiration turned out to be plane tickets to all the beautiful beaches and major tourist sites in the world.)
After walking all the way around the station, I saw the beacon, I mean the golden arches. As usual, the bathrooms were free (with a code of course) and air conditioning. How could I forget how wonderful a McD’s is overseas. We got our orders -- Cheeseburger Happy Meal plain please, he got a fish sandwich and a hamburger and fries. Best meal in the last few days we have had. And we were getting along real well too. I guess sometimes it’s better to have a fight and get it over with and move on.
After that we even talked about going to the archeological museum, but decided against it because of traffic, heat and timing. I had a great surprise planned for tonight.
So we drove back to Sorrento from Naples, behind all the scooters (with their teeny boppers on them) and small cars along the coast road. This was our last night in Sorrento. Got a photo of the lemon stand -- no, we didn’t stop.
We had a very hard day so far but it was early so we took our siesta --- I could get used to this type life -- siesta, flipflop tans, and swimming every afternoon -- swam a little, wrote in my journal, and Savage slept. Got up and showered (we were showering at least twice a day) -- the big plans for the night -- cooking with Valerio. Savage was very skeptical about this. But it was for me as much as for him, as I needed all the help I could get.
Happy early Birthday to Savage (but I benefited as well). They gave us aprons (to keep) and we started with zucchini and mozzarella (fresh of course). I don’t think I have eaten zucchini before. Then we started making the ravioli from scratch -- they had these little devices that rolled the dough, I think they are called rolling pins, just kidding. Yes, I took home economics in high school but was not what would be called proficient.
Valerio and Savage rolled out their dough after kneading it properly. I needed some male assistance because I didn’t knead it enough. Then we put the ricotta cheese mixture in the dough we had rolled out and cut with a glass. How cool was that.
During this lesson, Valerio and Andrea told us the history of the house and their business. They had only been in business a short time. They had met when she was working at a clothing store and he had been picking up on the trashy looking chick that worked with her. He luckily got the boot by the trashy chick and then woke up and realized what a catch Andrea was. Duh, men can be so stupid sometimes not realizing what a good thing they could have. Fortunately for him, he invited her to a party and after one ride on the motor scooter, she was hooked. They travel the world now in the off season going to Queensland, Australia to visit her family and then to other exotic locales like India and Sri Lanka. Then back to the B&B. Sounds like a great life to me.
The B&B was his family home. He knew how to cook so well because his family used to have a restaurant in town. His mother taught him everything she knew. This B&B was beautiful. It was cozy and elegant at the same time. They were wonderful hosts. I cannot recommend it enough -- Villa Adriana -- a must stay at while in Sorrento. I hope to get to go back one day.
The piece de resistance of the cooking class was the homemade tiramisu -- yum. We made this from scratch also. I can’t believe that up until now, I had no idea how one made meringue. But give me some eggs and a power tool, I mean the blender, and off I went. We put those in the fridge and sat down to eat. Normally, Andrea (who assisted him the whole time) and Valerio don’t eat with the students. But as we seemed fun, they did. We had one of the better meals we had in Italy here (and we helped make it). And had great dinner conversation and company.
I don’t think we used “my” raviolis. I guess the dough was too thick. But the entire meal was amazingly delicious. They “fried” the zucchini, before we put it in with the cheese, but frying here doesn’t mean batter and a lot of grease. I could probably do this at home. We ended the meal with some local limoncello -- very strong stuff and we had it in these little bitty cups. His family makes this stuff to sell.
We got to keep these aprons and a small booklet of recipes. Now to try this at home... maybe.
Savage seemed like he really enjoyed himself, why can he be so much fun and exasperating at the same time -- complain complain and then enjoys himself. They even put a candle in his dessert for him to blow out. I hope he appreciated his birthday present (even though it was a few days early) -- it’s not often you get a personalized Italian cooking class in a lovely Italian villa taught by an old line Italian (and an Aussie too).
We agreed on our next stop on this Italian Road Trip Ordeal -- Matera and the Sassi (we had a room reserved in a cave - how awesome is that) and possibly the gnome huts/trulli of Alberobello. Between the two trips made over here for road trips I have seen most of the Unesco World Heritage Sites. Maybe I should use that as a travel checklist?
As it had been a very exhausting day, I fell right to sleep.
As it had been a very exhausting day, I fell right to sleep.
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