10/7/07 - Frankfort, Germany

We are currently in Frankfort, Germany awaiting our connecting flight to Chicago. So obviously, finding WiFi or a Tmobile HotSpot in the middle of the rolling Tuscan countryside proved to be impossible. We have had such a wonderful time since we left Sorrento, I don’t even know where to begin (but I’ll try):

The drive to Siena from Sorrento was, to put it mildly, harrowing. At least for me (Kristin). I was a horrible passenger (nothing new), but this was a whole new level of gripping the handle. No one pays attention to the speed limits and/or traffic signs…and when you are going 140+ km/hour in a tin can Fiat, it can be especially challenging. We found it interesting that the speed limits vary based on what lane you are in on the Autostrada. It was about a 6 hour drive, but it was beautiful. It is common to see Renaissance castles and ancient structures dotting the landscape. Quaint little hamlets and villas. Oh, and at one gas station, the attendant pumped gas and made cappuccinos to-go at the counter!

When we arrived at the villa our jaws dropped. Borg il Poggiaccio is incredible. In the 14^th century, it was a self sustaining village with a church, schoolhouse, blacksmith, etc. The entire hamlet was updated into an upscale village with all exteriors restored to the original 14^th century appearance. Cobblestone streets (impossible with heels) connected each building, and a pool, terrace, restaurant and cave are all on the property.

Wednesday night was a “Embrace your jet-lag” cocktail party and it was so great seeing some of our old friends, as well as meeting Paul and Tanya’s family and other friends. It was such a great group of people!

On Thursday, the 9 a.m. wake-up call was a bit difficult, but we managed. I had emailed the villa owner prior to our arrival that we wanted to rent bikes and go for a nice bike ride. Well, once we were dropped off at the bike shop and asked how long we would like to ride for, 5 or 6 hours?, I knew we were in for a treat. Right. My vision of a leisurely ride through Tuscany on a bike with a basket (to pick berries and such) instantly turned into a daymare. Ingo (“Bingo without the B”), our tour guide, scared Ted instantly with his sculpted calves. We (Ted) decided on a 3 hour ride. The mountain bikes (no baskets!) were pulled out and I started to sweat. This was no leisurely ride- we were on serious trails.

Okay….cutting it short! I will finish up tomorrow – BYE!!

k&t

Sorrento\Positano 10/2/07

Yesterday, we spent a lovely day in Positano. Well...lovely once we finally got there! The Amalfi Drive is famous for it's constant switch back and hair pin turns, all while going uphill with, seemingly, every other person in the country that has a car. It is PACKED and you'd think that would be a cause for slowing down and driving carefully? NO. To take a quote from one of our Fodor's books (about the drive):

• Don't look down
• Don't look up
• Don't look - it's easier that way (& no one else is!)
• Forget about camels not passing through the eye of a needle
• Timidity will get you nowhere - literally
• The solid center line in the middle of the road is merely a suggestion
• Whoever gets to a lane first has the right of way - it doesn't matter whose side the lane is on

In my opinion, sideview mirrors play the part of "bumper" on cars...not for actually using to see what is behind you. So, it was an adventure. And the road is literally carved into the side of the clif, so all that is holding you up there is a rickety rail, then hundreds of feet of cliffs that go straight into the sea. Apparantly, "they" say that everyone must do it once. So we did. But we also took a boat back at the end of the day. =)

Positano itself is right out of a movie. Gorgeous homes and hotels, beautiful beaches and water. We had a great lunch on the climb down from the bus stop (again, straight downhill on steps), and had a much needed 1\2 carafe of pinot grigio and another panino caprese (my favorite).

We laid on the beach for about an hour and a half or so...there were pigeons everywhere, which is frankly just disgusting. Oh, also (Andrea- you would love this) there is sea glass EVERYWHERE! You only had to stoop down and you could collect a handful of it. Beautiful greens and blues. I collected quite a bit (and have the sore shoulder to prove it, once I dumped it all into my bag!). We then packed up and took another cliff path, about a 10 minute walk, and discovered a small cove with a gorgeous beach. We decided to have a beer and bruschetta at a little beach restaurant, then had to walk back to catch our boat to Sorrento. What a fun ride along the coast! We were drenched at one point, but the weather has just been so perfect here.

Dinner last night at 10 p.m. or so & it was my favorite so far!! Baked gnochhi & Ted had fresh seafood and pasta. Gelatto (of course!) topped off a wonderful day.

K&T

10/1/07 Current location- Sorrento, Italy

Getting ready to go into the Blue Grotto - laying flat, the opening is about 2' high and just fits the height of the row boat.

We love Sorrento! What a fun and lively town. More scooters and Vespas that I have ever seen in my life, but watch out- there are no traffic signals in the entire town and pedestrians definitely do NOT have the right of way.

Anyway, I'll update you on our final day in Capri. The trek to "Villa Jovis" yesterday was, I think, the most strenuous workout I have ever had. Great for toning your calves, bad for your knees. It was almost an hour straight up hill, but the views and the houses along the way were so beautiful. There are no roads to top, which is wild if you think of the people who live there and have to do that every single day. We decided that we would definitely invest in a couple of Jazzy's (electric wheelchairs) if we lived there. Tiberius' villa was interesting as well, especially if you consider that people have been traipsing through the same rooms as we did for the past (almost) 2,000 years. It's incredible that the walls are still standing. We had a great lunch complete with pinot gris and then headed back to the marina for a boat tour. We ended up hiring a private boat so that we could see everything that we wanted at our own pace. The trip around the island was breathtaking and our captain was very good at pointing everything out. We went into all of the grottos and even went swimming through the green grotto while we waited for our captain to pick us up on the other side!!

We then bought tickets and boarded the hydrofoil to Sorrento. Managed to find the correct bus which dropped us off at the main piazza. Our hotel is steps away from there and we then set off for exploring the town and had another delicious dinner. Ted, always the observer, noted that all of the restaurants seemed to have pasta on the menu! No, seriously?! Pasta?! In Italy?! He then backtracked with some fact about pasta being from China, not Italy. Anyway...

Okay, now it it Monday morning. We are getting ready to board the bus to Positano for a day at the beach!!

K&T

9/30/07 Capri, Italy

Hello everyone!

(I am trying to be patient as we update our blog, however it it proving difficult since the keys on the keyboard are in different places, etc...hence a lot of backspacing and possible misspelled words- thanks!)

Day 1

Well, we are finally here. The flights were relatively uneventful, after the initial shock of how small and rather thin the seats seemed (Kristin - "What is this? The IKEA plane??"). Ted then discovered that we were on the new "Global Warming Friendly" Lufthansa plane, which just thrilled him to death. Okay, I'm all about saving the environment and what-not, but NOT at the expense of my comfort on an 8 hour flight. Moving on.

A double dose of Ambien later, we landed in Munich, passed out AGAIN, & boarded the plane to Naples. Surprisingly, our luggage was waiting for us as we exited the plane and we quickly made our way outside. We managed to avoid eye contact with anyone that was trying to swindle us our of our precious euros, and instantly found the bus to take us to the port. Ted bought the first pair of Giorgi-faux Armani sunglasses that he saw (5 euro!) and we poof! we were in Capri.

Capri is beautiful. That is the best way to describe it. We had a bird-free lunch outside (!) and then checked into our hotel, which is beautiful & surprisingly large for a European hotel. We spent the day exploring the marina then took the funicular up the hill to the main Capri town. It is the quintessential Italian town- small cobblestone streets with paths jutting off here and there, great bistros and amazing views. It rained for a bit, which didn't bother us as we ducked under an awning and had champagne (K) and beer (T). More walking...more walking...then a late dinner (you'd love it, Nen!!) that was delicious. We headed back down with the hopes of a gelatto under the stars but alas, everything was closed (Kristin was not pleased- "We have to have gelatto EVERY night!).

Now Sunday and we are heading to some really old villa (Ted's idea). Okay, okay...it is Tiberius Ceasar's villa from 27 AD, which seems like it will be cool...and after the 50 minute walk there (& back), it better be. Sorry, trying to remain positive....

Okay, that's it for now. I (Kristin) also just noticed that I jumped around from first to third person and back...sorry!