Capri:  started the day with a ferry ride to the island of Capri. 
We have met quite a few people on our travel. Of course, I think everyone we have met looks like someone I know. Some we know by their real names, but some we just know by their assigned names by us 😊. We are the only Canadians and we are continually told by one family in particular that Trudeau is wonderful and that our Canadian recycling efforts show how much we love the environment as we take care of it. 

People watching is always fun. One thing I have observed is many men who cater to their wives making sure they are happy. To the extent, that I want to shake the women and tell them to grow up. Enjoy your friggin’ holiday in Italy!! 

Capri was good. We went on a boat ride around most of the island. The water was ridiculously blue and so cold. We took the funicular (fancy gondola) to the top and saw where some celebrities stay. Very beautiful but expensive. There was a Rolex store there just to give a sampling of the type of stores. Justine and I went back down and went to soak our feet in the cold Mediterranean Sea. So refreshing. My  ankles may be never return to their original size. Off to the Mozzarella Farm tour now. Just waiting on group and listening to Italian music in the background. 

Update: the Mozzarella farm was awesome. We got to see real live cows and geese. Not such a novelty to us, but for some a real highlight. They explained how they make olive oil and showed us how to make mozzarella cheese. We had a nice simple meal of caprese, pasta, and cake for dessert followed by two different kinds of lemonocello. Delicious!  We got to know our fellow travellers a bit more. They are so interesting! 

Tomorrow, the Amalfi Coast on the road named “Momma Mia”! 

Pompeii was the first thing on the agenda for the today. It is really quite amazing to think of a whole town disappearing under volcanic ash. It is even more amazing to think that people today still study all of that to explain what happened 2000 years ago. 

Today was good, but quite hot. Good thing we had lots of water to keep drinking. We also were introduced to sprumeta- fresh squeezed orange juice in Italy. So good. Other items we learned:

EU: 40% unemployment in Italy

Most Italian men live with moms until they get married. Mommas rule the roost. If you like a boy here, get to know his mom. If you get along with her, continue seeing the boy; if you don’t, bye bye boy. 
Food: Justine and I had supper on our own. We shared Caesar salad, gustosa pizza, and then j had pasta with meat sauce and I had risotto. Hmmm. Good. 

Lemons, lemons, lemons. Lemon cello. They are everywhere here and people like to give you a shot of it. Wherever. Whenever. They make all kinds stuff of with it: candies, liquor, cookies, and straight. 

Pomegranate juice freshly squeezed is another hit we have tried in Napoli. 

Sprumeta. Oj. Sprer-moo-ta

One more interesting tidbit. We watched a cameo making demo today and then went through the showroom to peruse their items. They had a conch seashell that a beautiful scene was carved into it and then the whole thing was made into a lamp. It was really cool and I thought of maybe trying to get one home- until I saw the price. 7200 euros.  Yikes!!!!  Two ladies from our group each bought one. Double yikes!! 

Today, we left Naples (or Napoli). We stopped to visit the largest palace in Europe – Caserta which is now a national museum. It was modelled after Versailles, has more than 1200 rooms, and is way to big for any one family. 

We traveled to Sorrento stopping for a majestic picture along the windy road. The little local guy selling lemon sorbet made a killing off of our bus. Fresh lemons are everywhere here and are so good. 

We faced the first of the Italian heat today at the castle. Good thing our room is air conditioned and a good thing  we packed appropriately. Winter jackets and boots are not needed in 30 degree heat with high humidity. They told us that the temp can get to 45 in August. The beach would need to be a must for those days. 

We are off to Pompeii tomorrow. Hopefully we get a good sleep in our tiny European twin beds tonight. Ciao!

Today we visited the National Archaelogical Museum of Napoli. Many interesting marble statues with many, many erotic statues and paintings. Wowsers! Those Romans enjoyed themselves with people and animals alike 😳. The one picture shows the phallic symbol that Romans would use to show others what protected their homes. We Canadians are so silly putting welcome mats out! 

We also found wine today. 4 bottles for 5 Euros. 
It is a very good thing that Justine is along with me as my sense of direction is non-existent here. She just knows where we need to go- I would be wandering aimlessly around if not for her. 

After almost 9 miles of walking, a wonderful Italian meal of gelato, olives, some weird rice, tomato and pea combination was washed down with a giant white wine. Awesome!! 
Naples was wonderful and we are off to Sorrento tomorrow! Ciao! 

Tonight our beds are going to feel great!  We have been up for 31 hrs with 1 or 2 little catnaps squeezed in. We met our group of 31 tonight. We are the only Canadians, but many of them have friends from Toronto 😊 and they think that Justin is a wonderful PM. I’m trying to be very diplomatic on that ridiculous topic. Very pleasant bunch with a wide variety of ages- Justine is not the youngest. We had appetizers of delicious morsels, pizza and some cake dessert. Now we sleep! 

The Altwasser girls of Justine and Pam began our Italian adventure flying overnight from Toronto to Rome. We are patiently waiting our connecting flight to Naples to begin our tour. When I order a macchiato coffee at Starbucks, it has whipped cream. What the hell??