MONDAY to MONDAY

What a week!The big week had arrived and James,Sarah ,Zoe,Ava,Marcus and Izzy were on their way from Rome on the train.james kept in contact through a real-time location on my iPhone..They had a wonderful visit in Rome.

We were waiting at the train station in Sorrento to watch these 6 people get off the train with their suitcases and small back packs…..with stuffies in hand!There were a full round of hugs,kisses.But it was close to lunch time,and we headed down to find an outdoor patio that could manage all 8 of us.

We were successful,and after lunch gelato.We (James) had rented 2 small cars to accommodate the group.We picked them up and the first challenge was to get 8 suitcases and backpacks in these 2 rather small trunks….done.One was a Smart car,automatic but no back up screen or GPS.The other car was standard with had a screen.The next big decision was who would go in which car and with whom.This was a recurring issue through the week with multiple combinations!The address was inserted and it was to take 30 minutes for 6.4 km.It was a winding road with up hill and down and several hair pin turns.

We arrived at the villa,which lived up to the pictures on line.The owners met us there with lots of instructions re the pool,garbage,keys and contact with them.They had been very kind to provide us with some basic supplies till we could get to the grocery store.There were 6 bedrooms and the next task was assigning rooms.The 4 children quickly laid claim with little disagreement ,and only the adults left.The children ,however,had already decided.

The villa sits on top of a hill(?) and below was a fishing village with several places to eat.It was a short walk down hill to choose a location.

After dinner the kids headed to the beach to play…boats,fishing wharves,sand and water.What was a given was after down hill,up hill.

The swimming pool was a good size,not to deep and just beside the main house.It had a large decorative fish that created a large waterfall.This provided hours of play,the occasional “volleyball”beachball games with various teams and rare agreement on the score outcome.

Groceries were the next chore and we headed off to a village,Sant’ Agata sui Due Golfi for food,drinks and gasoline when needed.Many grocery stores in Italy have small entrances,and then a full store opens up.Several bags later we headed back to the villa,but not before a great lunch.One would note that there were many bottles in our garbage….but we could only drink bottled water X 7 people X 7 days.

We had some lovelies vistas,both by day and night from the villa….and some nights of enjoyment on some of the terraces.

Each morning was breakfast,then pool while Papa watched the news.A decision was then made for the days excursion.Our first excursion was to Positano to explore,swim,eat and shop.parking is at a premium,so the parking lots were a distance,so the trek began to the water.WE had a great swim,lunch in restaurant on the beach that had been visited by a lot of famous people(many of the usual suspects from current pop culture).The girls had some minor success shopping and we began the trek uphill.

No sooner had we returned to the villa,then back in the pool!We shared much cheese,meats,olives and bread(with olive oil and balsamic vinegar) in the large solarium facing the water.

Our next excursion was to Pompeii to see the ruins.A drive,then a train trip took us there.A quick snack and then the adventure begun.Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD with 4–6 metres of ash.The city was largely preserved and and much of the city was excavated.The park(UNESCO) is massive in size and impossible to see in just a few hours.With our maps,we set out o see some of the highlights.We saw the colosseum,the homes of the wealthy and average.many of the open areas had grape vines well past their prime.There remained some of floors tiled and patterned.The walls still had some paintings,preserved and many under glass in the museum.Many of the painting contained nudity and sexually provocative.We visited a brothel,with several rooms,cement beds,definitely a very old profession.We found our way to the center of the city with a large square and old statutes.

After lunch,we were back on the train and on our way to Sorrento.I do expect there was gelato in the mix.Once back ,we had the pool,vista and food to entertain us.

We had a couple of movie nights;chips,sweets etc.One of the evenings we pushed james and Sarah to go out for a quiet dinner and they found a Michelin restaurant in the village below.The kids were well behaved

Zoe and Ava spent lots of time working on their journals,sometimes sharing the content with each other.Sarah was not sure how much editing would be necessary.Izzy was more secretive about her works.

It is important to mention that the children had lots of exposure to the news which triggered much discussions about today’s world reality.May have got them a little hooked!They did discover that Papa liked to talk a lot about these issues.

Sarah initiated a beach adventure to include a hike and a swim.James,Marcus and I were in the second vehicle arriving later and went to find them.The streets were very narrow,requiring reverse driving(good job James).we trekked down the hill and came to a fork in the trail.Beyond this the trail became rather rocky,uneven and some of us would call scary.WE finally located the others re texting.We were still far above the water with large boulders to cross,some slippery and slimy.Being clumsy and old with more fragile bones,I decided to walk no further and eventually went back to the car.Sarah and the three girls did go in the water,james and Marcus not so much.

There was a lovely local family restaurant with wonderful pizza,pasta and fish.We spent 2 of our dinners there.They had a lovely large round table and a wonderful waiter who worked with our requests in broken Italian.We did have Google Translate and used it often during our time together.

The following day(Saturday) we decided after a morning of pool,news and laundry,that we would spend the day at the beach.Some drove carrying the towels and water and some of us walked ,as it was just down the hill.Except for Michael,we were all in the water,enjoying the waves ,the water and the paddle boats.

Now it was Saturday night and the need to use up as much food as we could before we left.I must say our Sarah is the queen of leftovers(lots of pizza and pasta) augmented with our large supply of cheese and meats.Thank God!!By the time we left little had to be donated…except some hard liquor…

On Sunday,our last day,we hastily did one more wash….no dryer so we had to depend on the sun…swim in the pool .The children needed to shop for gifts for their family and friends,so they headed off to Sorrento with James and Sarah.We were a receptive audience to see their treasures when they returned.

We then headed out for a hike.From the villa we could see a mountain on the point of the peninsula, with a church like structure on top.Off we went to find the path.One more tortuous drive up the mountain,mostly 2(?) lane.We found the stairs and began the walk up.I appreciated the hand rails on a less than smooth path.While ascending the hill we noted many crosses ,they were numbered with Roman numerals…the Ways of the Cross.The building on top was a small church and an old bell tower and much rust on the frame.It gave us an amazing view of beach,our villa(well in the distance and counting of pools) and Capri in the far distance.

Sunday night was spent with more swimming,packing,sorting in anticipation of an early morning departure (10 am).We were all sad to leave our surroundings and head back for long flights.We headed to Sorrento to drop off the cars and catch the train to Naples.Once in Naples we had a quick snack at the station and took the express train to Rome.We chose a hotel close to the airport,and hiring 2 taxis we raced through Rome toward the airport.It was a long ride to the hotel ( and thus not cheap).We settled in to our rooms and the kids headed to the pool.We then got organized for our last meal together.

The area around the airport is a whole new world ,with the Tiber River present and river traffic with some movement of goods.We wandered along the street and crossed the walkway bridge and settled on an Italian Restaurant.James was delighted to order a selection of dishes to be shared.We ate well,a meal finished with Tiramisu.We taxied back to the hotel ,knowing that tomorrow we would leave Italy.

James,Sarah and the rest of the crew were headed back to Halifax with 13 hours of flying.We had an early morning flight to London,but had visitors to our room at 7:30 to say good bye.There were again lots of hugs,kisses and words of enjoyment and sadness.One of the visions is that of the four kids seated across the bottom of the bed watching news.What had the world come to?

My last treat in Italy was a Lindt croissant….OMG.Which brings me to one last picture

So,James and Sarah, thanks for the gift of coming with all the children to share time with us in Italy during our odyssey.Something priceless for all of us.

We are leaving the continent and the warm weather and head off to the UK and the last few weeks.We anticipate autumn,more visits and more memories.

To jolly old England and King Charles.