Did you ever wonder what happens when ones husband moves to Portland, leaving her to do the yard work in 90 degree heat? She drinks two big glasses of Lambrusco (by herself) over lunch to recover (yard work sucks!) and ends up pleasantly giggly but unable to concentrate on the data analysis that needs done. I guess its only lab work that more fun buzzed. So, here I am at the coffee shop, dunking my almond anise biscotti in a small house coffee with cream, having nothing better to do than finish my Italian vacation blog.

Thursday May 22. We arrive at our Amalfi coast apartment outside Sorrento in a tiny town called Massa Lubrense to discover it is absolutely amazing. The view, which we enjoyed every night over dinner, looks out over Massa Lubrense onto the Bay of Naples. Aside from the sunsets, the apartment also came with the most friendly cat who would curl up on your lap and hang out and lemons that the owner picked fresh for us to make lemonade. Walking into Massa Lubrense required winding down the hill through these narrow little streets packed full of small town Italian charm.

Friday May 23. An easy day trip to Pompeii provided our last visit to Italian ruins. Pompeii lived up to my expectations and was amazing but I must admit the most interesting thing I saw was the ancient brothel, with stone beds and erotic art. Most of the interesting ancient porn has been moved to the archaeological museum in Naples - which we didn't visit. This wasn't the first time I had the thought that I'd like to come back to this area.

Saturday May 24. On Saturday, we spent the day in Capri, including a boat tour around the island. Very picturesque - in fact, I saw some of the scenery used as a back drop to a sexy, tanned Italian man in an Armani advertisement at the Naples airport on the way home. We visited the Blue Grotto, a natural cave where the water has this eery blue glow. It was touristy on the one hand, with an expensive price of admission (10 euro paid to some cigar chomping Italian guys on a little boat outside the entrance), crowds and the row boat driver pressuring us for tips - but worth the surreal experience on the other.

We had our best meal on Capri and I finally found my torrone - Italian nougat candy. Torrone candy is part of the Menniti Christmas tradition. The area around Johnsonburg where my parents grew up was settled with many Italian immigrants. The little Italian stores there still sell some "old country" specialties like these candies. They are delicious - and not just because they come with such sentimental attachments.

Sunday May 25. Jeff, Toni and I rented scooters for our last day in Italy. As we were renting the scooters, I asked the guy about traffic laws....he just laughed and said there aren't any, go slow and drive on the right. Even though I ride my scooter in traffic here all the time, the crazy Italian motorists took some getting used to - signs and lights are really just suggestions.

We decided it best to avoid the city and ride in the hills behind Sorrento. Jeff picked this little alleyway to ride up - really just a sidewalk but it had speed bumps indicating scooter traffic was okay. The path took us through a quaint neighborhood similar to Massa Lubrense, 2 feet from front doors on one side and 2 feet from retaining walls on the other. Suddenly, we pop out onto a steep asphalt path winding up the hill through lemon groves. It feels "off road" because a car would hardldy fit but the path was perfect for scooters and motorcycles. The view we found at the top was completely worth the sunburn I got getting there. I can't think of a better way to end our Italian vacation.....well, maybe one more sunset.

I put a link to the flickr page where Jeff posted a collection of our vacation pictures plus here's just a few good pictures from my mom.