retirement – Page 15 – Messy Suitcase Travel Blog

May 19, 2019

Welcome to Messy Suitcase on You Tube! Part 1: Launching a New Life

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May 7, 2019

Discovering Mayolica Pottery in Santa Rosa

We recently had the privilege of visiting a pottery workshop called Mayolica Santa Rosa, where a family business turns out breathtaking, intricate, handmade pottery lovingly
created with dedicated fingers and devoted hearts.

The simple two-story cinderblock workshop occupies one side of the street in
the ancient, dusty village of Santa Rosa, high on a mountain about 25 minutes northeast
of Guanajuato. A huge showroom is across the street. (Unfortunately, we were
not allowed to take pictures in the showroom, to prevent any thievery of their
designs.)

It’s not a place many tourists visit, especially Americans, and it’s their loss. Javier Salazar, the wonderful manager of the Casa Estrella, where we are fortunate to be staying, generously drove us and another couple, Carolee and Gilberto, up to
the village to see how pottery is made. The suites and apartments in Casa
Estrella are filled with beautiful pieces from Mayolica Santa Rosa.

The sign over the door of the store

Visiting the Workrooms

The workshop is a high-ceilinged building with two large workrooms.
In the front room is the giant kiln, as well as shelf upon shelf of unfinished
pieces of pottery ready to be transformed into works of art.

The big white box on the left is the oven

We were amazed as we watched one man hand-draw a stunning, detailed design
onto a large pedestaled bowl. His name was Juan, and he was the only one entrusted
to design the pieces.

The artist at work

Up the stairs and in the large back room, the Area de la Pintura (painting area), several painters painstakingly
painted the colors within the lines of his design, carefully shading the pieces, which appeared
pastel and bleached until after they were fired in the huge oven.

Before firing in the oven

The intensity of colors after firing

Mayolica Santa Rosa was founded in 1963, and is dedicated to
the manufacture of Mayolica Ceramics, a porous type of ceramics that originated in
Spain. It gets its name from Mallorca Island, which was on the trade route to
Italy. All the pieces are turned and decorated by hand. The business is
currently represented by the third generation of eight brothers.

Seen outside the door to the painting room

The sign outside the painting room says (in my bad Spanish translation): “Welcome to the Painting Area. Every piece that you admire and acquire is unique because each one carries part of the artist, since it is delivered with a feeling unique for its creation, with the best quality.”

Visiting the Showroom

The entrance to the showroom

This fresco, outside the family’s home next door,
is a great example of their work.

The sheer volume and quality of the pieces for sale in the
massive, two-level showroom is absolutely breathtaking. There were plates and
bowls, cups and saucers, pitchers and vases, fountains and pots, statues and
urns, tiled frescoes, and more. The intricate designs were derived from life in
Mexico: groups of fruit, flowers, village scenes, chickens and pigs, Frida Kahlos,
and many, many Catrinas, the reverential, skeletal image of death in Mexico.

UPDATE, May 26

I just discovered several beautiful pieces of Mayolica pottery in our apartment, Casa Estrellita, at Casa Estrella. (Watch for a blog about the amazing art in our apartment!)

And I found this beautiful tile wall art by Mayolica Pottery in the fitness center at Casa Estrella. Enjoy!

May 1, 2019

Leaving Tlaquepaque & Guadalajara

It’s time to leave Tlaquepaque and move on to our next
destination, Guanajuato.

We’ve been here nearly 4 months, a little longer than we
planned to stay in any one place, but wanted to have a familiar, reasonably accessible
place for Aryk to call home on their Spring Break from Keele University in
England.

With only a few days left, we’ve been going over our lists
of things we wanted to do here and we’ve whittled it down to just a few.

We’re Sad to Go

Both Lisa and I are feeling a little sad about moving on.
There is a lot to like about Tlaquepaque and Guadalajara. We love Tlaquepaque’s
colorful, artistic character. We love its relaxed, friendly vibe. We love living
within easy walking distance of the TLQ town square, Jardin Hidalgo, and all of
the energy, activities and food options there. Lisa has recently started making
Mexican friends.

We’ll miss the regular routines that drive the city — the water guy’s cries of “a-gUAAAAA!,” the Zeta Gas truck’s song, the ringing bell of the trash men, the double chiming of the church clocks in Jardin Hidalgo every 15 minutes around the clock, the early-morning cacophony of dogs and roosters, the music in the streets (whether a Mariachi band or a single hombre singing acapella), the busy mercados (marketplaces) and tianguis (pop-up markets) with countless people in your face trying to sell you their products.

We love all of the activities available in Guadalajara and
the fact that a subway from our neighborhood to Zapopan, on the other side of
Guadalajara, is scheduled to open sometimes in 2020. And with a new road under
construction, Guadalajara could soon be just two and a half hours from the Pacific
coast.

There are some things in Tlaquepaque that aren’t perfect. The running, bike
riding and our apartment are barely acceptable, but our home’s location has been perfect
for accessing the town square. We’re definitely going to miss being here. We’ve
even started discussing that this area may be a place we want to come back to
and spend even more time getting to know, perhaps living in Guadalajara proper.
But first, we need to experience more of Mexico.

In the meantime, we’re busy revisiting our favorite places
and restaurants for one last time.

Our loyalty to Guadalajara won us GDLt-shirts
at a promo event in Lake Chapala last weekend!

Today, it’s on to Guanajuato!

April 29, 2019

Obstacle Cycling: Riding Road Bikes in Guadalajara

We are avid road cyclists. We loved living in Colorado
because of the many glorious riding routes we could choose from, ranging from bike
trails into Denver to loops on mountain roads. We usually rode two or three times
a week, including a long ride on the weekend. Lisa rocks a Specialized carbon
fiber road bike with about 27 gears, and Bob has a classic green Bianchi.

So we optimistically brought our road bikes to Mexico on the
back of our car, hoping to continue our healthy habit and explore Mexico on two
wheels.

Trying to Find a Safe Place to Ride

I knew we were coming to a city of 5 million, people and despite
researching online, I couldn’t find any active road cycling clubs, or even
decent rides, on our favorite cycling route app, MapMyRide. Nonetheless, every night
during the drive to Mexico we dutifully took them off the car and took them
into the hotel rooms, and now the bikes live in the guest room of our house in Tlaquepaque.

But they don’t see the road much, and neither do we.

The roads in Tlaquepaque are rough, narrow, virtually
unsigned, and often chaotic. We’ve only driven the car four times in the four
months we’ve been here because of the challenge of the roads. There are
virtually no bike lanes in our section of Guadalajara. However, the city does
have what is called “Via RecreActiva” on Sundays and holidays, where they shut
down several major roads for recreational purposes for six hours. We’ve come to
accept that as the best we can do.

Thank God for the Via RecreActiva

So every Sunday morning, we pull on our cycling clothes,
pump up our tires, fill our water bottles, and hit the Via RecreActiva. To get
there, we have to ride almost two miles on a busy street with no bike lanes, Avenida
Rio Nilo. Bob
has almost been “doored” by cars several times, Lisa was almost run off the
road by an aggressive bus driver, and almost rear-ended a cab that pulled in
right in front of her t collect a passenger. But it is what it is. Rio
Nilo gets us to the Via RecreActiva, and then we get to ride for one day a
week.

If you can call it riding.

There are essentially two main problems with Via RecreActiva.
First, literally thousands of people take advantage of it –unleashed dogs
chasing each other back and forth, kids learning to ride their bikes, teenagers
doing tricks and popping wheelies, old ladies pulling carts crossing the street
at a mercado, boyfriends on bikes teaching their wobbly girlfriends how to skateboard,
and people just walking three or four 4
abreast. It is just plain crowded and you have to be extremely vigilant to
avoid running into someone. Lisa calls it “Obstacle Cycling.”

The other main problem is traffic on the cross streets. While
your road is closed for a few hours, other roads aren’t, so you have to stop at
multiple lights and wait for traffic. This
means that you only get to ride several blocks before you are forced to stop so
that cross traffic can go.

It is better than nothing, but it is not for the faint of heart!

Trying to Find Other Riders

We have tried to make contact with other cyclists in Expat
forums here, but didn’t get anything really solid from those groups. We have
also seen cyclists riding on the sides of highways outside of the city, usually
followed by a sag wagon. But at this point we are leaving Guadalajara soon, so
we don’t plan to pursue that option.

We hope to find better cycling in our next stop, Guanajuato.
Lisa has already found a few promising routes on MapMyRide!

Enjoy a video of the Via RecreActiva here!

January 6, 2019

We are headed to Mexico!!

Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019

And we are off!

Our menagerie of three humans, three cats, two saxophones, one guitar, one harmonica, two bikes and a bunch of bags and suitcases has left Grandma’s house in Mechanicsburg, PA, and we are off on our next adventure!

Six days driving 2,400 miles to Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico, with a stop for a day in New Orleans in the middle. Follow us on the journey!

9:21 am: Leave Mechanicsburg. Ellie starts crying.

10:16 am: Welcome to Maryland. 67 miles. Ellie is still crying.

10:26: am Welcome to West Virginia. That was quick! Still crying.

10:47 am: Welcome to Virginia. 103 miles. They are coming fast and furious! Guess what Ellie is doing?

The rest of the day: Taking turns driving through Virginia and into Tennessee.

8 PM: We finally reach Athens, Tennessee, around 7:10 PM, settle the cats into the Super 8 Hotel, and are now waiting for our food at the Applebee’s across the street. Ellie cried more than half the time and then acted out at the hotel by hissing at the other cats. Such a pleasant traveler.

Day 1 is in the books!

Kitty accommodations

Double-decker kitties

Packing the truck

Remembering the bikes

Day 2: Tennessee to New Orleans

We were too busy enjoying New Orleans to blog about this. Watch for the blog later!

Day 3: New Orleans to Laredo

12 hours of quiet cats. ‘Nuff said. Tonight is our last night in the United States. Tomorrow we leave for Mexico!

January 3, 2019

Why I made the decision to permanently stop working

When Lisa and I started talking about traveling after the kids graduated from high school, the discussion always included doing some sort of part-time work. First, when we thought we would travel the United States in an RV, that talk included doing seasonal work at an Amazon warehouse or being the host at a campsite. Later, I considered doing some part-time database or project management work, or even working for my then-employer part-time.

However, my thinking started changing last February. Lexie’s High School’s Girls Lacrosse team didn’t have a coach and the season was starting soon. I approached my boss about shifting my work hours by an hour a day for 10 weeks so I could coach and keep the team alive. I never expected to get the pushback that I got. From my perspective, this wasn’t something that I sought to do for my benefit, and I didn’t even consider myself a coach. I just felt I would be able to empower 20 girls to play a sport for 10 weeks that they might not be able to play otherwise, until a new coach could be found for the next year.

I reminded my boss that I had always done everything they had asked, including trips that others in the organization essentially refused to take. Yet I was told that in all their years in business they had NEVER been asked to approve something like this, and that it sounded like a second job. They wanted a complete schedule, which was reasonable, and an assurance from me that I would make myself available for any calls they wanted me to be on at that time of day. I reminded my boss that they routinely worked around my co-workers’ schedules and that the times I was asking to shift were also at the end of the East Coast day of two of my co-workers.

In the end, my boss very reluctantly approved my request, but their attitude made me realize that they didn’t really care about me. It made me question my dedication and loyalty to them and the organization when there was no reciprocity.

In addition, I had begun to get fed up with the actions of one of my co-workers. Up until this point, I had made extraordinary efforts to keep a cordial and professional relationship with them. I went well out of my way to keep them happy, even when I knew some of the things I did to maintain peace were not in the best interests of the organization. However, they already had had a very contentious relationship with my predecessor, and I had personally seen several knock-down, drag-out fights between them and my boss. I also knew that they had had a bad relationship with one of our clients, which I worked very hard to repair when I first took the job.

When I started pushing back and or asking for business justification for some of their requests, they didn’t like that and privately complained to our boss, even threatening to quit. Our boss, without ever asking for my side of the story, immediately and completely blamed me. This just reinforced my feeling that I wasn’t appreciated or even listened to. I was made to feel that everything that was happening was completely and totally my fault and it was my responsibility to fix it.

And I was gone

With that, I was gone. I no longer wanted to work for my boss and I no longer wanted to work with my co-worker. Any thoughts of working part-time for them in the future evaporated. I couldn’t leave fast enough. To make matters worse, my boss insisted that I fly to San Francisco earlier than usual for a scheduled staff meeting so that I could spend an excruciating afternoon alone with my co-worker in an attempt to resolve any conflicts we had.

Over the next several weeks, I made my final decision and gave my boss three weeks notice of my impending departure. I essentially couldn’t take another day dealing with both of them. My boss’s reaction to my notice was hostility, accusing me of abandoning the organization, which only reinforced the fact that I made the right decision. Once again, I had never been treated so badly. When my boss flew out to Denver for a transition briefing, they did not even offer to take me to lunch before their return flight, and I once again felt disrespected.

I continued to assist with keeping things running until a replacement was found. But it wasn’t until a month and a half after I finally finished that they even sent me an email thanking me for my 4 ½ years of work for them and the organization and the award-winning site I built.

Earlier than I planned

So I stopped working sooner than I had wanted, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. Financially, yes, it was a little soon, but the market was doing well and I knew we would be ok. I’ve worked for many people in multiple organizations over the years and this boss was, by far, the worst person I had ever worked for.

In some ways, it is sad that my working career had to end this way, but in others, it doesn’t make me look back. I never want to work for someone like that ever again, and I’m fortunate in that I don’t have to. Good riddance to them and on to something much more enjoyable!

December 18, 2018

Resetting our Marriage

Bob’s Perspective

Lisa and I have been married 23 years. Our first few years of marriage were all about our careers, and the past 21 years we have been focused on dealing with the challenges of our two kids (if you know us and our kids you know what I’m talking about).

Like many marriages, over that time, we’ve been focused on our kids, our jobs and our home. And, like many other people, that left little time for us as a couple. Even with stopping working and starting our European trip it was rush, rush, rush – we had a mountain of tasks that needed to be accomplished.

For me, however, things finally slowed down when I went to Sorrento by myself and Lisa stayed in Naples with Lexie and her relatives. It rained most of the second day I was there and I didn’t really have much to do. I began to realize how much we had been through and how lucky I was to be with someone who shared the same excitement about the adventure on which we were about to embark. I realized how lucky I was and I committed to myself to let her know that, to let her know how much I appreciated being with her and looked forward to spending time as just a couple. (Disclaimer: We really enjoy being with Lexie for this year and our visits with Aryk, but there is just the new opportunity for so much “us” time.)

View from the top of the London Eye

When we got back together in Naples, we talked about this and she told me that she had been thinking the same thing, that we had an excellent opportunity to essentially reset our relationship. We had the opportunity to throw away some of the conflicts we’ve had over time and really just enjoy one another going forward.

We’ll never have a fully carefree life, but we’re both committed to working hard to enjoy one another and our life together going forward.

Our trip to Europe was worth it just for this!

Together in Hamburg at the top of the St. Michaelis Church Tower

____________________________________________________

Lisa’s Perspective

For me, it started long before we left Colorado, in summer 2017, when we made the decision to retire early and travel, and started planning the next phase of our lives. We spent a lot of weekend hot tub mornings discussing what our plan would be. I think for many couples, they retire but have the same habits they had before, and that can lead to dissatisfaction or boredom. Planning a new life as sojourners opened us up to a lot of new conversations and gave our relationship a new dimension.

To prepare, we traveled to Mexico several times, enjoying each other’s company as we explored different communities as potential future domiciles.

To meet in the middle of our diverse interests, Bob mentioned that he would like to try yoga, which I practice, so we would have something to do in common, and I said I would be happy to hike more with him. We also started doing more running and bike riding together, which took us full circle back to the genesis of our relationship – we met through a multisport club, the New York Flyers, in the early 90s.

Hydra Island in Greece

We have both started learning Spanish to facilitate our lives in Mexico. We are talking about taking dancing lessons, trying new foods, hiking new mountains, discovering new beaches, making new friends, tasting tequilas, learning a new language together.

It’s exciting!

In the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik

December 5, 2018

Extraordinary Weather

We were extraordinarily lucky with regards to weather on our trip. We knew that traveling in October and early November would be iffy, but other than just a few days, the weather was absolutely beautiful.

Iceland

We had one good weather day in Iceland, the rest not so great. This stop was the beginning of our trip, the first few days of October, and I’m glad it wasn’t at the end. To begin with, we were literally assaulted by the wind as soon as they opened the cabin doors of the plane so we could walk down the steps, onto the tarmac and into waiting buses. We should have expected that, as I could see the sideways rain and the water just being pushed across the runway as we taxied.

Lexie holding onto her hat in Iceland

However, it was still a surprise when it was difficult to walk down the steps with what must have been 50 mph cold wind and driving rain.

(Note from Lisa: Airports generally protect you from the elements when you get off a plane and enter the terminal. But in Iceland, where weather can be brutal and winters are cold and windy, you walk down the airplane steps and across the tarmac to a bus completely exposed to whatever Mother Nature throws at you. And it didn’t help that we had flown out of sunny, 81-degree Northern Virginia!)

It was even difficult driving the rental car, which kept getting pushed sideways by the ferocious wind. I’ve experienced that driving my high-profile truck, but a little car, on somewhat narrow roads, was a completely different story. We needed gloves and winter coats during our entire stay in Iceland.

The first thing Lisa and I did after we arrived at our goat farm lodging on the south coast was to hightail it to the nearest town with our swimsuits to sink into a hot spring and warm up!

The next day was our prime sightseeing day, and the weather cooperated beautifully: not too windy and no rain. And, it allowed us to see the Northern Lights!

The following day, we experienced wind, rain and even snow. Our visit to the waterfall was so brutal that Lexie stayed in the lodge. We still saw what we wanted to see, including geysers, waterfalls and a spectacular national park, but at times it wasn’t pleasant. The same could be said for our days in Reykjavik. We did and saw what we wanted, but the nasty weather was a significant obstacle to our enjoyment.

In the end, I went running in every place we visited except Iceland. I’m still torn on whether I should have run while we were there, but the wind was just too brutal.

Hamburg, Germany

Just absolutely perfect weather. Sunny every day, temperatures in the 60s, no wind.

Glorious weather in Hamburg

Barcelona/Reus, Spain

Again, just absolutely perfect weather. Even warmer, low 70s! (Note from Lisa: I wished I had time to lie on the beach there, it was so nice!)

Great beach weather in Barcelona

England

We were certainly expecting the worst here, especially over the course of eight days, but again, absolutely perfect weather. Mostly sunny, high-40s at night, the mid-50s to mid-60s by day. Never a drop of rain, either in Newcastle-Under-Lyme visiting Aryk, or in London, sightseeing.

Strolling on a sunny London afternoon

Italy

Rome – The weather we had for our stay in Rome was again perfect, until the last day. Then the rain started, the morning Lexie and Lisa left for the train station for Naples. Since I was staying another day, I waited out the heavy morning rain and then headed out for my explorations. I did get drenched heading home that evening, but all in all, we had really nice weather while in Rome.

During our stay in Italy, the entire country was seeing really bad weather. Venice was 75% flooded, schools throughout Italy were closed, and Italian television was continually showing mudslides, flooding and washed-out roads and bridges.

Rainy Rome the last day

Naples – It rained nonstop in Naples. One day there was such a violent windstorm/thunderstorm that the road to our lodging was closed down because of flying debris. We were going to go to the Archeological Museum that afternoon and decided to stay in and ride out the storm.

Pompeii – Our day in Pompeii was again just absolutely beautiful, sunny and high-60s. I remember walking around in a short-sleeved T-shirt.

Sorrento – The forecast was for one good day of weather while I was in Sorrento, so I took a boat tour to and around Capri. The weather started changing in the afternoon, and it was colder and windier on the boat trip back. The next day was, for the most part, rainy, which gave me the opportunity to have a relaxing, easy day. It rained the next day as I traveled back to Naples to meet up with Lexie and Lisa.

Athens

Again, Athens gave us just absolutely perfect weather. Warm and sunny.

Perfect weather for Greek island hopping

All in all, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. (Note from Lisa: Except maybe in Naples.) We know we were lucky and we took full advantage of that!

December 3, 2018

Flying Home

It was eventually time to fly home.

The cheapest flight from Athens to Dulles happened to be on Turkish Airlines. I’ve never flown Turkish Air before, so I didn’t know what to expect. The flight included a 3-hour layover in Istanbul. When I first looked at that I even considered extending our trip a few more days so we could spend that time in Istanbul, but reconsidered when I thought about how tired we would be after 5 weeks on the road. I’m sorry we didn’t take the opportunity now, though.

The flight east to Istanbul would mean that we had an 11½ hour flight to Dulles. That’s a long time on a plane. But with our lounge pass, we looked forward to some good food and a few drinks in a relaxing atmosphere before we boarded.

Extra Security for Americans

Since we flew from Athens on Turkish Air, we expected to merely stay in the International terminal and get to our gate 40 minutes early. However, upon arrival, we saw signs that US and Canadian nationals needed to follow a special path. We did and were ushered through security again. I wondered if there is some special travel warning regarding Canadians and Americans.

We made our way to the lounge, passing through one of the nicest airports we’ve ever seen. It felt more like an upscale shopping mall than like an airport. There were a staggering number of stores, restaurants, elite designers, and of course women in headscarves. We settled into the lounge, one of severakl to choose from, helped ourselves to the buffet, plugged in our devices, and waited for our gate assignment.

“Go to Gate”

When the gate was announced, it was accompanied by a flashing note of “Go to Gate.” I ignored this for a while since it was way early. I let it go for about 15 minutes before I decided I needed to go to the gate to take a look. I went to the gate and sure enough, there was a line of people waiting to go in. I asked what was happening and was told this was passport control and that we needed to get in line. I went back and got Lexie and Lisa (who was annoyed at having to leave the lovely lounge and its open bar) and we made our way to the gate.

We got in line, passed through the passport check, and then Lisa and Lexie were ushered into the other, female only, line. We went through yet another security check, where we were all thoroughly patted down by security people of our own gender. After that, it was directly onto a bus, which took us to the plane, which was on the tarmac and boarding. We never would have made it if we had gotten to the gate 40 minutes prior, as was printed on our boarding pass.

New Istanbul Airport

On takeoff, the pilot mentioned that a new Istanbul International Airport had opened only a week before, becoming the largest airport in the world. The airport we passed through was stunning, but I don’t think we were in the new one, which appears to have been handling only domestic flights on the day of our departure. Nonetheless, I was surprised to learn that Istanbul is the 11th busiest airport in the world and 5th busiest in Europe.

Bye bye, Europe!

I’m still somewhat confused about exactly what was happening, security-wise, at the airport. (Lisa did some research and found that there had been a terror attack in 2016 that killed 41 people, necessitating higher security. And of course, the fact that it’s a Muslim country explained the separate sex pat-down lines.) But we did make it home, and we definitely plan to return to Istanbul for a visit.

It was a great flight. There was a great selection of entertainment options and free movies, and we were each provided with a little kit with eye mask, slippers and toothbrush. We had a blanket, pillow and higher-quality headphones, not just earbuds. We were also served to meals with a limited selection of free alcoholic beverages.

Altogether, it was a nice way to end our trip.

December 1, 2018

Italy, Part 7: Bob Visits Capri and Sorrento

I arrived in Sorrento by train late in the afternoon and checked into my apartment, which was perfectly located directly on the charming, vibrant town square. Sorrento is located atop a steep cliff face overlooking the southern tip of the Bay of Naples.

Checking the weather forecast, I realized that I would only have one good weather day, my first day there. So even though it was fairly late, I quickly found a tour company still open and booked a boat tour of the island of Capri that left at 8 AM the next day.

I got up early the next morning — Oct. 31 — and headed to the pickup point. A small bus came that subsequently took us to a small street in town, where we were met by a guide. We were taken to an elevator in a nondescript building that could hold at least 25 people, and in what seemed like a moment, we wooshed down 80 meters (260 feet) down to water level. For some reason, the boat was delayed about an hour, but then I boarded the small boat with 10 other people.

Here are some pictures, since Lisa says I didn’t describe it enough. (Pictures are worth a thousand words. Each.)

This is how far the elevator went, through sold rock 260 feet from Sorrento town to the marina below

The Sorrento Marina

The cliff

A look back at Sorrento from the boat

Capri

We spent the next hour traveling along the coast and out to the island of Capri, where we began a clockwise tour of the island.

First view of Capri

We briefly stopped at the Green Grotto and made our way to the famous Faraglioni of Capri. The sea was fairly choppy and I was already pretty surprised that the boat captain got us as close as he did to the Green Grotto, as we bounced around literally feet from the rocks.

The Green Grotto – I thought he was going to crash the boat

Now, we were heading directly toward the Faraglione di Mezzo, and as I saw the arch approaching, I was wondering how close he would get us to it. He didn’t even hesitate and as we bounced from side to side, he skillfully maneuvered the rocking boat through the arch, at times no more than six feet from the rocks. Granted, this wouldn’t have been a problem in calm seas, but the sea wasn’t calm this day and I was quite surprised he did it. There’s no way this would have been allowed in the US. The boat captain did make a joke (after he was successfully through) that the arch we just went through had been smaller in the spring before several boats bounced off the sides and made it wider. Ha!

We continued our tour around the island and got to the famous Blue Grotto. Normally, the boat would stop and allow the tourists an opportunity to take one of the local guided rowboats through the grotto. But that wasn’t happening today as it was far too rough.

The Blue Grotto

It was then on to dock at the marina in Capri, where we had 4 hours of free time. I hadn’t done any research on what there was on Capri itself, and honestly, I was a bit tired of walking and doing tourist things after 3 days in Rome and another in Pompeii. Nonetheless, I took the funicular up to the main tourist town. The view from the top was breathtaking.

Funicolare

View from the top

Capri itself, though picturesque, was a typical tourist town, built on a hillside. It had the usual tourist shops, but many were closed for the season, some with people inside boxing up the merchandise (Oct. 31 marks the last day of high season). I walked around for two hours, had some street food for lunch and got half a gallon of red Italian orange juice to take back with me. I decided to walk down the hill to the dock area, which turned out to be longer than I wanted to do, so I relaxed with a beer at a local restaurant. During the return boat ride, some of the other tourists talked about going to the top of the peak on the island, which I regretted not doing.

By pickup time, the weather had started to turn. The wind was up, the temperature was down, the water was quite choppy, and I became wet from wind spray during the chilly trip back. I was wishing for a hot tub by the time I got back to my apartment.

Back in Sorrento … Halloween

Soon though, I was back on the street when I saw that local kids were out in full force in costume on trick-or-treating at the local merchants. I hadn’t expected them to celebrate Halloween in Italy!

Lock of Love

The next morning, I woke up to rain. My original plan was to take a tour of the Amalfi coast, but the low clouds and heavy rain justified my decision to stay in. There was enough of a lull in the rain to allow me to go for a run, and I found a fence overlooking the bay that had a few Locks of Love locks attached. I had a padlock with me, but didn’t have a Sharpie to write Lisa and my initials. I made it my mission for the day to find one, not an easy task in a tourist town. I was eventually successful, but by then it was dark, so I had to wait until the next day to put it in place.

I woke up the next morning to find it raining too hard to run. I had to check out of my lodging, so all I was hoping for was for the rain to let up enough to allow me to walk the half mile to the fence and back without getting completely soaked. Finally, as I was at breakfast around 9 AM, I got that opportunity. I rushed to the fence, put the lock (inscribed RG + LH) in place, took some pictures to share with Lisa, and made it back to pick up my suitcase before it started raining hard again.

I got on the train, standing room only, for the 75-minute trip back to Naples to meet up with Lisa and Lexie for our flight to Athens the next day.