Naples; Sorrento; Amalfi Coast; Salerno

Monday, June 16, 2008
 

Naples

Sorrento

Amalfi  Coast

Salerno 

After meeting the tour guide at the bus, we traveled through the city of Naples.  This city is the main southern metropolis, the third largest city in the Country, one of the major calling-ports, and one of the greatest naval strategic points in the Mediterranean.  As with many of the major cities in Italy, the Piazza Del Municipio, or town hall square, is the focal point of the city and is protected by the statue of Victor Emanuel II.  Victor was, or is, one of Italy’s heroes since he was the one who united the Italians against all invaders.  The Trieste e Trento Square is very close to the town hall and is the Mecca of the area.  Throughout the drive we saw many statues of the two angels of the Baroque Virgin Mary’s Spire, which were immaculate.      We drove along the Harbor St. Lucia with a view of Borgo Marinaro, then on to see the Fontana dell’Immacolatella or Fountain of the Young Virgin.  I’m sure in its hay-day, it was quite beautiful.  We passed through the two piers, one on each side, the newer one and the “ancient” one.  That was kind of interesting, especially since they still use the ancient pier. As far as Naples is concerned, both Ariel and I decided it was not our cup of tea.  We felt it was very dirty, congested, and not someplace where you would want to spend any time. We headed to Sorrento via the Amalfi Coast, along the Golfo Di Napoli, which enabled us to see all sorts of things.  We drove through several towns, taking in the sights.  One such town was Salerno, best known for being the next best place to vacation or live outside of Sorrento.  We passed through Portici, Ercolano, Torre Del Greco, Torre Annunziata, Castellammare Di Stabia and Bagni Di Pozzano, Vico Equense, Piano Di Sorrento, and South Agnello.  We could also see the Island of Capri off the coast line, but we did not actually go out to the island, maybe next time. We drove past Pompeii, where we could see two of the ruins’ structures-to me they looked just like the other ruins!  We saw the first train bridge suspended quite high over a gulch.  We went through many tunnels built in the sides of the mountains.  We saw a glimpse of the Amalfi Coast, which was gorgeous.  We stopped at a scenic spot which overlooked the coast line, and the island of Capri, plus several other smaller islands.   We eventually arrived in Sorrento…Our first stop was to the in-laid wood shop.  This shop has been family-owned for more than five generations and it is the originator of this type of work.  Sorrento is the only place in the World who does this type of wood-working.  Each little piece of wood is hand-carved, and all the pieces are fit together to form the intricate designs.  The shop-owner, a youngish man, demonstrated the process, which always starts with a drawing in the colors he wants the design to be in the final piece.  He then finds all the pieces of wood he needs to match the design, some of which are dyed using a special process.  All the pieces of wood are placed one on top of the other, like a books, with masking tape of the back.  The drawing is placed over the top of the stack, traced onto the tope piece, and then is cut using a weird looking circular saw.  It is not the kind of saw you and I think of, but a very precise instrument which can be maneuvered 360 degrees.  From there, each piece of wood is peeled off the stack, revealing only the pieces that are needed for the specific design.  Once that is completed the entire piece is glued, with a special type of glue, onto a piece of wood, such as Koa wood.  The wood-worker will peel the tape off, put many coats of sealant on, and finishes it with coat of polyeurenthane.  This makes the piece hard and fire-proof.  It can end up with a glossy finish or a matte finish depending upon how they process the end coat.  It is amazing how much time it takes to do one simple design.  One “painting” took the artist over a year and a half to complete-it was amazing.   After leaving this demonstration, we were given time in the town to, guess what, SHOP!  We wandered through the main street and a few back streets of the Piazza Tasso (Tasso Square), where the narrow streets are a huge maze with the villagers’ houses, terraces and balconies above the little shops.  We figured out very quickly that most of what was being sold was the same as everywhere else.  We did purchase a suitcase for Ariel and our standard books and postcards.  We did pick up a few inlaid wooden boxes as well.   After making our purchases we checked out some of the monuments, statues, historical buildings, and famous spots.  We saw the Monument to Torquato Tasso, the famous poet from Sorrento in the 16^th Century.  The other statue is called St. Anthony the Abbot, who is the Patron saint of Sorrento.  We strolled by the Church of St. Mary del Carmine, which was eloquently painted in a soft yellow, trimmed in white. We walked under the Sedile Dominova, a building with two arches on each side; viewed the Campanile of the Cathedral, which was also remarkable. Our next experience was to take the “shuttle bus” from the town to the “resort” and I use both of those words loosely.  This little shuttle bus was cramped and hot and the driver drove like a maniac down the steep, windy cobblestone street.  We were thankful to get out at our destination.  We climbed out of the shuttle, to take in the view of the Marina Grande and the Marina Piccola.  The first is set up as “bathing” beaches, while the latter is used for the motorboats and hydrofoils to be moored.  These boats go between Sorrento and the Island of Capri and Naples.  Scanning the coast-line, we saw the Scutari Point, again an amazing sight.  As you raise your eyes up the great cliffs, you will see the palaces, buildings, and gardens which are embedded in the walls, very remarkable.   We walked by several “resorts” until we reached the very end, which was our last stop.  There were stripped cabanas used for changing lined up all over the piers; some of the locals will rent one for the entire season, so they can leave all their beach things inside.  The “clubhouse” was a place you could get snacks or eat a meal.  The piers have been built out over the rocks so that folks can enjoy the sun and water since there is little beach.  On the piers you will find several different types of lawn chairs, the plain white plastic types are considered the low-end, moving to what we used, which were blue canvas with a face shade if you wanted it.  The closer to the “clubhouse” the cheaper; we were on the furthest pier, so we were considered the “rich foke”.  There was one little sandy beach, but that is where the “poor-foke” sit.  When on the pier, to get to the water, you walk down a flight of stairs and then jump in at the bottom.  The water was a very beautiful deep blue, which you could see through to the volcanic rocks below, but was freezing!   After we found our lawn chairs, laid out our towels, and settled our belongings, we wander back to the clubhouse, where we ate lunch at their little restaurant.  Ariel trying the special, which was this super fat pasta, and me trying the pizza.  The pizza was interesting with these leaves, that looked like they had picked them off one of their house plants, all over it.  After removing all of them, the pizza was pretty good.  The waiter was the most handsome man we had seen on the trip, with mesmerizing blue eyes that twinkled when he spoke.  He was very kind and quite talkative.  If I wasn’t spoken for, I may have seen if he was available for a little romance, but I restrained myself!   We went back to our spots, lay on our the canvas lawn chairs, jumped in and out of the water very quickly, and enjoyed the rays until it was time to head back.   We took that crazy shuttle back to the top of the town so we could catch the tour bus back to the ship.  We had to push our way to the front of the line so we could get the front row of seats.  You see as we were trying to get on the bus in the beginning of the trip, this mother and daughter practically ran us over trying to get to the front, even though we were in front of them.  They got the first row of seats while we got the second row.  The other front row is saved for handicapped and the tour guide.  That one I will never understand-why does the tour guide get the best seat in the bus when they can sit on the jump seat next to the driver?  We thought it would be OK since the tour guide would probably get up and down so we would be able to see, but we were wrong.  This couple walked by us, went to nearly the back of the bus in a huff.  Next thing we know the lady is telling the tour guide she wants to sit in the front seat and would he mind moving.  The nerve of this woman was amazing, telling the tour guide they were going to sit in those seats and he should move!  I think the tour guide was in shock as he did not respond right away; he stumbled through his words, with an “I guess that would be OK” but you could tell he was very hesitant.  So next thing we know the tallest man on the tour is sitting in front of me and the lady with the big hair in front of Ariel.  They could not sit still, moving back and forth the whole time so it was almost impossible for us to see anything.  We decided that there was no way we were going to miss out on the views again because some of these people are so self-centered, not bothering to allow others to sit in the front row on the way back.  The views were well worth the pushing and shoving, well I really didn’t push and shove, but definitely worked to be first in line! When we got on the tender to go back to the ship, we had the ride of a lifetime; the water was rough, tossing us around, and splashing us with sea water.  We were rocking and rolling all the way there.  We were grateful that we got there when we did since the folks right after us took more than an hour to get back to the ship and the sea was a lot rougher.  So much so, that our departure was delayed by over two hours.  Then off to the next port!