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Southern Italy you little beauty - you bronzed our skin and tantalized our tastebuds, warmed our bellies with your sweet sweet limoncello and soothed us in your crystal blue waters.
Be warned that this entry is almost entirely about food glorious food, and be prepared to feel very, very jealous.
Originally we had left a few days open in Italy, as we were unsure how to divide our time between Rome, Southern Italy and Tuscany. The vague idea was that we would base in Rome and catch a train down to Pompeii and Napoli (aka Naples) After researching costs and factoring in time restraints, we booked a three day Busabout tour called the 'Italian Adventure'. With help from our wonderful and super knowledgable guide Ereni and our Italian bus driver Giovanni, we definitely saw more than we would have otherwise and it was nice to just sit back and let someone else look after the logistics for us. We had a much needed (because life's so tough right now), incredibly relaxing time!
Our first stop was in Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by an eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. Vesuvius is still an active volcano and has erupted many a time since (the last time was about 40 years ago and apparently it's due to go again any day now...given our previously mentioned knack for instigating disaster, this made me a little nervous!) It is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to the massive population living at it's base. Crazy Italians!
The citizens of Pompeii didn't flee when it began erupting, thinking themselves far enough away from the scary lava bits, however the wind picked up all the toxic gas and ash and smothered the city - wiping out the entire town and it's population of 20,000 people. The ash preserved the ruins so well that the city is said to be frozen in time, and when uncovering them 1700 years later, an Italian archaeologist had the idea to pour plaster into the cavities which created plaster casts of the bodies entombed there. We got to see some of these bodies, which are frozen in horrific poses and expressions that show the terror these people must have felt at their death. A little creepy, a little fascinating and very, very sad. Our tour guide took us through the city explaining what the different buildings were - a rich man's house with his office slightly elevated above all other rooms, a bakery with the oven and mills still largely in tact, ancient zebra crossings (stones raised above the ground so their feet wouldn't get muddy when it rained, with gaps allowing carts to still pass through), bathhouses, theatres, a gym and a brothel. Prostitution was big business in Pompeii and in the brothels you can still see the 'menu' painted on the walls (ancient porn!) and the tiny rooms with tiny beds and pillows made of rock (umm..ouch?!)
Afterwards we had a taste of Napoli pizza - Napoli is the birthplace of Pizza - with delicious buffalo mozzarella. The first pizza EVER was created as a dish for the Queen Margherita, hence 'Margherita Pizza', with the red tomato sauce, white mozzarella and green basil garnish representing the colours of Italy. This was the beginning of 3 days full of magnificent food.
We arrived in Sorrento in the late afternoon and settled into the campground which was our base for 2 nights. Ereni then took us to a little to a store to buy 1 euro beers to kick back with while we gazed out across the cliffs and the coastline with its royal blue ocean, and she then led us on an orientation tour of gorgeous Sorrento. The whole town has a wonderfully relaxed vibe - orange and lemon trees line the streets, the weather is warm, the people are friendly with a great sense of humour and the stores are full of delicious treats and beautiful handmade crafts.
We visited a limoncello store where we were given a demonstration of how the liqueur is made followed by a tasting of limoncello shots and chocolates. Yum! We then went to a restaurant called Il Leone for a three course meal of pasta, beautiful fresh grilled fish or veal, and tiramisu for dessert. From there we went on to a bar to get to know everyone a little better over 5 euro cocktails and free tequila shots, and partied long past the last bus, so walked home and took bets along the way as to how many would spew tomorrow on the boat ride to Capri.
Thankfully, my wager on 6 people was way off. Two girls were so sick they didn't get on the boat (hmm what a waste of money) but the rest of us were perfectly fine, including Mark who usually gets terribly seasick even without a hangover.
The Mediterranean Sea is such a deep, clear beautiful blue and we had a perfect sunny day as we sat back on the boat and cruised to Capri. Along the way Ereni pointed out the homes of the rich and famous such as Georgio Armani, the owner of Ferrari and various football team owners. We stopped at the Blue and Green Grottos - caves where the reflection of light makes the water glow bright blue and bright green.
Arriving at the Marina Piccola in Capri, we grabbed a Panini for lunch - fried eggplant, tomato and mozzarella - devine! - and then caught a minibus up to Capri town to browse the designer stores and pick out a new jacket (hmm got a spare 8000 euro, anyone?). We wandered slowly back down the hill and stopped for a refreshing Lemon granita (like a fresh squeezed slushie) and the BEST mango gelato.
We eventually made it back to the Marina Piccola and spent the rest of the afternoon lazing in the sun on the rocky beach and swimming in the crystal clear ocean. Ben made like Bear Grills and impressed the Italian ladies by scooping a jellyfish out of the water with his bare hands, only to miss the rocks when he tried to throw it away. It dropped straight back into the water to join the little school of jellyfish now drifting towards shore, and so Ben was a busy boy for the next little while!
Mark and I hired a kayak with Canadian Alex and cruised along the coast and past the multi million dollar yachts moored there. Ereni had advised a rough valuation guide was one million euro per metre, so we paddled closer to check out an 88m yacht with its collection of jet skis and and smaller yachts moored in its own docking station, which opened up as an arch in the hull of the ship. Now I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was Batman's boat. In the words of some tall blonde guy I know, it was gangsta.
After weeks of avoiding the gym my arms gave in after a little while, so we head back to shore and climbed back aboard the boat for the cruise home to Sorrento via the 'lovers arch' (rock formation) where we had a big smooch for good luck. A perfect day, followed by another delicious meal - tomato gnocchi, fresh salad, chicken grilled in olive oil, lemon and herbs, and pannacotta drizzled with chocolate sauce.
Our last day was spent driving the narrow, cliff perched road along the Amalfi Coast. Almost as amazing as the scenery was the way in which the bus managed to squeeze past scooters, cars and even other buses on such narrow and winding roads with sometimes only an inch to spare.
We stopped for a couple of hours to hang out in the town of Amalfi and have a coffee and pastries (Mark and I went straight for the cannoli), then stopped again in the little town called Ravello. Very pretty as usual, but what stood out here was lunch. Oh. My. God. We ate THE best meal of the trip at a small store selling homecooked goodies - we chose an eggplant parmagiana, stuffed zucchini flower and arancini. Mark then backed it up with a giant panini chock full of mozarella, prosciutto and sundried tomato. Once we settle back down again and have a wage and a kitchen and all that boring real life stuff, we will definitely be cooking with some new ingredients. Yum yum YUM!
Along the way we also stopped for a photo at a point overlooking Positano, where we found a small market stall selling beautiful fresh fruit and dried herbs. Gem and Ben bought some big juicy grapes and cherrys, while Mark and I bought a risotto mix (a just add water kind of deal) and bruschetta topping - dehydrated tomatoes and herbs with the most amazingly rich flavour which you just sprinkle on the bread, maybe add a little olive oil and then pop in the oven. Oh Italy my stomach does love you!
We arrived back at the campsite in Rome relaxed, extremely well fed, tanned (even me!!no really!! Well kind of..) and happy. And well fed. Did I mention the amazing food? I did? Yeh, well - it was amazing. And wonderful. Delicious, Devine, A-maaaaazing.
Ok I think you get it.
Liss xoxo
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