63 - When life (well, the weather) hands you lemons, you make (well, drink anyway) Limoncello!!

We made it back to the boat with relative ease.  Our flights were super easy, we got a rental car in Barcelona and drove to Sant Carles de la Rapita (about 2 hour drive). We arrived a few days before our "splash" date and contacted the lady with whom we'd arranged to do a few routine maintenance items on the boat while we were gone. Well... she decided to wait until right before we went back into the water - which actually makes sense.  However, neither of us anticipated the weather forecast to call for rain for the remainder of the week and for the next 15 days!  The work to be done is all exterior so we were going to be delayed at least 2 weeks.  So, what else could we do but take a holiday!  We pulled up the site for Trusted Housesitters and got selected for a sit in Naples, Italy.  Since we still had a few days until the sit date, we booked our flight into Rome with the idea that we'd stay there for a couple of days and then onto Positano to visit the birthplace of Roberto, our favorite Italian, and then figure out where to go next. 

We flew into in Rome, took the train into town and walked about 3 blocks to our Airbnb.  We were a little early so we found an amazing restaurant just down the street, had an amazing meal, a bottle of wine and then they brought us limoncello! Our trip could not not have started out better.  By the time we were finished, it was time to check-in and take a quick nap. Refreshed, we headed out to explore Rome.  I'd made a 3 day itinerary for us and Pedro navigated around finding everything (and few others) on our list.  Our Airbnb was just a couple of blocks away from Vatican City so we walked through this small country (luckily there were no border controls) a couple of times a day on our way to and from "home."  We completely loved Rome and found the people to be helpful and welcoming.  The sights were almost overwhelming. Everywhere you looked there was something to behold - plus even Roberto didn't know that Rome had a pyramid.  

As you can imagine, I took a ton of pictures, so here's the full album:   Rome Pictures

After 3 amazing days in Rome, we made our way to the big train station and caught a high speed train into Naples on our way to Positano.  Roberto arranged for his second cousin Luigi who is a taxi driver to pick us up at the Naples train station and drive us to Positano.  As expected, we fell in love with Luigi immediately too!  He was so entertaining as he narrated our route and told stories of growing up with Roberto, et al.  He even stopped along the way at his favorite coffee shop (the owner insisted that we try some of his delicious pastries too) telling us it was the best coffee available on our route.  Finally after knowing Roberto for 20+ years and hearing all about Positano, we were there.  Roberto also arranged with his nephew Claudio to rent us a family owned condo right on the water.  We spent the first day exploring the town and the beach.  Positano is pretty small so it's easy to get around - as long as you don't mind steps.  On our second day we hiked about 1/2 of a 4 mile trail called the "Path of the Gods".  We'd planned to hike the entire path and take a bus home.  However, since it was Sunday, the buses were not running and we we didn't have the full 8 hours it would have taken to walk home.  The path itself was absolutely amazing with views that are breathtaking.  They even have a friendly neighborhood cat you can hang with too.  We took a sandwich and had a picnic at our turnaround spot and then stopped for a drink before tackling the 1700 steps from Nocelle back to Positano.  Roberto said as a child, he could make it down in 7 minutes.  It felt like it took us 70 minutes but I was too busy whining to count the actual time.  The hike was incredible, however, and a must do if you're in the area.  

Of course, I took a ton of pictures so here are more:    Positano, Amalfi and Ravello

Next, Claudio picked us up and drove us to meet his Nonna - Roberto's mom!  Claudio spent the next hour translating for us and indulging his grandmother as she showed us all around her house, potted plant garden and numerous pictures of her family.  She is everything you would want in an Italian mother/grandmother.  In addition to an amazing time, we left with a jar of her home prepared olives, local honey, some spices that she wanted us to take and I even got a bouquet of flowers from her garden.  We were completely in love and can see how her son turned out so great!  

Claudio and Roberto arranged for us to have dinner at the nearby restaurant of a cousin.  We, of course, were treated like royalty and the food, wine and company were absolutely perfect!

The next day we took the city bus - an adventure in itself - to the nearby town of Amalfi where we got a transfer to the town of Ravello (again on the recommendation of Roberto).  Amalfi was a cute little town so we walked around a bit and stopped for a delicious lemon cake (a recommendation of Claudio) before catching our bus - again an adventure to watch these drivers navigate these narrow winding roads - up the hill to Ravello.  This town is full of breathtaking views - even the bus stop view was spectacular.  We walked around town enjoying the scenery.  Roberto advised us to tour the two famous villas -Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone.  Villa Cimbrone was closed but Villa Rufolo was worth the trip.  The views from everywhere were nothing short of breathtaking.  We even managed to get the quintessential Amalfi Coast picture that I'd seen in numerous articles.  I highly recommend a stop here (and the bus ride was interesting too) if you're in the area.

Here are the rest of the pictures from Ravello and Amalfi:     Ravello and Amalfi Pictures

Alas, our 3 days in Positano were up. Since we still had about a week before the start of our pet sitting gig in Naples, Luigi took us back to Naples to pick up a rental car near the airport.  Our first stop was the small town of Castelmezzano.  This little town aptly included in the club of "The most beautiful villages in Italy" appeared to be out of a fairytale.  We meandered the narrow streets enjoying the view and the houses many of which seem to be carved into the rocks.  It was a really cold day and most of the town was closed so we walked a bit and then jumped back in the car.  We would love to come back here in warmer months for both the hiking which looked amazing and to ride the famous a zipline "Volo dell'Angelo - Flight of the Angel" that traverses the valley from Castelmezzano to the neighboring village of Pietrapertosa.   

 

Here are more pictures:        Castelmezzano

Back in the car, we drove to town of Matera.  Both Roberto and Luigi touted Matera as must not miss city and we completely agree!  This town is most famous for it's Sassi area consisting a complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside.  The area, which shows evidence of inhabitants as long ago and the 10th millenium BC, is believed to be one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world.   However, by the 1800's the caves of the Sassi area were known for extreme poverty and very poor living conditions causing it to be called "the Shame of Italy."  In 1952, the Italian government relocated everyone living in the caves to nearby housing and the caves were abandoned until the 1980's.  Today, it's an amazing site to see and wonder about.  We even rented an Airbnb that was in a former Sassi cave.  We definitely could have spent several more days here and if we ever go back, we definitely will.

Here are more Matera pictures:

Matera Pictures

Next, we headed to the town of Alberobello - another Roberto recommendation.  This town is most famous for it's Trulli houses.  These houses were ingeniously designed to be "easily" dismantled for the express purpose of tax evasion.  The story goes that any permanent structure was taxed. So, whenever the king's delegate was coming into town to assess the tax bill, the citizens could remove the keystone and the houses were transformed again into a pile of stones.  While we saw the Truilli houses scattered throughout other areas of the Puglia region, they made up the vast majority of accomodations in Alberobello.  It's a totally adorable town.

More Alberobello pictures:

Alberobello

We continued heading east until we reached the Adriatic Sea and the town of Monopoli.  The water was beautiful and the beaches looked pretty but it was was a little to early in the season for this beachside town to be very lively!  We drove around the teeny tiny streets and then thankfully found a parking spot so we could walk some.

  

Our next stop and where we'd arranged for another Airbnb was Polignano a Mare.  WOW!!!  This town had the most amazing views and our Airbnb was one of the nicest ones we've ever had (especially for the price).  We took our host's recommendation for dinner and walked a couple of blocks to an amazing restaurant.  After dinner, we had a romantic walk down an adorably lit street and found a seaside balcony which afforded us an amazing view of the grottas and the cliffside - even spectacular at night.  The town isn't big and you can easily walk it in just a couple of hours, so the next day we spent a few walking around with our mouths agape at the views. 

Finally, it was time to head (back) to Naples to meet up with our pet/house sit gig.  So, we once again packed up and jumped in the car.  On our way back, we stopped in one last town, Altamura.  The town looked to be really cute but not much was open (we're assuming it's another seasonal town).  We did find a great place for lunch and it was finally warm enough to sit outside and enjoy an Aperol Spritz!  One of the claims to fame of this town is it's bread the Pane di Altamura and so we bought a loaf to take home and it was delicious by the way!

Monopoli, Polignano a Mare and Altamura Pictures

At last, we made our way into Naples where we met up with our host family and the 5 pets we were to be in charge of for the next 10 days.  We immediately fell in love but I'll fill you in on that next time!

Until next post!