As we are roaming the streets of Venice, and thinking fondly of a past time, I am so grateful to be sharing this day with the same special person that I shared it with 30 years ago! 😊❤️
Category: Italy
Rome, Italy – June 2015
Our last stop on this trip before heading back to Canada was one overnight in Rome. We took a ferry from Capri to Naples. (Sorry Naples, won’t be visiting your city anytime soon). Your city is a bit too chaotic for us 😕. From Naples we took a train to Rome.
Since we were just in Rome for one day and one overnight we took a “hop on, hop off ” bus tour of the city . Crazy hot that day, it was 35 degrees C outside. Due to our limited time in this city we were only able to hit some of the major sites. We’ll need to come back here someday. Liked what we saw.
Last night in Rome, getting out of control! Time to go home Bernardo! 😊
This was certainly one memorable trip to Italy that we’ll talk about for a long time 🇮🇹
arrivederci !
Isle of Capri, Italy – June 2015
To get to Capri from Positano we first took one of the coastal ferries to Sorrento and made a connection to the SNAV ferry to the Island of Capri. This small hydrofoil ferry to Capri provided us with a very comfortable and smooth crossing.
We docked at Marina Grande (see below). From that wharf we hopped on the funicular which took us directly to the Piazzetta (Main Square) in just minutes, From this main square, it was a short walk to our hotel.
Ravello – Amalfi Coast, Italy – May 2015
During our stay in Atrani, we took a hike up a mountain which took us to the Path of Gods. This path led us directly to what we now refer to as “our little heaven spot on earth”. It’s a small village perched up on a mountain, called Ravello. (When you click on the Ravello link, click on the category, “attractions” and then click on “virtual tour”, photos & music”. These photos will speak for themselves about this beautiful place.
The Path of Gods is basically a trail that runs along the mountain ridge which overlooks the sea below. Parts of the trail connects the Amalfi’s coastal towns by going up or down steep staircases. We started our hike up from Atrani and eventually, it connected us to the Path of Gods. We followed this path and it eventually brought us directly to Ravello. Just be careful as a small portion of this path is on the road and therefore cars and motorcycles are coming through at a pretty fast pace. If you take your time there should be no issues. You can also get to Ravello by car, bus or taxi.
Positano & day trip to Sorrento – Amalfi Coast, Italy – May 2015
“La Bella Vita” in Positano – 🇮🇹 🍝
By the time we got to Positano the Italian culture was starting to set into our genes 😊.
Continue reading “Positano & day trip to Sorrento – Amalfi Coast, Italy – May 2015”
Village of Atrani on the Amalfi Coast, Italy – May 2015
From Florence, we took a train to Salerno.
Once at Salerno, we took a ferry to the town of Amalfi. The ferries follow the Amalfi coastline so the scenery is pretty nice. These ferries are convenient as they run often and are usually right on time (in comparison to local buses as sometimes they are full by the time they get to your stop). If your travels permit, we recommend travelling the coast by ferry.
Continue reading “Village of Atrani on the Amalfi Coast, Italy – May 2015”
Monastero Santa Rosa, Hotel & Spa – Amalfi Coast, Italy – May 2015
When we were looking for accommodations on the Amalfi Coast we kept coming back to this beautiful photo (see below) and an article we read about an amazing hotel perched upon a cliff in the village of Conca Dei Marini.
Here’s an excerpt from that article: “a most extraordinary new luxury resort. Bianca Sharma is an extraordinary woman. She is the sole owner of Europe’s most extraordinary hotel to open this century, Monastero Santa Rosa Bianca acts on impulse. She is a former schoolteacher who had always defined herself as a wife and mother of two sons. Married to Texas-born Ken Sharma, co-founder of the software company i2 Technologies, he was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1997. He passed away in 1999. That same year the soft-spoken Bianca and her two teenage sons went for a visit to the Amalfi coast, staying with longtime friends. During a boat trip along the coast, she looked up at an imposing ruined building, an old monastery 1,000 ft up a near-vertical cliff. Back in the 1600’s a nun by the name of, Rosa Pandolfi, a descendant of a noble family had founded the convent. The monastery, as it became known (not because monks lived here, but because it was the home of a secluded religious order) closed its doors in the mid-1800s. In 1924, it reopened as a hotel but by the end of the 20th century that establishment had shut its doors as well, and the convent once again stood silent, in danger of falling into ruin. When Bianca saw it hanging on the cliff she said, I HAVE A DREAM as she envisioned a 20-room luxury hotel.”
Her dream took many years to form but the hotel finally opened in 2012.
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Touring & biking the vineyards of Tuscany, Italy – May, 2015
We left the beautiful Cinque Terre and took the train to Florence. We had been to Florence in 1990 with friends. However, we were looking forward to seeing this city again. Florence was going to be our home base for doing side trips to the vineyards of Tuscany ❤️🍷
We stayed in an apartment right next to the Duomo, which is Florence’s Cathedral. It was a great location and had a good size grocery store just around the corner. Since this was a high tourist area it was a bit noisy for part of the evening especially with the windows open. The bedroom was in the back so there was no issue sleeping. It was one of the apartments in this Duomo guesthouse.
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Cinque Terre, Italy – May 2015
In 1990 we travelled to Europe and met up with friends who were living in Germany at the time. With their Westfalia van, we toured parts of Europe, including a bit of northern Italy, Venice & Florence. Since that trip, going back to Italy had been quite high on our bucket list. We finally headed back there in the spring of 2015. We flew to Genoa and took the local train to Cinque Terre.