Amalfi 2017 and a little more

So this year, the Travel Group did a one week bus tour of the Amalfi Coast and then a week at a "resort" in Baia Domizia.  It was probably the most trying of all of our trips but there always has to be one.  In spite of two of the three suitcases not making it on the first day (they did arrive on the second) and issues with rooms at our second hotel, we still had a great time.

This is probably the last time we will be in Italy.  We have seen most of it with the exception of Milan and we will go if we win a free trip but there are many other places to head to in the world.  It was a beautiful area and we were very lucky with great weather and minimal crowds.  Our tour guide was terrific at making sure we got to places early and beat all the big tour bus crowds.  There were only 20 of us so it was a great size and everyone was a lot of fun.

Our first hotel just outside of Sorrento was fabulous.  A small hotel run by a lovely Italian family and every night we sat up on the terrace and watched the sunset over the islands of Capri and Ischia.  The rooms were great and the food was very good.  We really enjoyed our time at the La Primavera Hotel in Massa Lubrense.  

The first week was spent riding around in a little bus.  We visited Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Ischia, Amalfi, Pompeii and climbed the last 600 feet of Mt. Vesuvius.  The second week was spent blobbing at the beach in Baia Domizia at a hotel that I thought was the Italian version of Faulty Towers.  The people who owned the place were lovely and so was the staff but the hotel itself was a nightmare.  They had a beautiful digital baby grand piano that they would play every evening for one hour but you had to be careful when you sat down on the lounges to listen to the music because they were so rusted through, they would break.

The food was good but there would be only one tray for each kind of food and when that was empty, they would take the one tray back into the kitchen and reload it with more.  Wolfgang waited twenty minutes one time for fish.  Oh, the hotel had 110 rooms so you can imagine....

In spite of the craziness, we still had lots of laughs.

Here are more than a "few" pictures from our adventure.

All the places that we visited.  If you are wondering about the spelling, this is in German.

OK, so we arrived in Naples after a very short plane change in Rome and while we waited for our tour group to gather, we had to have our first beer.  So the question is "who had the coke"?  Hint, the person was not female.

A wonderful little town just outside of Sorrento.

Our hotel.  What a wonderful place to begin and end each day.  The terrace you see is where we sat every evening and enjoyed our dinner and the most spectacular sunsets.

The day view from our hotel.
 That is the island of Capri.
 I always thought it would be farther out from the mainland.  It is more like Catalina!

Enjoying a glass of Vino after trouping around Naples all day.
This was a table where we ate only once and then the group decided not to sit at the front.
The second table was a much better location so we happily changed.

The wine was from Masse Labrense.  Cheap and delicious.  The perfect combo.

An example of the sunsets we enjoyed every night.

So we found out that we had to first put the egg in a hot water machine before we tried to eat it.

Fish Monger in Naples

Can't figure out what to give as a gift, how about a fresh fish basket.

Now here is a guy thinking outside the box, a rolling garlic cart.
Hey, he comes to you and you can smell him before he arrives!

Testing it out to see if it will fit in her backyard.

I think this shows that we are in Italy.  Everything covered in beautiful ceramic tiles.

This is a Nativity Scene.  Every Church has one with its own unique style.

After marching around all morning in Naples, we are a little thirsty and so is this guy.

What else do you have on your first day in Naples,  Beer and........

PIZZA!  We have to admit that our local Chi Chi's Pizza was just as good (and maybe a little better)

This guy was spectacular!!!!  He used each different rubber animal to add to his music that he played.

A visit to the museum.  Lot of things from Pompei but it was sooooo hot, it was hard to enjoy.

Just a little building in Naples.

Riding the subway.
I believe on this trip, only missed riding a helicopter and a donkey.
Everything was covered.

I know but I forgot I had them on.

Isn't he adorable!

Lunch in Sorrento down on the water.

Wandering the street of Sorrento.  Ella in her standard pose.  Shopping!

Isn't this guy great.  There is an original in the museum but there is this guy in black and another in white down by the harbor.  I think one will fit into Ella's garden.  She wants the white one.

So there were lots of dogs and cats to meet but this gal was the best.  She was at the front gate when we went into this garden restaurant for a break.  There were also rabbits and dogs but Frieda the pot bellied pig was the best.

In honor of Fred and that he was not there to walk with us (oops did I say walk outloud!), a wiener dog.

Getting ready to get on the Ferry to Capri.  Mt. Versuious in the background

Arriving in Capri.  Perfect weather.

Waiting for the little boat for our tour around the island.

There before all the other ferries and boats arrive.  Later in the day, it was a zoo.

This is the oldest taxi on the island.  Strangely, it costs more to ride in it than a normal taxi car.

Here comes our boat.  It was set up to hold about 40 people but we were the only ones on the boat.  It was great.

Wolfgang's women.

The only way to see this island is from the ocean.  The water was absolutely flat.  We could not have asked for better weather.

This is a grotto like the Blue Grotto but it is just above the ocean.  It is huge.  That is a very large hotel under it.

Figurines were on many outcropping of rocks.

This is not the blue Grotto but the water is just the same. 

I have issues with heights.  I am not sure what I was doing here.

So I have always been told not to plant Bougainvillea on the house and now I see why.

See the hole in the rock behind Wolfgang, we actually drove through it with our boat.

Another figurine

The only "wild" animals on the island are goats.

So, this is the opening of the Blue Grotto.  We did not go because there is a about a 2 hour wait for your turn.  See all the boats.  Everyone must lay flat on their little boat to fit under the opening.

These are some strong men that they can hold these  little boats in place until their turn to go in and they too, must lie flat.

This is the main area of Capri.   A combination of Catalina and Beverly Hills.

OK, thing hanging around my neck is the hearing device that we all received to listen to our guide.

An interesting idea for the garden.

This is a statue.  It was so real looking, it was creepy.

I am not sure how I feel about this sign.

Always need a little pause along the way.

This is a copy of a mosaic found in Pompeii.  We visited a home and garden of a writer named Axel Münthe.  He had it duplicated and installed in the entryway of his home.  Must have been an interesting guy.

Picture of Alex Münthe

This is the beginning our tour along the Amalfi Coast.

This was a lovely little ceramic shop where we stopped.  Strangely, this guy picked Ella and I to go upstairs to the "exclusive" stuff to look around.  Wolfgang refused.  I think he knew better.  We left empty handed from the second floor.

All the famous locations.  Which way do you want to go?

The town of Amalfi.  We also took a short boat tour.  Again, much better way to see the area.

The Cathedral in Amalfi.  Wolfgang hikes the stairs, Ella and I took a break and just waited at the bottom.

Lunch break at a great location just off the main Piazza.  Had homemade Cannelloni but the best part was the owner singing.

Above Amalfi is this wonderful little town of Ravello and the Villa Rufolo gardens.

A film about Sisi was made here and this spot is where she sat.

New Day, new island.  Much more relaxed and calm compared to Capri but just as lovely.

Anyone need a magnet.

Ischia is famous for Bruchetta so we just had to have it for lunch. 

Sue, we think yours is better but this was very good.

The day ended in S. Angelo where some of our group went swimming or to the mineral baths.  We just wandered around.

Of course, we had some time to kill.........

Our final tour day included Pompeii and Mount Versuious.  It was a fascinating and very hot day.

Do you think Rodin saw this guy.

The benefits of getting there early.  No crowds.

One of the public saunas still intact.

It is hard to believe that this was found under volcanic rubble.

Singing in the rain without the rain or the singing.

Isn't she adorable!

Our version of Abbey Road.

Two heads are better than one.

Before heading up to the Volcano, we all stopped for lunch.  Yes, we ate food too.

Up, Up and away we go to the crate at the top.  We rode a bus up and then walked the last few hundred kilometers.

So this is Wolfgang alone at the top.  You ask, where are Ella and Sarah?  Well, my husband is a hiker and knows that we (E&S) would take longer than he would so off he went.  Somewhere along the way, people told him that we were not coming so he took a picture to prove that he made it.

Inside part of the crater.  No bubbling here but there is a section where it is active but we were not allowed to go there.  It really didn't matter to us because we would never have made it that far.

So EVENTUALLY, Ella and I made it.  It was hotter than hell and what I thought was 200 feet was actually 200 meters (600 feet).  A slight difference but WE MADE IT.  Wolfgang was stunned to see us.

This was our picture proving that we made it.  Two men (probably in their 20's but young to us) took it for us.  They laughed when we said it was to prove that we were actually there and lived to tell about it.

On our way down which was almost as bad as on the way up.

The end of our tour.  Perfect timing because we needed a break.  At least Ella and I needed a break.

Here we are at the Domizia Palace Hotel in Baia Domizia.  It is about an hour north of Naples.  Mainly an area where Italians go to enjoy the ocean.

Our Italian version of Faulty Towers (look it up).  Notice me sitting in the wonderfully tacty lobby in my bathing suit.

New area, new beer.  So we opted for All Inclusive which was easier but the least of what wasn't included in All Inclusive was great.  Beer, wine, etc., that was included but not bottles of water.  We could have cups of water but no bottles.  We adapted to the environment but it was an adventure.

The ocean was great.  It was warm and pretty calm at the beginning of the week but by the end, it was wild.  My sister Lorraine would have loved it.

Proof that Ella actually went in the ocean.

Yep, Water Scoopers for wild fires that were taking place all around us.

Our little home every day.

So you are allowed to sell stuff on the beach but you cannot stop unless someone want to buy something.  Yes we did.  Anyway, this guy would carry this thing of toys by us every day.  At least two three times a day.

These guys just sold bathing suits.  Eleven kilometers each way, every day.

Summer cover-ups and dresses was the specialty here.  What you don't see is the third guy pushing too.

This is Ella with Leopoldo, the resident dog.  There were two but just Leo was the social beast.

A volcanic sand beach really sticks to you.

So that's it.  Enough, right!  It's hard to pick what not to include  when your husband takes 700+ pictures and you take a couple hundred but I believe we have shown some of our favorite things.

Arrivederci!