Day 18 and 19 - Highway to Hell

Look.  To be honest, day 18 was very uneventful so I will need to knock it over very quickly, and then move on to day 19, which had some interesting bits.

Day 17 was all about getting from Florence to Sorrento via Napoli. And that's what happened.
We got up and struggled to get a taxi.  We unsuccessfully tried to call one, and then went to a cab rank and waited.  No taxis to be seen, so we thought we had better lug our bags to the station (about 2km) if we had any chance to make it.  So we set off, and then as luck would have it, a cab pulled up in front of us dropping someone off.  Blood pressure was rising as we battled through the traffic, but we made it just in time.
Here are some of the taxis that we couldn't find.

We took the train to Naples and were met at the arranged time by our driver.  Here is the only photo I took of Naples.  I'm not sure why I bothered, to be honest.

Leaving Naples, you soon become aware of the great Vesuvio, looming over everything around the Bay of Naples.  More about Vesuvio later.

After a couple of hours, our driver deposited us by the side of the road and assured us that we just had a short walk down the path to our villa. He was not lying if you think of a short distance compared to driving to Perth (which is a long distance).
Eventually, bruised and battered, we arrived at the villa and were met by our host Bruno.
He showed us to our top story villa (more stairs) and we settled in.

We once again had a beautiful apartment high on a hill, looking down over the Mediterranean. This time, the Bay of Naples.  As far as I can tell, we had become so used to this, that we took no photos of the view.   Below us, there is a beach surrounded by a few cafes. We decide to head down the hill and check it out.  Our host Bruno assured us there were a few steps - no more than 10 minutes.I think he meant if we fell down the hill, it would take 10 minutes.

We head on down the hill.  It's an easy walk. Here I am halfway down.
Vesuvio in the background and hidden behind the hill is Sorrento.
Sorrento is quite a big place and we will be in and out of it over the next few days, to take tours, catch trains etc.  It doesn't have the tourist reputation that Positano, Amalfi and Capri do, but it's a pretty good place.  And it lets you reach all of the aforementioned places (and Pompeii) easily

Here is Annie enjoying a late lunch/early dinner at the beach.  After this, we will struggle back up the hill to our apartment where will collapse, exhausted.

We decide to spend the next day by taking a bus tour to Positano and Amalfi. the plan is that we will spend about 4 hours total on the bus driving first to Positano, where will have an hour to look around, then drive on to Amalfi, where we will have two hours.  From there, we will head up the hill to Ravello, a small town overlooking Amalfi for more views of the Mediterranean from a high place.
8 hours total and we'll be back in Sorrento.
Bullshit!  This proves to be an absolute fantasy.

 We are collected at the meeting point in Sorrento, and take or seats on the bus, along with another 20 geriatrics, and find that only seats on the left-hand side of the bus are available.
This means that for the four hours scheduled driving, we will have unobstructed views of the cliffs we are driving along.

 The drive is spectacular.  Around every bend is another breathtaking view, and our guide, Catharina, tells us all about the noteworthy things along the way.  Some of them seem a little less than noteworthy to my mind, but that's probably just me.
Like many of the Italians we encounter, she speaks in such a beutiful, lyrical voice that the most mundae fact sounds musical.

Occasionally, we get a break when the road doubles back and we can see the good bits.












But mostly, this is what I see.  For about seven hours.

 We are arriving at Positano.

Thank Christ!  I can get off this bus for a while.

Positano is another quaint little town built vertically.  Beautiful views of the sea from everywhere, and lots of tourist shops.

No shortage of tourists to buy their stuff either.

I'm loving it.

Here's another church.  This one is the church of San Someone or other of the blessed can't remembers.

Here's a selfie.  We are good at those.  Notice the way we have cleverly blocked out almost all of Positano with our heads and fingers?
This photo could almost have been taken in our backyard.

 At least it was better than this one.
Incidentally, Annie bought a selfie stick back in Paris I think, but we haven't used it yet.  And with selfies of this quality, why would we?

Positano has fruit and vegies.

One thing that has regularly amused us on this trip is the outrageous posing for photos by many young people.  They ponce and preen for the cameras with no shame.
Here Annie is showiung her technique.

North Melbourne are big in Positano.  This bloke was spotted with a Kangaroos cap on.
Incidentally, I saw a fellow at Naples train station with an Essendon t-shirt on, but as he was clearly a moron, I didn't speak to him.

Annie and I wait for the bus to collect us and take us to Amalfi.

Back on the bus.  Still can't see much.  One thing we did see was this little replica of Positano built into the cliff on the side of the road.
Let's be frank.
It's pretty ordinary.  Unless it was done by the local kindergarten, I'd say it's below par.

This was a rare chance to see something out of our side of the bus, but it only lasted for a few seconds as we drove across this bridge.
There is a beach way below, and the only down to it is a very long staircase.
Except on one day a year when it is customary for the young fools of the area to dive off it.

There is no need to subject you to photos of this, but the traffic along this tiny little road from Positano to Amalfi. Much of the time we are sitting still in traffic.  There is another way to do this trip, and I bring it up for any readers that might find themselves facing the same decision in the future.

GO BY BOAT!

When we finally get to Amalfi, we immediately jump on a boat for a trip up and down the coast. As our guide told us on the bus (while waiting to start moving again) - the best way to see the Amalfi coast is by boat.  I wish they told us that before we bought the ticket.

Off we go.

 Sometimes we accidentally take a short video instead of a photo.  To be honest, we probably should have taken more videos.  And more entertaining ones than this.

Here are some boat shots.  It's much better being here than it probably looks in the photo.

We are sitting on the front of the boat with an unobstructed view.  The serenity!

I am tempted to relive the scene from The Titanic, but discretion wins the day,

Here's what all the fuss is about.  Amalfi is beautiful.

This is my seat.  I am not moving.

A couple of women decide to form a human sightscreen in front of me, until the captain says that there are big waves and everyone up front must move back into the boat or they will get wet.
I stay where I am and enjoy a blissful 15 minutes of solitude while marvelling at the glorious view of this beautiful place.
And not a drop falls on me.

There is a Franciscan Abbey built right at the top of this hill.  Apparently in medieval times, the friars would retreat up here when pirates visited the town (presumably to plunder ceramics painted with lemons, costume jewellery or women's clothes).
It's still in operation today, and is only accessible by stairs.  I am glad (and mildly surprised) that we are not staying there.

We get off the boat and eat some lunch.  It's mandatory to include the photos, so here they are.  I went for the anchovies baked in lemon leaves.

Annie had some artichokes.  Apparently they were very tasty.

Every town has a bloody cathedral.  Here's another one. Google "Amalfi Cathedral" if you want to know more, because I honestly couldn't be bothered.

Back on the bus where we head up the hill to a town called Ravello, which has a strong industry selling crap to tourists.
The view is pretty good though - I'll give them that.

For future visitors to the Amalfi Coast, there is no need whatsoever to go to Ravello.

If any readers come from Ravello or have family that do, then I apologise.  But I'm not surprised that they left.

The Amalfi coast is famous for lemons.  They grow everywhere and are pictured on everything you can buy here.
You can also buy them.  Annie seems shocked by this fact.

Vesuvio looms large in the distance.  Tomorrow we are going to Pompeii.
I am excited about that.
I am not excited to hear that the traffic is so bad on the road along the coast that we will take the inland route.  It's so dull that I'm going to stop right here.

Tomorrow - Pompeii

Day 17 - The day of reckoning

Here we are - two and a half weeks in on our European odyssey.  We have traipsed around various churches, landmarks and icons - things we have known about all our lives - and now we have experienced them for ourselves.  We have had adventures, We have dined well.  We have seen the sights. All the sorts of things that people like us in our dotage hope for when they head overseas.
And you would be justified in thinking that's why we came on this trip.
But I'm going to let you all in on a little secret, dear readers. We came to Europe for one reason, and one reason alone.  And today is the day.
First  - let's go back.  Maybe a year ago.  Our nephew Tom is chatting to Annie and he casually mentions that he's been watching a great show on Netflix - The Chef's table - and Tom thinks Annie might like it.
Turns out Tom's right.

I have watched a few episodes and it's not a bad show.  The first episode in the first series is about this Italian bloke - Massimo Bottura - who has a little restaurant in Modena.  It's a classic tale.  He was a lawyer with a food dream - you've seen Masterchef, right? He chucks it in, buys a little place in his hometown. Goes and works with great chefs and then returns to Modena.  He eschews traditional Italian food and at first, the people of Modena hate it.  But - surprise, surprise - it all works out well in the end.  Three Michelin stars and number one restaurant in the world.

Here he is now. With some other famous guy.  By the way, I should warn those readers who are not interested in reading about food that is - let's face it - far removed from the normal stuff we eat, you should skip this chapter and come back tomorrow.  This one will have some perfunctory historical stuff, but largely will be about fine dining.
Because as you will have guessed by now, the main reason we have come to Europe is to eat at Osteria Francescana.  Massimo's joint.
The very first thing Annie booked was this restaurant.  Apparently the website makes the date available three months in advance and is sold out within seconds.  Thanks to years of buying Springsteen tickets, Annie knows how this stuff works and we have a table for lunch reserved today.
We get the train to Modena, which is an hour or so on the train, and arrive there a couple of hours before gametime. So we do what we do every other day.  We look at the sights, visit a famous church, and we visit the market.
Here are some sights:

Pretty good sights.  Modena is rich in history and is an historically important town.  But I'm not going to talk about that today.  Go here if you want to know more about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modena

Here's the famous church.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modena_Cathedral

Note the complete lack of electrical activity in the sky even though I was once again inside a church.

Market stuff.  You can probably guess that I didn't take these next photos.

Food, glorious food

We're anxious to try it

Three banquets a day

Our favourite diet.  Apologies to Lionel Bart.

Still not time for our 13:00 appointment so we have a coffee in the piazza.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  Eventually, the hour comes around.

We make our way through narrow streets until we arrive at this unassuming facade.

Before we can knock, or ring a bell, the door opens and a man welcomes us.

I'm reminded of the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy steps out of her black and white house and everything turns technicolour.

They take our bags and fuss over us before showing us to our table.

We are seated in a room with three tables - a couple on each of them.  Note the couple over Annie's right shoulder.  We will be meeting them later.

For now - that's a very nice roll.

We opt for a prosecco to start and look at the menu.  You can order a la carte, or go for the degustation - of which they have two varieties.  One of them is simply called  "Tutto" (everything).

Yes please.

Would you like the paired wines?  Why, yes!

Here's the menu.

First we had this thing.  It wasn't on the menu.  It was a Fish and Chips amuse bouche, which amused my bouche very much. 

The quenelle of ice cream was the fish, and the crunchy thing underneath was the chips.

The thing on the left was a fish/parmesan/crunchy thing which was very impressive.  On the right was some eel presented as cardboard.  Neither thing looked particularly edible but tasted lovely.

Part of the same course, the macaron in the middle was fish flavoured (and delicious) and the things on the side were little packets of fishy tastiness.  Were I a food writer, I would be able to give you a more accurate account. But with my limited skills, I can let you know that it was very nice, beautiful to look at, and a little bit whimsical.

Here's the rest of the first course.  I'm not quite sure what it was, but there was lettuce and crunchy things and oils and stuff.  Lot's of flavours and textures happening at once.  The black powdery stuff is there on purpose (as is the white powdery stuff on the other side of the plate which doesn't show up as well in the photo).

Seriously?

 Next course.  Mediterranean Sole.  There is paper that you can eat on the top of the fish.  It tastes slightly better than other paper I have eaten.  And the fish is nice.

This might be the third wine so far.  Could be the fourth.
It's very nice.

Now this one was a little unusual.  As you can see, the dish was covered with foil.  But it turns out this is edible foil.  Doesn';t even hurt your fillings!
Underneath are some beautiful oysters and little crunchy potato balls in a broth.
Seriously delicious.

And now three types of rice.  The three coloured rices here each have completely different flavours - mushroom, squid ink, and possibly pesto.  Something green anyway.

By this stage it's all very nice, and really impressive, without blowing my socks off.

Yet.

I should probably tell you at this stage that the service is like nothing I've experienced before. There are more serving staff than patrons. They are not overly friendly, but appropriately for this sort of establishment, they are efficient and helpful, answering the many questions that one of the people on my table was asking.

 Here's a video showing this dish being presented.  Tasted pretty good.

More wine?

I didn't love this one.  It was a broth with pasta made out of pizza.  

 I did love this one.  Five ages of Parmigiano Reggiano.  Modena is where this cheese comes from and this dish five iterations of the cheese in different tempratures and textures.

 This is the nicest thing I have ever eaten in my life.

 Annie is liking the cutlery.  The knives are particularly lovely.

 Now the pigeon.  Breast on the left, and ground up thigh meatball style on the right.  All sorts of oils and reductions to go with it.

Seriously, if you want to know what these ingredients are you can probably google it, but by this stage, the paired wines were kicking in, and I was not taking notes.

 Annie wanted the the artwork in the blog.  More wine please.

 Here it is now.

Asparagus with some yellow stuff on it.  Beautiful

They served this in a popcorn bucket, that they lifted off the plate as they put it down.  It was very nice popcorn.

And here was the Oops I dropped the lemon tart.
It tasted like a really nice lemon tart.

 Here's a glass of red.  And behind the wine glass is a young couple from South Yarra.  He grew up in Ararat and she is originally from Templestowe.
Small world.

Here are three little tasty things to finish.
The ice cream thing is foie gras.
The little blobs between the golden gaytimes are rabbit, and the round things on the other plate were sensational, but to be honest, I can;t really remember why.

Annie is not a fan of the foie gras paddle pop.

She's wearing here new blue suede shoes.  Carl Perkins would be proud.

The meal is over and we are completely satisfied.  The best fine dining experience we have ever had.  It's time to go.
But I ask our waiter if it might be possible to visit the kitchen.  He checks and says it will.
He leads us back there.  We walk in applauding, and ask for a photo.  We take a minute to get organised,

 Nearly ready.

Our waiter snaps this shot, but then we say he needs to be in the photo too.

This is the result.
We bid the crew farewell and return to our table.
We chat to the other diners.  The youngsters from South Yarra make their way out, and we are left with the couple from Dallas, Texas.

Let me introduce to you, Dr. Lee Reeves and his wife Nina.
The room is full of Reeveses. We talk about old times and eventuallyrealsie that we will have to move quickly if we are to make our train back to Florence.
We move quickly and make our train.

Annie is well fed and relaxed.
We should be going home to a quiet night, but we are here for a good time, not a long time.
We get back, freshen up, and hit the streets to catch up with a mate who is in town.









Sean and Elaina are in Florence on their way from Greece, and about to head to the Cinque Terra via Lucca.  We swap war stories and have a great night.  Incidentally, I had the gnocchi.