Return to rainy Roma and red red wine, Italy.

Arriving back in Rome just before the sun had set, we found our next AirBnB with ease. Checking into our room, we picked up some supplies from the next door supermarket, & had a healthy & very tasty tuna & feta salad for dinner, along with a few Aperol Spritz'. It was an early night, & after a movie in bed we were fast asleep!

Our next day in Roma consisted of hitting up the local Sunday market, before walking around seeing the sights. We shot up, gobbled down some toast & headed out into the stinking hot day. We strolled to our first stop, the market & made a couple successful purchases from the mountains of piled clothes. Our next stop was the colosseum, & after I recreated a picture Nicki took of me 7 years earlier, back when there wasn't nearly as much scaffolding, we snapped a few more pics & headed to a café institution Sean had read about. A strong espresso later, we headed towards the Trevi fountain, although we knew it was closed for renovations. It was definitely not as breathtaking without the water running, but it was still cool for Sean to see. We walked around some more, did some shopping at Zara before returning to our temporary home to get ready for the evening.

After chilling out at home for awhile, we changed into some nice fresh clothes & headed out for a night on Roma town. We found a cute little wine bar/restaurant, luckily sneaking in a day before they closed for the summer holiday! Sharing a bottle of rosé & a charcuterie platter, we were very impressed with the food & after downing the bottle, we were feeling great! Our next stop was a happening bar near where we were when we met Alex a few weeks back, & we finished the night with a couple of giant beers before catching an Uber home for a movie & bed.

We woke slowly the next morning, & after another toast breakfast, we were out again bound for the Vatican City & the Sistine Chapel. The city was absolutely rammed with tourists all braving the rain by standing in a line that nearly covered the religious city itself! Deciding against lining up In the wet drizzle for 4 hours plus, to see the inside of the churches, we headed off towards the centre. We stumbled upon 'Circus Café,' a funky place I discovered with my friend Silvia years before. We had a bagel each & after meeting a playful German Shepard, we decided to make the long walk back to our place.

We got home & packed up, ready for our flight to London the next day. After hanging out for awhile, we decided to grab a takeaway pizza & chill out at home that evening. We picked up a large anchovy & zucchini flower pizza from the pizza joint down the road, & retired home for more Aperol Spritz (we had to finish the bottle!) & also another movie. It didn't take long before we were drifting off to sleep, excited for London & all the people there who were awaiting our arrival! 

Secret swimming holes & beaches under bridges, Amalfi Coast, Italy.

We took our time the next morning as our bus wasn't until 10:30. We were set to meet up with our next AirBnB host, Lucio (Lu-cho) at one of the seaside towns, Minori. We caught the busy bus no problem, however it dropped us at a unmarked stop so we ended up having to find wifi to find our man! Alas, we were soon in his tiny car heading up the mountain side which at one point in the road goes so narrow they need traffic lights in the daytime! Pulling into a gated carpark, we arrived at his house in Ravello. It was a big home with many levels, all inhabited by his family or family friends. We dropped our bags in our room & headed out to scale back down towards the ocean. 

The walk was intensely steep, & after a good half hour, we made it to a town called Castilliglio. Once again taking crazy steep steps down to the actual beach, we wasted no time in stripping off & charging on in. The swim was replenishing, & exactly what we needed. We clambered back up the stairs & walked towards the town of Amalfi (Overrated) for a browse before returning to the middle beach, Atrani. We swam off a massive concrete slab for a good hour before heading back to Ravello on the bus.

Feeling starving for dinner, we threw on some clothes & walked across the street to a big open garden with lots of tables in it. We had a delicious pizza dinner in a nice breezy setting before we paid up & stumbled across the road & straight into bed!

The next day we had a big one planned, a two hour bus ride out to 'Bagni Della Giovanna,' a secret waterhole I had seen & had been dying to get to. We packed a spare change of clothes for dinner in it's closest city Sorrento, & set off for the bus. The ride was nauseating, dangerous and kept us on the edge of our seats. It entailed two hours of twists & turns along with the slamming of brakes when meeting another vehicle on the almost one way cliff side roads had me feeling woozy, so once we made it to the bus stop & grabbed a snack, I was on the mend! We walked down a path following directions off the internet, veering off the road & down a skinny path lined with ruins. What we found at the end of our decline was an extraordinary hole in the ground with a shining emerald & blue pool at the bottom. 

We navigated our way down to a small strip of beach, the place was scattered with primarily locals, which was a great sign. We wasted no time in diving under the cool, refreshing blanket of water & we marvelled at the moment. Sean decided to take it to the next level & he made yet another leap of faith straight from the top of the path into the surprisingly deep ocean. We swam out through the hole in the rock & were met with gorgeous blue ocean. Deciding to move our stuff to the cliff on the other side, we leapt from an old bridge into the sea, & splashed around soaking up the sun and all its glory. 

After a wonderful few hours spent at our new favourite swimming spot, we decided to gather our gear & head to Sorrento on foot which was only about a half hour track. After browsing bars we settled on an Irish pub for a cold pint of Nastro Azzuro. Getting changed in the process, we were ready for dinner, which was a few doors down. The restaurant, Parrucchiano, is a Sorrento institution & one recommended by Cristina & family. The restaurant itself is huge, with countless tables & an army of waiters. We were sat at the most picturesque end of the restaurant, with lemons everywhere you looked, & our romantic dinner for two was set. A delicious Italian meal & fantastic local white wine later, we were out & back on the bus home. Thankfully I slept the way back so it was nowhere near as bad as the morning!! We climbed into bed ready to take on the next day. 

The next morning we woke up & immediately met two new faces who just checked into the other room. Mike & Fhum, a newly married couple from Montreal were super friendly, & they offered to drive down in their hired car to our next swimming destination, Furore with us. Before long we were on the road, & we made it to the giant bridge which connects the main road over a cove. Heading down the steps, the boys were picking out the best places to jump from, & were so excited they would've leapt straight away, fully clothed! After wisely deciding to check the depth, they were back up the stairs & off they went, free falling into the deep, picture perfect sea! It was my turn next, & after standing on the edge for a while, I let myself go, & I plummeted into the beautiful, refreshing ocean. It was fun but once was definitely enough!

We swam, chatted, & the boys continued to jump off things for awhile before we unanimously decided we were all hungry for lunch. Heading to Lucio's favourite restaurant spot, Atrani, we hit up a restaurant called 'Ristorante Salvo,' & tucked into some fresh, tasty seafood. Finishing up & headed home, we pulled up at the supermarket & picked up a few supplies. We made it back home & it ticked over to beer o'clock. Sharing a few beers with our new friends & also Lucio & his gf, we swapped stories & marvelled at the massive downpour that swept over us. 

As night crept in & a few beers later, we decided it would be an fantastic idea to head to the eggplant festival down in Maiori. The four of us piled into the car & navigated our way to the festival. Unfortunately, it had been rained out & our craving for eggplant parmigiana was looking like it would go unfulfilled! That is, until the boys went into a small family restaurant & walked back out with a whole tray of the stuff!! We headed back to the house & each dished up the delicious parmigiana. We got through a couple bottle of wines, & after an evening walk around Ravello checking out the fanciest hotels, we were back home & into our beds! 

We woke up, packed up yet again & then bid farewell for now to our French Canadian & Italian friends. Hopping on the bus back to salerno we arrived, boarded our train back to Rome, & said sayonara to the sea, & the phenomenal Amalfi Coast!

The almighty Amalfi and captivating Capri, Italy.

We awoke early to the sound of alarm blasting away. We packed up our things drowsily & were out the door in good time. After stopping for a pastry & espresso, Cris & Roberto dropped us off at the station. We hopped on the train & before we knew it we were in Milan. We had a two hour stop over before jumping on the fast train to Salerno, so we just chilled at a café & had an overpriced sandwich. Once we got on board we were sat opposite each other, next to two Italian strangers. One of which was a lady who sighed frequently, & unnecessarily loudly! 

It was a long six hour trip but we made it into  Salerno just as night was falling. We jumped in a cab from the station & pulled into a small alleyway which allegedly led up to our Air BnB. After asking a friendly waiter at a nearby restaurant, he pointed us in the direction of our accommodation & in no time we were buzzing on up. We were greeted by a young, quiet couple who showed us our cute orange room with a little terrace. We dumped our bags & asked where the best place was to eat. The man recommended the same restaurant downstairs with the helpful waiter so we headed on down & after a little wait for a table, we were seated. Dinner consisted of a tasty thin pizza & an okay salad, & satisfied, we went back upstairs & dived into bed! 

Waking the next morning to the noise from the bustling little street below, we walked out into the kitchen & helped ourselves to brekky. Our plan for the day was to head out on a ferry to the town of Positano, & once we figured out where it was & we got changed, we were off! We managed to make the 10:30am ferry, & we took a seat up on the top deck. The water was absolutely gorgeous the further we moved around the Amalfi coastline, & the secret coves, beaches & houses along the way were countless! 

After a couple of hours we arrived at the port of the pretty-as-a-painting Positano. We disembarked the ferry, had a quick browse around the town & marvelled at how 'Italian' (tacky) the unreasonably expensive clothes were, then had a bite to eat before heading to the beach! We walked along a path just outside of the town, away from the crowded main beach, & stumbled upon a quaint little cove where hardly anyone was, happy to avoid the masses lazing about on over priced deck chairs!! Jumping at the chance to get in the stunning aqua blue sea, we laid our sarongs down on the scorching hot pebbles, & dived on in. 

The water was cool & very refreshing, & the cove was such a little haven away from the masses. We had a couple of swims & chilled in the before heading back towards port & onto the 4:30 ferry. Napping the majority of the way back (whilst being pranked by a certain photographer,) we arrived back in Salerno. We made our way home, stopping at a supermarket on the way to gather supplies for dinner. I hopped into the large shower while Sean cooked up a pork dinner, along with peas, carrots, zucchinis & mashed potatoes. We crawled into bed, ready for an early start in the morning for a day trip to Capri!

We accidentally overslept our alarm when we eventually woke, & after chucking a few things together & throwing clothes on, we raced to catch the 8:30 ferry. Making it just in time, we set sail again over the crystal blue ocean, & after stopping a couple of times to pick up more passengers, we arrived in the port of the paradise island of Capri. Unloading off the ferry, we weaved & dodged around the masses of other tourists, who trickled off other boats at a seemingly never ending pace. Seeking respite at a café with a particularly strong cappuccino, we made an executive decision to hire a scooter for half of the day, & after we paid up, our waiter pointed us to a scooter hire store. 

The hiring process was a breeze, the gent behind the counter marked the best spots on the map, & we had 5 hours to bring it back. Setting off on the hectic & narrow island roads, we rode along a winding pass that cut into the mountain & provided breathtaking views. It wasn't too long before we pulled into the carpark of Punta Carena e Farro & as we walked down the pathway we soon came to realise why the swimming spot was a local favourite! The  water deep, yet crystal clear, so you could see every rock on the bottom. We jumped off a diving point, which unbeknownst to us, would be just a warm up for the ones to come!

After making like a sunbaking lizard on the rocky boat ramp for a wee while, we were up & off again, this time headed to another swimming spot on the opposite side of the island. This one was called Grotta Azzurra, & it was just picture perfect. Laying our sarongs down, we leaped into the ocean, the island dropped off right away into blue abyss, making this the perfect jumping spot. Sean was jumping from a point a good 8 metres up before a young local boy asked him to come jump off a point nearly twice as high! Unsurprisingly, Sean needed no time to deliberate, & he was soon up on the face of a cliff. It was a giant drop but he wasted no time in taking the leap of faith, plunging into the water, then coming up laughing. We hung around the serene spot for a little while, before agreeing that we were both hungry, & so we were back on the scooter, headed towards the opposite end of the island.

We parked up in the town centre as no vehicles were permitted past a certain point, & we made our way up a hill towards a restaurant Sean had read about. Making it to the place after a good twenty minutes of walking, we were met with a closed door & empty place. Not disheartened, we retreated down towards another crisp white place we walked past earlier. It worked out fantastic in the end, because the place we ended up at, 'La Palette,' provided outstanding views of the other side of the island from their modern balcony. We enjoyed a cold peroni with a tantalisingly fresh Capri salad, before our mains were brought out. We both had different pastas, mine a seafood special & Sean's, a classic carbonara. They were both fresh & tasty, not to mention very cleanly presented. It hit the spot, & after paying up, we were back walking down towards the J'ardin Augustino. 

The gardens were picturesque, amongst the cliffside with sea views. Unfortunately as we were in a hurry to get the scooter back in time, we could only stop for a few photos of the gorgeous view, before heading back to the carpark & jumping on the scooter. We rode back down to the shop, dropped it off, & after one more swim at a packed beach we were back on the ferry bound for home. 

We stopped by the supermarket again & picked up some snackie foods - cheeses, cold cuts & bikkies. We weren't terribly hungry so it was just a light dinner along with  a couple of beers each. The second one, a German wheat beer smelled & tasted like smoked salmon! It was bizarre & I wouldn't rush back into another one! We were in bed shortly after, ready to leave Salerno to venture further into the coast.

Lake Life & Wakeboarding, Italy.

After a big night's sleep we were up early to pack our bags once again, & after a quick brekky & checking out, we found ourselves back at Levanto station ready for the next leg of our trip, Cristina's families lake house on the border of Furore & Piedmonte. Hopping on our carriage we sat across from an elderly American couple who were killing it in terms of looks, & they shared stories about their many travels & experiences.

We reached our station destination, Castiliglio & were immediately greeted by that smiling face we had grown accustomed to over the past week, & after she quickly visited the hairdressers in town, we pulled into the massive driveway of her family home! Heading inside we met a man we had already heard lots about, Cris' father Roberto. He was immediately welcoming & showed us to our room downstairs.

Dropping off our bags, we each had showers before heading back upstairs & reuniting with Jane who had just returned home. We pulled our other bottle of Champagne from Pierre Domi from the fridge & poured a round of glasses as a thanks for having us. Roberto is a massive wine connoisseur so he very much appreciated the gesture, & not surprisingly him & Sean got on like a house on fire! 

After a couple of glasses each & some snackies, we quickly got changed & hopped back into Cris' car as we were heading to Patricio's 'Lake World Park,' a wake boarding focused theme park built around a man made lake! It featured a restaurant named 'Ohana,' & that's where we were headed for dinner with the Cris' folks & Patric's dad, Giovanni, who is also a close family friend.

We arrived at the park meeting Patric & Giovanni, & also Patric's adorable two little boys, his youngest had long hair & resembled Mowgli! Seating around a big blue table, we each had a cold beer while receiving even more complimentary snackies! We ordered our mains & they came out in no time, but not before we each received a bowl of delicious pasta which was  taken from a massive communal pot the chef had cooked everyone for dinner. Absolutely stuffed before our mains, we managed to fight through a decent amount before surrendering. More cold beers were ordered to wash it all down. After hanging around for awhile socialising & drinking, we were soon headed home for some shut eye, ready to return the next day to give wakeboarding a go ourselves! 

As the sun rose over the gorgeous snow-capped mountains that surround Turin, we were up & back in Piedmont, our first stop was at a bakery which was absolutely rammed with hungry customers. Fortunately, we were there early enough to not miss out on the flaky, & wonderfully scrumptious pastries & petite cakes. We met Cris' childhood friend Fran, & we were back on the road headed towards Lake World Park.

There was going to be a professional wakeboarder's event on that afternoon, however we arrived early enough to hopefully not make a fool of ourselves in front of everyone! The way it works is you're strapped onto the wakeboard with a helmet, & you're pulled along by a rope that runs off a chain system controlled by Patric. Sean was up first, & he could barely stand up! Eventually he found his feet, but before he could comfortably ride back & forth, he was straight on the jump, & not surprisingly, straight off the jump landing on his back! Boys will be boys, & after he had enough, it was Cris' turn. She killed it, going back & forth & pulling off perfect turns.

After Cris' was done tearing it up, it was my turn, & I actually didn't do too bad! After falling down once, I quickly got the hang of it, & after standing comfortably for a little while, I pulled off my first turn. A round of applause later, & I turned again! It was a absolutely unreal experience, so much fun, but also such a workout!! 

Once we were done with the boarding, we headed back to the house for a lunch Roberto had been working on since the morning. We showered before heading upstairs to be greeted by a set table full of red wine, some decanting & others just opened, the excitement on Sean's face was impossible to hide! We were dished up a delicious homemade pasta, which was absolutely perfect al dente, & I didn't hesitate in shaving fresh Parmesan all over it!   Everything was delicious, & each of the four wines were spectacular. We finished up & us girls chatted whilst Roberto took Sean downstairs to show him his massive wine cellar, & also to exchange a few stories over more than a few glasses of Armagnac! Before long we were both in bed for an afternoon siesta, fast asleep & absolutely stuffed!

We woke up around 5pm, & it wasn't long before we were in Cris' VW & on our way back to the lake. We had a light dinner after eating a load for lunch, & we were all up on the dance floor by the end of the night! The park closed at midnight, & after we swung by the lake town of Verona, where everyone filled the streets partying at an outdoor concert, we bid everyone goodnight, & after getting home & into bed, we were ready to bid the Lake House & its charms farewell in the morning!