still kicking in sorrento.

Well, hello! I am sure that you have all forgotten by now that I even HAVE a blog, but my absence has not been my fault, not even one tiny bit. Most of the hotels we have been staying in have lacked internet service, so when I do get on at internet cafes and such, I get to stay on for about 10 minutes before it is time to move on.

Just to quickly recap, my parents and I left Florence around 11 AM on Saturday morning to head to Rome, where the weather was uncooperative, pickpockets were plenty, and our lovely hotel was located in the ghetto, to put it nicely. We still managed to have a great time exploring the Colosseum, the Palatine, the Roman catacombs, and the Pantheon. Pictures and details to follow, as soon as I can get onto my own laptop.

After a disastrous last day in Rome, in which my father got his wallet stolen (after failing to heed advice from both my mother and myself), we took a train to Naples, where we caught ANOTHER train to Sorrento, where we have been for the last two days. Sorrento is such a nice little town...very quiet, laid back, relaxed, and SUNNY, which is a weather condition I forgot existed. What, you mean it is possible to have a day sans rain and clouds? It is located just under an hour south of Naples by train, near the famed Amalfi Coast, favorite vacation spot of the rich and the famous. Sorrento is a little less hyped than that, but beautiful, nonetheless.

We arrived Monday night, but pretty much just ate dinner before collapsing into bed at our little B&B. Yesterday, we took a boat out to the island of Capri where we took a boat tour around the island and rode a chair lift (yes, an actual chair lift) up a mountain to a view overlooking the entire city of Capri. My nose got a little singed, but other than that, it was a perfect day, capped off by the most incredible dinner experience I have had here in Italy.

The owner of our B&B had recommended this restaurant that was supposedly located "up the hill" (read: mountain) from us, so when we decided to go, they sent a car to personally pick us up. From there, we drove and drove and drove up some very winding streets up to the most beautiful vineyard slash farm you have ever seen. There were lemon trees, chickens, dogs, but above all, an insane view of Capri and the coast. The waiter told us up front that we would not be ordering from a menu, but that everything would just come to us. From there, we were served a traditional Italian meal, all four courses, that even my father proclaimed the best he had eaten in Italy (and for those of you that know him, you know what a big deal this is). The meal was capped by my parents' first experience with limoncello. Afterwards, we were again personally driven down the hill to our B&B, where we were unable to do anything except sleep.

Today, we are going to visit the historical site of Pompeii before spending one more night here in Sorrento. Tomorrow, we are taking a train back to Florence, where my parents will stay until they depart from Pisa on Saturday. I will be taking a train to Pisa Friday afternoon to catch my flight to Alicante, Spain where I will spend three days laying out (and trying to catch my tan up to my friends'...I am looking at you, Kaley Goodfellow!) and relaxing.

I hope to provide pictures from everything that I just described above at some point over the next couple of days, but I make no promises. Internet here is even rarer than back at The Palace.