"Bella Italia" a Italy Travel Page by goodfish

We had a 30th wedding anniversary this year and figured that was a good excuse to dig out the passports and do some damage to the savings account, eh? The US dollar being what it is (or more accurately, what it isn't), this little venture kicked the living crap out of our piggy bank - and was worth every cent.

4 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Capri, 3 in Sorrento, and we day-tripped on our own to Pompeii and Positano.
It wasn't nearly long enough and we only saw a little corner or two of the country but enough to fall completely and madly in love with it. Scenery, people, food, culture - it's all fabulous.

We found Italians to be warm, friendly and as interested in us as we were in them. Language was never any real problem and minding our manners (in the pathetically little Italian we'd learned) bought extra smiles and attention. "Buongiorno!" is spoken like you MEAN it, with EYE CONTACT and a SMILE, not like the grumpy "morning" mutter that we (too often) start our days with here. Jet lagged, hungover, sleep-deprived, whatever, you get a big old "Buongiorno!" or two in your face, first thing in the morning, and damned if you don't feel like a million bucks in a fat hurry. Lovely.

Anyway, I'll do individual pages on the places we got to see but wanted to throw out some tidbits about some of the things you may encounter on any given day in an Italian city. We saw some great stuff but the real fun was just hanging out with/observing the working folks - like you and me - and meeting some other happy travelers at the cafes and bars.

Thanks to the entire Murphy Family from Ireland (Dermot, we'll call ya when we finally make it to Dublin. Hope the wedding was a hoot - hi to Sara Ellen!); Pauline and Philippe from Paris (we have your number - keep that spare room open!); the honeymooners from Boston that we drank (a lot) with in the piazza in Capri (happy ever after - enjoy the shoes!); the Chinese-Vietnamese Australians we had dinner chatter with at l'archetto in Rome; the Astronomers from New Mexico (dinner at Insalata Ricci - how's your particular little moon doing?); Mark and Nancy from the Department of Defense in D.C. (drinks in Positano -2008's coming!); our favorite waiters, Alberto and Marco, and all of the other fabulous folk who made it memorable.

Tips under contruction - stay tuned