IT STARTED IN NAPLES!!

Although we had missed our mark in the search for my grandpa:

Salvatore Veltri's birthplace 

in the region of Calabria the provence of Cosenza and the town of San Giovanni in Fiore, by a few hundred miles, which in the USA would mean only a few hours driving....(not so in Italy)

although the Italians do travel at a good speed through these winding roads, it still makes going from point A to point B a bit more difficult than say a 300mile trip from Spokane to Seattle. 

we chose Naples as the most southern starting point for our search for Salvatore.

Meet Shannon and Natalie: 

From the start of my son's life he has always been a goal setter and will not stop until he meets or beats each goal.
He set a goal of going to Italy with his mom (me) when he finished college. Along the way he met and married the love of his life Natalie, who by chance has an adventurous spirit as well. So when my son began to get close to completing his MBA he asked me if I had been saving for Italy. As God would have it suddenly I had enough money and was able to get the time off of work, and I purchased my ticket.

On August 20, 2017 I was off to Naples....ITALIA!!!. My son and daughter in law had left a couple weeks earlier for a South Africa trip before and were to meet me there.

On August 21,2017 we all converged in Naples. It was a funny airport, where you just walk off the plane onto the runway and walk into the airport. We were greeted there by our driver Fabio ( I had arranged for a transport***)  He spoke very good English and safely drove us in a Mercedes to our first lodging in what appeared to be a ghetto.
It was very close to train station so a very popular spot for tourists like ourselves. He couldn't find the place and had to call the owner of the B&B Rooms Stazione Centrale Dario who came to get us on foot and we all walked through the streets filled with vendors and just as the Rick Steves book said little children who hold their hands out for money and also unzip your backpacks.

Our host confidently guided us into our safe dwelling through what appeared to be a hobbit door inside a much larger cathedral type door and bolted it shut behind us. 

Vendors filled the streets by day, and garbage by night. 

We then asked where the best pizza was within walking distance and we were off, even though none of us had slept in 24 hours. We were met by many other travelers from all over the world, with the same idea, carrying boxes of pizza back to their hotels and waiting on the street corner with us for a table.
As chance would have it the number one pizza spot was closed for 2 weeks which apparently is a thing in Italy that businesses do to take holiday.

Notice the theme in this picture of hand on head x 3. 

We found the number two spot that was jam packed with people from all over the world. DeAngelis Pizzaria. After this delicious meal a glass of vino, and aqua with "gas" we made our way back safely to our little hobbit house and finally slept after 24 plus hours of travel time.

***I highly recommend hiring a driver to pick you up at the airport for your first visit to Italy.

NAPLES DAY TRIP AND POMPEII..."they didn't know it was a volcano"

In the morning we were delighted with our complimentary Italian style breakfast of sweet pastries and Cappuccino, which by the way came to be a favorite of ours.

I forgot to take a picture of this but it was at every hotel and bnb. It is crostata.

also not my picture but like a crosisant, but crispy and with powdered sugar on top.

This little place made the most exquisite cup of espresso for Natalie and Shannon it was served in those little espresso cups and was simply divine. Our host in the morning spoke very little English and we got a chance to use a translating app that worked beautifully. We wanted to go out and see Naples before going to Pompeii. We were graciously allowed us to keep our luggage in the office until we returned to pick them up several hours later. In fact all of our hotels/bed and breakfast were very kind and allowed us to do this without any charge.


We began our tour of Naples on foot through the tiny streets lined with shops and clotheslines hung out to dry. In one of the side street a man was singing with a karaoke machine off his balcony. We dipped into anything that looked ancient and found a cathedral museum that we paid 7 Euros to go tour. This was amazing as one of the first paintings to see was a Michaelangelo!! Unbelievable.

I was obsessed with ceilings and floors.

Floor

feeling very small in this church/basillica

I was approached by a small toothless, woman complete with the old Italian way of wearing a scarf on her head and tied around the neck. She had a handful of little metals, (plastic covered with metal looking paint) that were hanging on a little red ribbon. She approached me and took my hand and place two of the metals in my palm. One was shaped like a key and the other like a hand, she smiled all the while she tried to explain to me in Italian the meaning of these 2 little fake metals, pointing to my daughter in law and smiling ever so sweetly, then she would put her fingers to her mouth to let me know she needed to eat as well. My son again motioned for me to come and not give her money. I gently took her hand and placed the metals in them and said one of my few Italian words, "mi dispiace". The sweet look on her face turned to ice and she walked away. We encountered another little lady in the train station selling little packs of Kleenex. She also was not happy with us.

We figured out the subway system and took a fast train to Chichia. It was like a postcard with the multicolored buildings lining the coastline and the tourquoise blue sea.

the colorful buildings

We had lunch in a very nice restaurant, I had a dish that was simply 3 roma tomatoes sliced in half with some crispy seasoned bread crumbs, it was served with a sweet vinegar oil that was to die for. From there we were on our way back when we encountered a "scuffle" What I saw was a young man 20's being pushed around by 2 other young men and an older 50's man well dress standing by. Someone in the scuffle called out "help call the police" My son saw something different. In fact he saw it happening and quickly shuffled us to the other side of the street. If he hadn't we would have been right in the path of what happened next....the chase scene, when the 2 young men started chasing the one 20 something, and grabbed him and he started swinging at them. My son saw that no one was helping whoever he thought needed help and was just about to go tackle the "pickpocket" when the police arrived. WHEW! So much for the rich side of Naples.

We made our way back to our hotel said goodbye to Rooms Stazione grabbed our bags and were off on the high speed train to Pompeii....it was air conditioned too! A much welcomed  relief as we were all sure it was at least high 90's every day.

The train let us off right in front of the ruins and we found our next little lodging
The Pompeii Boutique INN.

the view from our BNB a very large vegetable farm. 

the parking lot of our BnB

Our host had been communicating with me prior to our arrival and offered to cook us a home cooked meal for 15 euros, we said YES! Dinner at 730pm.

We did a little exploring before and I bought a ring for my daughter. The vendor was a middle aged woman, who wanted 35 euros, which I said no to, but she was relentless. My son came to my aid and tried to get me to leave but I was willing to pay 10. She put the ring in a bag while she was still bargaining and I had a 10 in my hand. When she thought I was going to walk away she snatched the 10 out of my hand and said "OK, we end the day" The next day she was selling hats.

Our dinner was delightful. It was one of my favorite memories. We had the traditional anti-pasta with fresh mozzarella balls, bread, and rigatoni. The second course was eggplant parmesan and ice cream.

our private dinner on the patio.

the anti-pasta

on the way to the ruins

The next day we had the tour of Pompeii ruins that we paid 12 euros for and had an excellent guide

waiting for the tour to start 

a pomegranate tree

Lucia. She was very animated and would frequently say "obviously" and ask us "why?" Like for instance, "why were there beds in the Romans dining rooms?" Because the Romans like to lay down while they ate. She took us to the brothel AKA Lupanare and was made sure that we check out what
she charmingly called "the menu".

the sign of the prostitute was the serpent

the menu

road signs, they were all over the place...

beautiful ceilings and floors  that have withstood time and disaster

At one point when we arrived at the "amphitheater" she told us that we now had some free time to take pictures, rest, or sing. My son took advantage of that offer and gave a short well received concert in Pompeii. Which brings to mind another interesting sight in the ruins... a grand exhibit of PINK FLOYD live in Pompeii concert. It was eerie, an entire building built to honor this concert. It must have been epic.

So much to say here, but words cannot express the amazement and sorrow that was felt within the ruins of Pompeii.

a girl who was buried under the pyroclastic flow

Our guide had said that they built Pompeii on the side of a mountain for protection but they didn't know it was a volcano.

Way off subject but here in Pompeii we saw the bare butts of 2 men.  One was taking a pee on the sidewalk into some planters in front of a restaurant and the other was in our hotel getting some kind of shot in his butt by the owner of the hotel.

MASSE LUBRENSE...and our Villa Angelina

Next up... working our way south, was our 2 day stay in Masse Lubrense. Getting a little more complicated as we had to take a train to Sorrento ( which I loved by the way) and then a bus to Masse Lubrense. Little did we know that our Villa was a destination of it's own and that all we had to say was Villa Angelina. We traveled up the winding narrow roads, often having to come to complete stop to let another bus by or slowing down and almost touching the sides of the other bus. Somehow this did not freak me out in the least as I felt this is the way they do it in Italy.

We were let out in the town of Masse Lubrense and before we go off we showed the driver the address of our Villa and he said...before..and drove off. There was a cute little cafe on the corner and we went in and asked Parle Englese, the owner did, and it just so happened 2 cab drivers had just come in at the end of their day for a cold drink and he asked one if he would take us back down 1 kilometer to Villa Angelina, for tip. He said yes and we loaded up into the Mercedes Van and took a quick ride to what turned out to be the most beautiful hotel ontop of a cliff with a goregeous view of the sea. My son gave him the "tip" and he said most people pay him $25 euro for a trip like that but it's ok" He gave us his card just in case we wanted a ride some place.

We walked in and I was afraid that we were in the wrong place as it was like something out of a movie. A huge entry way with marble columns and marble floors, immaculate and beautiful. My heart skipped a beat when our host couldn't find my reservation...but then she said Oh here it is Oliver, Jan.  Our room was on the 4th floor it had a sun roof that opened with a flip of a switch, and marble floors that in the heat were so appreciated by our tired hot feet.

We found out that they provided free shuttle service to 2 restaurants and took them up on it for dinner. Our first night was at a place called Funicule Funiculi, I had the fish and roasted vegetables. It reminded me of our traditional Italian Christmas dinner, fish in spaghetti sauce. Our driver was very skilled and on these roads, one has to honk when going around a corner just to warn whoever is coming down or up.

The rock to the right of my shoulder has a statue of the Virgin Mary sunk below it. 

The next day we found stairs that took us down to the road where we were picked up by the driver to our FARM. Aziendia Agricola.

Eugenio explained to me that Jesus is called San Salvatore in Italy, because Salvatore means savior of the world. 

Everything in this region was lemony

I had booked this prior to our trip. It was a Lemon and Olive tree farm. We found out so much more. Our guide Eugenio was the son of family owned farm that is built on the side of a mountain, as are most of the farms in Italy in this region.

Eugenio

Eugenio said they use every bit of space to grow everything they need, including, hazelnuts, onions, tomatoes, squash, chickens, goats and pigs. They made their own wine, using other farmers grapes, and they also made Limoncello and of course olive oil. On our tour we met John and Katherine from Manchester England and Dari from Iceland. He was 15 years old and came on the tour by himself as his grandparents didn't want to come. He was a funny kid, and asked very politely if he could have a taste of wine with his lunch which of course Eugenio said OK only because you are in Italy.

Dario trying to guess what was the animal organ that they fill with cheese....a bladder!

We were served lunch cooked by Eugenios mom, who would peer into the dining room to make sure we were enjoying it and made us take seconds. Rigatoni with a light meat sauce, followed by a lemon Tiramisu topped with the families own brand of Limoncello. We were given a lesson on how to make Limoncello and the opportunity to buy some which I did bring several little bottles back with me and served it on ice cream. 

the family brand and trademark. 

Lemon tiramisu. Tiramisu literally means "Pick me up" in Italian. 

Shan and Nat enjoying fresh lemonade!

AN APARTMENT IN CASTELLEMARRE DI STABIA

So this is what apartments in Italy look like. I didn't take any pictures, but let me describe it to you. The entrance was in an alley and we had keys to get into the building. Nearby was a very small market, (Kiosk size) that sold fresh fruit. We took the "lift" to the 5th floor and walked into a very large apartment. It had marble floors and was furnished with a combination of "your grandmas things" and some modern furniture. There were large glass doors in every room including the kitchen that opened up to balcony. These all had kind of a garage type door that covered them when we were not in the apartment. They opened up into courtyard to which many other apartments faced as well. At night we could open them and listen to the sounds of the city.
The one thing I was really impressed with in this apartment was the dish rack was in a cupboard above the sink, so you could wash them and put them away wet.


We used my phone to find our way directly to the place we were to meet the host Alexjendro so that he could guide us the rest of the way. Shan was awesome in taking charge of directions and guiding us safely to our destinations.

Shannon getting us to whereever we were that day

If he became frustrated Natalie was our anchor and would calmly make a suggestion/plan to get from point A to point B.

love this girl!

Together they make quite a confident team of travel companions. I was happy to be with them and by the way, really amazed that they were happy to have me with them.

We had 2 days here. We arrived around 6 pm and went to the beach which was about one block away, we had dinner at one of the restaurants that faced the beach and watched the sunset. I had the linguini with clams....so delicious.

The next day we went to Capri!!!