The last two days have been just as busy as the rest of our days.  We hung out on the Amalfi coast yesterday and in Naples today.  The two days were pretty different from each other.

The Amalfi was just as beautiful as you could imagine; it was gloriously sunny with clouds that hovered over the mountain peaks.  The roads are kind of narrow and the hairpin turns are tight to maneuver.  It’s not a drive for the faint hearted.  Paul and I have both driven it several times but it has been quite a while! Paul did a marvelous job.  We took zillions of pictures. (I’m only going to attempt to post a few!)

One of the most fun parts of the day was reliving our old pottery haunt in Veitri. We bought pottery for our families for most of the holidays while living here from some nice little shops filled with owners who are quite the characters.  We have a set of dishes that we purchased from a shop called Giovanni.  They are still there!  We bought a couple of things from them but like I said before…shipping is expensive! 

One of my favorite things to do after shopping in Vietri twenty-some years ago was stopping by this small restaurant for their misto pasta.  THEY ARE STILL THERE AND THEY STILL MAKE IT!  Oh, man it was good! 

We came home by way of a produce shop and deli. Anne and I made dinner – bruschetta and a plate of salami and cheese.  With our 2 bottles of wine, dinner was about 15 euros (about $!6!!!!) It was so good!!!

Today was kind of frustrating and drizzly/rainy.  One of our must-dos was to go to the Archeological museum in Naples.  We decided to take the train.  One of the problems in taking the train was that we didn’t know where we’d be able to park the car and we are staying in a place where buses don’t run.  Luckily, we found a parking place for the day and got tickets for the train.  The train was so crowded and we are so paranoid about pick-pockets that it was a bit un-nerving.  After about an hour of standing and listening to all the conversations around us…German, Austrian, English (queens), English (us), Italian…we made it to the central train station in Naples.  We were told to not look like you don’t know where you are going so of course we picked the wrong direction as we exited the building.  OY!

We walked to the Naples Duomo and sat and figured out where we were and how to get to the museum.  This museum is filled with items found at Pompeii. It is amazing what they were able to do in the first century!  They were making glass, bronze casts, silver stuff etc.  Their mosaics are so beautiful! Really fantastic! 

We went to lunch/dinner at a very famous pizzeria – Michele’s.  They only make pizza margarita and Pomodoro.  They either are tomatoes and cheese or tomatoes and olive oil.  AND they are wonderful!  I’m looking forward to trying out the Neapolitan Pizza cookbook to see if I can create these yummy pies! 

Our return train ride home wasn’t as rough as the ride to Naples since had seats but it was still long!  We are so happy to be back in this quite place to relax as we rev up for our trek through Pompeii and Herculaneum.  Last time I was there I had David in a backpack!  I think that this should be a bit easier! J

A domani!