Atrani, Pogerola e Napoli Citta'

Our last day on the Amalfi Coast was good. Everyone was weak and walking which was a good sign after the few days of severe food poisoning. Leaving the apartment they blinked as if they were cavemen seeing the sun for the first time in their lives. We cautiously decided to do our best with the minimal energy they had and do some "gentle sight-seeing". It was like a site-seeing tour for the House of Abiding Peace and Health Restoration. We went to the neighboring town of Atrani where there was an easy beach to walk to from the parking lot.

Whoever thought of building this town on the sea is a genius. Total genius.

We walked a long 5 minutes to get there, found a good solid beach umbrella and parked underneath of it for two hours.

 I jumped in the sea and swam happily around, joyous to touch the salty water again. In my jubilance to be in the sea I decided to do handstands and dive as far deep to the bottom as I could to pick up smooth stones. It was pure bliss.

Feeling more and more confident I decided to try a new move and do a summer-sault underwater. That is when water rushed into my ears and got clogged and I immediately felt gross. I paddled my way out of the water, sat on the beach chair and grumbled to my little group that I got water in my ears. It is the worst thing that can happen to me each summer as sometimes the water gets stuck for months and gives me terrible dizziness. So now our group of illness was complete and no one was feeling healthy or happy. We decided it was best to putter back to the hotel and not risk anyone feeling worse as their energy levels were depleting. So we pulled on our respective putter-pants and left Atrani.

These curves will make anyone motion sick let alone a group recovering from severe food-poisoning and someone with water lodged in her ears.

 We arrived home, all took turns napping and feeling refreshed decided to face the world again and go out to a cute town on the top of Amalfi called Pogerola for dinner. The restaurant, La Caraca di Gigino, offered a pick up and drop off taxi service for customers so we enthusiastically called and asked to be picked up.

I never not recommend a restaurant but this one was very disappointing: dirty, bad service and expensive.

About half an hour later a child around 16 years old flew around the corner in a VW and screeched to a stop in front of our hotel. He was pumping the hottest music of the summer, this was our driver and our ride. We got in the car and before our seat-belts were even on he did a quick U-turn and was back flying around the curves of the snake-shaped road, driving in the middle of the road and taking each turn as hard as he could with us bracing on the inside and holding onto whatever our hands could grab as our feet went flying with each turn. This child drove like at total maniac. Come to think of it, a total maniac might have driven more carefully! The drive from Conca dei Marini to Pogerola was at least 45 minutes away so I am not sure why they offered a free taxi service to places further than they could easily accommodate. The way to Pogerola was all turns, all terrible fast turns and I literally feared for our lives. I thought to myself, "We made it out of Ischia on a go-cart and boat, did two emergency flight landings, and survived the worst food poisoning we've ever experienced and now we will die in the car driven by a dumb arrogant kid!" I felt responsible for this chosen death so made some fussy noises hoping he would take the hint as he took turns flinging us around and finally asked in unison with the Chef for him to please take it easy. We arrived totally nauseous, shaken and terrified to the restaurant which in a nutshell was not worth it at all. If the child's driving skills were any indication of the quality, it was certainly reflected in the sassy customer service, over priced items and insipid food. La Caraca is the last place I would recommend to anyone in Amalfi!

That's it for dinner.

Stale bread. Tiny portions, old food...we risked food poisoning yet again.

The drive back was much better and the child must have understood that he needed to drive slower with us and I tried to make some chit-chat with him to keep him calm and from turning on his summer music and driving like Sponge-Bob Square Pants on too much Kool-Aid! The best part of the drive back from Pogerola to Conca dei Marini was seeing the full moon on the sea and looking forward to seeing it from our hotel balcony.

The view from Pogerola is awe-inspiring. 

 As we got home we all sat out in a row and just looked at the moon and felt very grateful to be there, to be alive after such a week, and to be together. At least I was grateful we were together!

The next morning we left bright and early to avoid traffic and drove home, dropped off our family, changed clothes and the chef and I darted off to downtown Naples to run some errands.

Welcome to Napoli!

Home of beautiful palaces on the water.

Where you can take a break any moment on the seaside

Where boulevard means shops, food, strolls, love and sea!

 Believe it or not, going to downtown Naples was so refreshing after going to the beach in Ischia and Amalfi. I love many cities in Italy but Naples is my favorite large city! Oh, yes more than Florence or Rome or Milano. My favorite medium cities are Cremona and Venice but in different ways. You can't compare the fields and country of Cremona to the canals and architecture of Venice. It's like comparing a pig to a fish. So Naples is my favorite large city and just feel like home. It is the most artistic, musical, poetic and culturally rich city I've been in Italy. It has it all: theater, sea, castles, boulevards to walk on next to the sea, boulevards to stroll with beautiful fancy shops, narrow streets to explore with hidden street markets,  and rows and rows and endless rows of pastry shops and divine wood-fire pizza bubbling at the edges. Not to speak of the beautiful churches and historical places where some of the first saints emerged like San Gennaro. I could live a lifetime in Naples and only know and touch the crust of the city, the art, the culture. Each time I go to Naples I walk away knowing that I know very little and feel like I just entered the door and left without seeing what is in there. I'm deeply in love with the Bourbonic palaces, created by the Spanish royal families and just love all the details in those palaces. Goodness, Naples is a place you really must see before you die, as the great saying goes. It is a city that has captivated foreigners for centuries and there is such good energy there that I think you can only really feel as a foreigner entering or as a Neapolitan who has lived there their entire life then left and felt a pang of missing its vibe. Naples is magical. It would be a great city for Jane Austen to get inspiration from. Neapolitan love is unique to love as it is a passion shared as a culture.

Knowing that the Chef had a quick errand in downtown Naples made me jump, put on my city outfit (yes you must be dressed up in an Italian city!) and jump in the car to go with him. Our errand was quick, so we grabbed a light lunch at our favorite little coffee shop called Gran Bar Riviera.

Pizza Rustica!

Side note: Gran Bar Riviera makes some of the highest quality pastries but also rustic pizzas. It is one of our favorite places to go to!

We later walked down Via Caracciolo, the boulevard by the sea, and strolled lazily all the way to the end near Posilipo and walked down the pier with yachts flanked on either side and looked out to the sea.

"Did you feed the cat before to leave?" she asks again. "What cat?! We have a cat? Oh you mean the watermelon with legs? Yes, I fed him." he responds

Incoming yacht. Hold the traffic!

Yacht turns right into the harbor.

Yacht is carefully lowered and not dropped. Success.

Local fishermen

Sea goodies

Little fishing boats

What to do on your lunch break when no one knows where you are.

A boat named Zizzatosta... Only a 12 year old boy would name his boat this.

The view from the pier

Teaching them while they are young! In the US I would be horrified to see this child on a scooter but in Naples it is ok. I didn't see one accident among all the insane drivers in Naples yet see at least 3-4 fenderbenders a day in DC. We need more espresso and the sea in DC!

Arriving to the end of the pier in downtown Napoli was one of my favorite moments on our trip.

Vedi Napoli e poi muori! See Naples before you die!